Seeking Remedies for Torture Victims: A Handbook on the Individual Complaints Procedures of the UN Tready Bodies f) Article 20 in Action Since its establishment, the CAT Committee has carried out eight inquiries; the one undertaken to examine the alleged systematic practice of torture in Nepal being the most recent.406 Taking into account concerns voiced primarily by the CAT Committee, by the Special Rapporteur on Torture and by NGOs stemming from allegations related to the widespread use of torture and the prevailing climate of impunity in Nepal, the CAT Committee on 30 November 2009 transmitted to the State party the decision to conduct an inquiry, coupled with an invitation to cooperate with the CAT Committee and a proposal with specific dates for a visit of the designated members of the Committee to Nepal. The efforts to visit the State party were unsuccessful, as Nepal did not give its consent. The CAT Committee, nevertheless, decided to proceed with its inquiry and on 31 May 2011 adopted its report on Nepal under Article 20 of the CAT. Subsequently, it invited the State party to inform it of the action taken in relation to its findings and recommendations. Upon receipt of the comments, the State party agreed to the publication of the full report together with the full text of its comments and observations on the report. In its report, the CAT Committee held that “in light of the abundant and consistent information submitted to it and received from a variety of sources and as found above, the Committee concludes that torture is being systematically practiced in the territory of Nepal, according to its longstanding definition, mainly in police custody”.407 Another example of an inquiry under Article 20 is the one introduced in the CAT Committee’s 2004 Annual Report, where the Committee gave a summary account of findings in relation to Serbia and Montenegro arising from an Article 20 inquiry. The inquiry was sparked by the submission of information in December 1997 from the Humanitarian Law Centre (HLC), an NGO based in Belgrade. It alleged that systematic torture was being practiced in Serbia and Montenegro, and requested an Article 20 investigation by the Committee. After requesting further information from the HLC, the Committee launched an independent inquiry. This inquiry began in November 2000 and included a visit, with government permission, to Serbia and Montenegro from 8 to 19 July 2002. During the visit, Committee members met with many government officials, members of the judiciary, state representatives, representatives of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and NGOs. They also visited prisons and police 406 In date order, beginning with the most recent, the CAT Committee has undertaken inquiries under Article 20 on Nepal, Brazil, former Serbia and Montenegro, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Peru, Egypt and Turkey. 407 CAT Committee, Report on Nepal under article 20 of the Convention, (2012) UN Doc. A/67/44 paras. Annex XIII, para. 108. 134