Appendix 6: Documenting and reporting medical evidence of ill-treatment Extract from the 23rd General Report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, [CPT/Inf (2013) 29] 71. As from an early stage of its activities, the CPT has emphasised the important contribution which health-care services in places of deprivation of liberty can and should make to combating ill-treatment of detained persons, through the methodical recording of injuries and the provision of information to the relevant authorities2611. The accurate and timely documenting and reporting of such medical evidence will greatly facilitate the investigation of cases of possible ill-treatment and the holding of perpetrators to account, which in turn will act as a strong deterrent against the commission of ill-treatment in the future. The CPT has paid particular attention to the role to be played by prison health-care services in relation to combating ill-treatment. Naturally, that role relates in part to possible ill-treatment of detained persons during their imprisonment, whether it is inflicted by staff or by fellow inmates. However, health-care services in establishments which constitute points of entry into the prison system also have a crucial contribution to make as regards the prevention of ill-treatment during the period immediately prior to imprisonment, namely when persons are in the custody of law enforcement agencies (e.g. the police or gendarmerie). 72. As an attentive reader of CPT reports will know, the situation as regards the documenting and reporting of medical evidence of ill-treatment is at present far from satisfactory in many States visited by the Committee. The procedures in place do not always ensure that injuries borne by detained persons will be recorded in good time; and even when injuries are recorded, this is often done in a superficial manner. Moreover, there is frequently no guarantee that medical evidence which is documented will then be reported to the relevant authorities. 261. See, for example, paragraphs 60 to 62 of the CPT’s 3rd General Report, CPT/Inf (93) 12. Appendices ► Page 129