VIII.Summary of recommendations A.Legal and institutional framework 266.The Subcommittee recommends that the highest authorities publicly declare that they repudiate torture and are committed to its eradication and to the implementation of a national preventive system. 267.The Subcommittee recommends that the authorities should work with civil society to devise a strategy to raise awareness at all levels of society on the prohibition of the use of violence to resolve conflicts of any kind. 268.The Subcommittee recommends that: Police officers should receive clear, categorical and periodic instructions on the absolute and mandatory prohibition of any form of torture and ill-treatment and that such prohibition should be included in such general rules or instructions as are issued in regard to the duties and functions of police personnel. In accordance with the obligations entered into by the State party under articles 12 and 16 of the Convention against Torture, a prompt and impartial investigation is to be conducted wherever there are reasonable grounds to believe that an act of torture or illtreatment has been committed. Such an investigation shall take place even in the absence of a formal complaint. All police stations and units in the country should have information available and visible to the public on the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment as well as on how and where to file complaints concerning such acts. With a view to reducing impunity, police officers who for good reason do not wear uniforms when carrying out police duties are obliged to identify themselves by name, family name and rank at the time of arrest and transfer of persons deprived of their liberty. As a general rule, police officers responsible for enforcing deprivation of liberty or who have persons deprived of their liberty in their custody should be identified in the appropriate registers. 269.The Subcommittee encourages the State party to maintain and step up measures to prevent torture and other ill-treatment, as part of a comprehensive State policy. Measures should include extensive public awareness campaigns on this issue, and information campaigns on how and where to report cases. 270.The State should take steps to ensure that persons who file a complaint of torture or ill-treatment are protected against possible reprisals. 271.The Subcommittee recommends that the State should redouble its efforts to prevent the involvement of the armed forces in the maintenance of law and order as part of a wider programme aimed at preventing ill-treatment and the excessive use of force. Where it is absolutely necessary to involve the army in the maintenance of law and order, the necessary steps should be taken to train all military groups to ensure that their actions are consistent with respect for human rights and the proportionate use of force. It also recommends that the police, and any other security or military force being used to restore public order in the event of civil unrest, should use appropriate equipment and instruments in order to restore order with the least possible risk to individuals’ physical and mental safety. 272.The Subcommittee recommends that the State party should carry out a thorough, prompt, impartial enquiry into the events referred to in paragraphs 69 and 70. 273.The Subcommittee points out that the discrepancy between the definition of torture contained in the Criminal Code and that contained in article 1 of the Convention against Torture creates a loophole for impunity. As such, it recommends the early adoption of the legislative measures necessary to rectify that discrepancy. 274.The Public Prosecutor’s Office should have its own investigative capacity to enable it to carry out independent, prompt and thorough enquiries. Until such a body is created, attorneys for human rights should be given as many analysts as they need to boost their investigative capacity. In general, the Public Prosecutor’s Office should be provided with the necessary means to carry out prompt and independent investigations of the complaints of torture that it receives. Such investigations should be carried out in accordance with the principles set forth in chapter III of the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol). 275.A register for complaints in cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment should be created in the Public Prosecutor’s Office. 276.A central register should be created in the Supreme Court, for recording cases of torture and other forms of institutional violence that are defined as offences, giving the date and probable location of the incident, institutions, possible victims and perpetrators, stage reached in the proceedings, courts involved and outcome of each case. 277.The Subcommittee recommends that the Public Defender’s Office should be functionally independent and financially autonomous. The Subcommittee calls on the State to provide information on how it plans, within a framework of institutional independence and autonomy, to increase the human and financial resources of the Office to enable it to guarantee free, timely, effective and comprehensive legal assistance for all persons deprived of their liberty who require it, as from the moment of their detention. 278.The Subcommittee recommends that an urgent analysis should be undertaken of the way in which the integrated centres operate in practice by means of external and internal audits of the institutions involved, with a view to adopting legislative and administrative measures to ensure that the guarantees required to prevent torture are applied in practice.