E/CN.4/2005/62/Add.2 page 37 Independent medical evidence is still not generally accepted as evidence in court. In practice, there is no evidence that detainees are brought before a doctor by a separate law enforcement team than those involved in their arrest or interrogation. There are still reports of police and gendarmerie officers being present during medical examinations, both of persons brought from police custody and also of prisoners brought for examination from prisons. Where they refuse to leave the examination room, police and gendarmerie officers generally do so on the pretext of “security” concerns, although the practice has been outlawed. 157. The Government reported that according to the article 10 of RACT, the medical condition is to be determined by a doctor in cases where the apprehended person is: to be taken into custody; he/she has been apprehended by the use of force; the person’s location is changed for any reason; the detention period is extended; he/she is released; or he/she is sent to judicial authorities. The last paragraph of article article 10, as amended on 3 January 2004, stipulates that “the doctor and the person examined shall remain alone and that the examination is conducted as part of the doctor/patient relationship. However, the doctor may, on the grounds of concern for his personal safety, request that the examination be conducted under the supervision of law enforcement officials. This request shall be documented and complied with.” Previously, it was envisaged that the detainee, along with the doctor, might request the presence of law enforcement officials during the examination. However, this part of the article was deleted in line with the CPT recommendation. In a circular issued on 15 April 2004 addressed to 81 governorates, the Ministry of Health requested that in order to enable remand and sentenced prisoners applying for forensic medical examinations to be examined in secure conditions, the law enforcement agencies install secure examination rooms designed to facilitate their work. An earlier circular issued by the Ministry of Health on 10 October 2003 stipulates that the medical examinations “must be conducted out of the hearing and sight of members of the law enforcement agencies. The person to be examined must be received in a room in which only health personnel are present….” As for the medical certificates, according to current instructions, a copy of the medical report should be given in a sealed envelope to the law enforcement officials accompanying the detained person. Article 10 of RACT provides that the medical report of the detained person be drawn up in four copies and that one of them will be given to the detainee. The State Security Courts were abolished on 30 June 2004, following a constitutional change in May 2004, and offences formerly falling within their jurisdiction now fall within the jurisdiction of the serious crimes courts. Therefore, reference in the recommendation (d) to the medical examinations in State Security Court facilities appears to be no longer relevant. 158. Recommendation (e) stated: Prosecutors and judges should not require conclusive proof of physical torture or ill-treatment (much less final conviction of an accused perpetrator) before deciding not to rely as against the detainee on confessions or information alleged to have been obtained by such treatment; indeed, the burden of proof should be on the State to demonstrate the absence of coercion. Moreover, this should also apply in respect of proceedings against alleged perpetrators of torture or ill-treatment, as long as the periods of custody do not conform to the criteria indicated in (a) and (b) above. 159. The Government reported that according to the recent regulations, statements obtained by prohibited methods shall not be considered as evidence, even with the suspect’s consent. This issue is addressed in training activities of the law enforcement agencies and close attention will be paid to it in their future work. As a safeguard against the use of evidence that may be obtained under ill-treatment, a new paragraph was added to article 38 of the Constitution which stipulates