CAT/C/KWT/CO/3 (b) Carry out prompt, impartial, thorough and effective investigations into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment, including the excessive use of force, by police and security officers, ensure that those suspected of committing such acts are immediately suspended from their duties for the duration of the investigation and, if charged and found guilty, are criminally prosecuted; (c) Ensure that peaceful demonstrations are not repressed by unnecessary excessive use of force and even detention. Reporting acts of torture and witness protection 15. The Committee is concerned at consistent reports that victims of and witnesses to torture have been reluctant to report cases out of fear of harassment and reprisals from the perpetrators and lack of protection and even administrative deportation in the case of foreign residents. It is also concerned at the reluctance of medical personnel who examine the victims to indicate findings of torture on their medical certificate for fear of intimidation or reprisals. It is further concerned that the doctors in the Forensic Division are part of the General Department of Criminal Evidence, which is under the Ministry of the Interior, and at their reportedly superficial and summary medical examinations. Finally, it is concerned that complaints relating to torture and ill-treatment perpetrated by the police and security forces are considered by the General Department of Monitoring and Inspection, part of the Ministry of the Interior, which therefore prevents an independent examination of such complaints (arts. 2, 12–14 and 16). 16. The State party should: (a) Provide comprehensive information to victims of torture and their families regarding the laws available to them to lodge a complaint, and guarantee their protection and the protection of witnesses; (b) Ensure adequate protection of health professionals documenting torture and ill-treatment from intimidation, retaliation and other forms of reprisals, including by ensuring that they are not hierarchically subordinated to the head of the detention facility or other security organs; (c) Ensure that independent health professionals outside the Forensic Division are able to examine victims promptly and to maintain the confidentiality of medical records; (d) Ensure the independence of the General Department of Criminal Evidence and the Forensic Division by removing these institutions from supervision by the Ministry of the Interior; (e) Ensure that complaints about torture are made to an independent body and not to persons who are within the same organization as the alleged perpetrators of such acts. Arrest and pretrial detention 17. The Committee is concerned at information concerning a proposed amendment that would have been submitted to the National Assembly on 3 July 2016, at the request of the Minister of the Interior, reversing the amendment made to article 60 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in Act No. 3 of 2012, which reduced the initial period of arrested persons in police custody from four days before being brought before a judge to 48 hours. It is concerned that arrested persons could be held in police custody for up to 10 days upon a written order of the investigator before being presented before a judge. 4