A/HRC/40/59/Add.2 duties for law enforcement officials to report any acts or threats of ill-treatment and torture, and to ensure effective and independent investigation and accountability. 2. Other places of detention 22. While it is difficult to make a generalized statement in this respect, in some of the prisons and other places of detention visited, the Special Rapporteur perceived a climate of fear and mistrust between prison officials and inmates. In many institutions, the Special Rapporteur noted a perceptible reluctance of inmates to speak about torture or ill-treatment, both because of their fear of reprisal and their general distrust in the ability and willingness of the judicial authorities to hear their claims. Nevertheless, in some institutions, he heard several consistent accounts of physical and psychological abuse being inflicted on inmates as a disciplinary sanction for misbehaviour or even as a reprisal for having complained about their conditions of detention. For instance, in the Province of Córdoba, most particularly in the Bouwer prison, detainees reported violent methods of physical restraint, including having been fastened with cloth strips or handcuffed by their feet and/or hands to the bed in the medical unit, for periods ranging from several hours to three days. The forensic expert who accompanied the Special Rapporteur on his visit conducted a number of medical examinations of inmates, some of which confirmed physical injuries consistent with the testimonies received. C. Ineffective follow-up to and investigation of claims of torture and illtreatment 23. According to the data shared with the Special Rapporteur, between 2011 and 2017, the Division for the Registration, Systematic Processing and Monitoring of Acts of Torture and other Acts of Institutional Violence of the Chief Public Defender’s Office registered 4,160 allegations of torture and ill-treatment, 2,292 of which took place in a context of confinement. 24. At the provincial level, the National Register of Cases of Torture and/or Ill-treatment reported 11,156 allegations of torture in the Province of Buenos Aires in the past five years. 25. The Special Rapporteur welcomes and commends the significant efforts made concerning documentation and data collection on allegations of torture and other ill-treatment by bodies such as the Chief Public Defender’s Office, the Office of the Ombudsman for the Prison System, the Office of the Prosecutor for Institutional Violence and civil society organizations. Given the availability of these invaluable data, however, he finds it all the more disturbing that these cases rarely result in effective investigations, as clearly would be required under article 12 of the Convention against Torture. Instead, judges and prosecutors appear to be reluctant to investigate and prosecute such crimes, as many alleged victims of torture and ill-treatment explained that complaints submitted by them had not been investigated. According to various sources, there seems to be a significant gap between the number of complaints registered and the number of investigations carried out, resulting in a pervasive culture of impunity among security forces and prison staff. Moreover, prosecutors and judges reportedly avoid classifying certain violations as torture and, instead, categorize them as harassment or illegal constraint, both of which entail minor penalties. The Special Rapporteur notes with serious concern that, in contrast to the efforts made by various bodies to register allegations of torture and ill-treatment, there seems to be no systematic compilation of statistical data on the number of investigations carried out into these allegations at the provincial or federal level. 26. Furthermore, according to the Chief Public Defender’s Office, although victims agree to register their allegations with that Office, they often refuse to file formal complaints before the relevant authorities for fear of reprisal or because of a general lack of trust in the willingness of the judicial authorities to conduct an effective investigation. In 2017, only 52 per cent of the registered allegations reportedly resulted in a formal complaint with the judicial authorities. According to the Office, contrary to the duty of the authorities to investigate and prosecute torture ex officio, as required also under article 12 of the 6