CAT/C/75 page 48 should also allocate the resources needed to make both quantitative and qualitative improvements to the public defence counsel services, which should be organized as public bodies, independent of any Federal or State authority and with constitutional and operational autonomy; (f) Legal provision, binding both in Federal and ordinary law, should be made for the mandatory exclusion from the body of evidence of all statements and evidence obtained by torture or similar coercive methods;58 (g) The application of military law should be restricted only to offences of official misconduct and the necessary legal arrangements should be made to empower the civil courts to try offences against human rights, in particular torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, committed by military personnel, even when it is claimed that they were service-related; (h) A special prosecutor’s office, autonomous and independent of the executive branch, should be established to carry out preliminary investigations into any complaints alleging violation of the human rights set forth in treaties ratified by the State; it should have national jurisdiction, regardless of whether the final judgement is to be handed down by the Federal or ordinary courts; (i) In general, efforts should be made, through any necessary legal reforms, to modify the markedly inquisitorial methods used in criminal proceedings, and particularly in the initial stages of the preliminary investigation. Such reforms should aim to institute a genuinely open, transparent accusatory procedure that includes appropriate mechanisms to maintain the necessary balance of powers and rights among the various parties to criminal proceedings - judges, public prosecutors, victims and accused, counsel and police - and control mechanisms and resources to correct any violations; (j) Steps should be taken to ensure that medical experts are completely independent of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The forms used by medical experts should be changed to enable information to be included on how, when and by whom injuries were caused. They should also include the expert’s assessment of the consistency of the injuries observed with the causes of injury alleged by the person being examined; (k) In all cases in which a person alleges torture, the competent authorities should initiate a prompt, impartial inquiry that includes a medical examination carried out in accordance with the Istanbul Protocol. VII. ADOPTION OF THE REPORT BY THE COMMITTEE, AND FOLLOW-UP TO THE REPORT 221. At its twenty-eighth session (29 April-17 May 2002), the Committee endorsed the report by the two members responsible for the investigation who visited Mexico. It also decided to transmit the report to the Mexican Government, in accordance with article 20, paragraph 4, of

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