CAT/C/VEN/CO/3-4 Ombudsman’s Office and National Commission for the Prevention of Torture 20. The Committee finds regrettable the lack of information on the outcome of 48 per cent of the complaints of acts of torture or ill-treatment received and resolved by the Ombudsman’s Office between 2002 and 2014 and on the outcome of visits to detention centres. The Committee expresses concern at the fact that the Office appears to lack the degree of independence required to serve as the national institution responsible for investigating complaints of torture and ill-treatment. The Committee is also concerned that 6 of the 13 members of the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment, which was established under the Anti-Torture Act to serve as a prevention mechanism, are affiliated with the executive branch. Given the confidential nature of the complaints received by the Commission and of its recommendations to the Government, the presence of members of the executive compromises the body’s independence (arts. 2, 11 and 16). The State party should take effective measures to ensure that the Ombudsman’s Office is in practice a functioning, independent body, in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles). As the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture acts as the national preventive mechanism, the State party should ensure that its members are completely independent of the executive, in accordance with the guidelines on national preventive mechanisms established by the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture. Bearing in mind the commitment made by the State party during the dialogue, the Committee urges it to expedite the process of ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Redress 21. The Committee welcomes the fact that the National Plan for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment includes an area of work devoted to the defence of victims. Nevertheless, the Committee finds it regrettable that rehabilitation programmes for victims of torture have not yet been developed as stipulated in article 10 of the Anti-Torture Act. The Committee is also concerned about the lack of official data on the number of torture victims who have benefited from the right to adequate redress and compensation (art. 14). The State party should redouble its efforts to provide medical, psychological and social assistance to all victims of torture and ill-treatment and to members of their families through services affiliated with the State party’s public health system. The State should also provide prompt redress to victims of torture and ill-treatment, including fair and adequate compensation. 22. The Committee invites the State party to consider ratifying other United Nations human rights treaties to which it is not yet a party, in particular the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families. The Committee also urges the State party to reassess the possibility of withdrawing its denunciation of the American Convention on Human Rights. 23. The State party is requested to disseminate widely the report it submitted to the Committee and the Committee’s concluding observations, in appropriate languages, through official websites, the media and non-governmental organizations. 10 GE.14-24172