Nigeria Police Force to stop using torture. (c) The crime of torture should be defined as a matter of priority in accordance with article 1 of the Convention against Torture, with penalties commensurate with the gravity of torture There was no provision specifically criminalizing torture as defined in article 1 of the Convention against Torture. The Convention had not been incorporated into domestic laws, so there are no specific penalties related to acts of torture. The Senate Committee on Judiciary indicated in October 2008 that it intended to pursue the adoption of legislation to specifically criminalize torture. Non-governmental sources: An NGO drafted ‘Torture prevention and prohibition act’, which defines torture in accordance with Article 1 of the CAT. (d) An effective and independent complaints system for torture and abuse leading to criminal investigations should be established, similar to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Perpetrators were in general not held accountable due to the nonfunctioning complaint mechanisms and remedies. Victims accepted that impunity was the natural order of things. A draft bill on the establishment of an antitorture commission was pending in the Senate. Non-governmental sources: Although the National Human Rights Commission has been receiving complaints about torture and abuse, no cases have yet been prosecuted. A ‘Bill for an Act to Provide for the Establishment of the Anti-Torture Committee’ is still pending in the Senate. A bill to extend the mandate of the Federal Legal Aid Council (LAC) has been pending before the National Assembly for over three years. Non-governmental sources: The right to legal counsel is rarely realized in practice, and in many police stations, the police continue to deny suspects’ access to a lawyer. In some cases, lawyers have even been threatened with arrest for making inquiries at the police station about their clients. The bill to extend the mandate of Attempts to register complaints were often met with intimidation, and investigations lacked independence as they could be conducted by the police themselves. Upon request by the Government, on 5 April 2007, the UN Special Rapporteur forwarded a draft law on the establishment of a torture investigation commission. (e) The right to legal counsel should be legally guaranteed from the moment of arrest Section 35 (2) of the Constitution allows a detainee or arrested person to remain silent until consultation with a legal practitioner. However, many detainees cannot afford a lawyer and the A/HRC/13/39/Add.6 134 sentences;