A/HRC/16/52/Add.5 38. In 2004, in response to increasing violence and use of firearms in the country, the Minister for Internal Security established a committee to review the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary. In its report, the committee found that there were serious discipline and morale problems within the Constabulary, leading to a loss of confidence and trust, and that additional resources were only part of the solution. The committee made a number of recommendations, including that (a) independent accountability and review processes be established and an office of inspector-general of the Constabulary be created; (b) a review of all matters under investigation be conducted by the Ombudsman Commission, which should then report to the Minister on recommended action; (c) outstanding increments and leave entitlements be paid immediately to all officers, as well as their basic entitlements, as a clear signal that the Government recognized the difficulties and seriousness of their jobs; (d) all police stations be equipped with basic resources; and (e) all mobile squads and rapidresponse units be returned to core police functions. Unfortunately, these recommendations have not yet been implemented. B. Acts of torture and ill-treatment 39. On the basis of discussions with public officials, lawyers and representatives of civil society, interviews with victims of violence and with persons deprived of their liberty, often supported by forensic medical evidence, the Special Rapporteur found isolated cases of torture in the classical sense of deliberately inflicting severe pain or suffering as a means of extracting a confession or information. He did, however, find a considerable number of cases where persons were subjected to different degrees of beatings as a form of punishment, which may also amount to torture. 40. The Special Rapporteur found evidence of systematic beatings of detainees upon arrest or within the first hours of detention, including during interrogation. The beatings were frequently inflicted by the police as a form of punishment, reflecting a complete disrespect for the presumption of innocence and the dignity of persons suspected of crimes. Beatings were practiced with various tools, including automobile fan belts, bush knives, gun butts, iron rods and wooden sticks. Detainees were also punched and kicked, mainly as a form of punishment or intimidation by the police and as a way to establish authority. Although the Special Rapporteur did not come across more brutal and sophisticated methods of torture, police beatings often reached the same degree as torture, a fact that was largely corroborated by medical evidence. During the visit to the Kundiawa police station, for example, the beatings were confirmed by one of the Criminal Investigation Department officers. 41. The Special Rapporteur was also concerned about the practice of police to deliberately disable persons suspected of serious crimes. This was confirmed by the testimonies of former victims of police abuse at the Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with Disabilities. 42. In correctional institutions, the Special Rapporteur was alarmed to see a standard practice of inflicting torture upon recapture on those who had attempted to or succeeded in escaping. These detainees are subjected to brutal beatings with bush knives and gun butts, shot in the leg and feet at close range, and their tendons are cut with bush knives and axes, with the deliberate intent to disable them. After they are tortured, the victims are usually kept in punishment cells for months, without medical attention, and in some cases eventually die. This practice seems to be confirmed by the need to issue a formal minute dated 21 May 2010, whereby the Chief Superintendent of the Baisu correctional institution specifically instructed all officers to “refrain from assaulting an escapee remand detainee”. 43. The Special Rapporteur also received many complaints of beatings of juveniles. Particular concern was expressed by the Special Rapporteur concerning the high number of 10