CAT/C/MRT/CO/1 (b) The State party should expedite its legislative reform process and take the necessary steps to promulgate and publish the above-mentioned law of March 2013 in order to fill the existing legal void. It should also make a determined effort to disseminate the contents of this law widely and to provide special training on this law to security and law enforcement personnel. Allegations of torture and ill-treatment 8. The Committee notes with satisfaction that the first article of Ordinance No. 200736 (amending Ordinance No. 83-163 of 9 July 1983, which sets out the Code of Criminal Procedure) provides that “a confession obtained under torture, violence or duress is devoid of value”. It also notes with satisfaction reports that the Supreme Court refused to admit confessions obtained under torture into evidence in the 2007 trial of a number of Salafists, which paved the way for a reduction in the sentences of some of the defendants and the acquittal of others. The Committee observes, however, that these reports indicate that detainees are being tortured and ill-treated, including in unofficial places of detention. While noting that article 15 of Act No. 2010-007 of 20 January 2010 regulating the National Police prohibits police officers from inflicting “cruel or degrading treatment that would constitute human rights violations”, the Committee is particularly concerned by credible reports that, since 2009, at least two prisoners have died after being tortured (arts. 2, 11, 15 and 16). The State party should: (a) Give clear, official instructions to members of the security forces (police and gendarmerie) which state that the prohibition of torture is absolute, that it is a criminal offence and that the perpetrators of such acts will be prosecuted and receive punishments commensurate with the gravity of the offence; (b) Take effective steps to ensure that thorough, independent and impartial investigations are conducted, without delay, into all allegations of torture or illtreatment, that the perpetrators of such acts are brought before the courts and that appropriate penalties are imposed upon them; (c) Take all necessary steps to ensure that confessions obtained under torture are not used as evidence against the authors of such confessions during investigations or trials; (d) Raise judges’ awareness of their obligation to open inquiries into any allegations of torture which are brought to their attention. Direct application of the Convention by national courts 9. While the Committee is pleased to learn that the Convention can be invoked directly in the courts of the State party and takes precedence over national laws, it is concerned by information it has received that acts of torture can be punished only as the offences of assault and battery or homicide because torture is not a criminal offence in its own right. Moreover, the Committee regrets the lack of information on cases in which the Convention has been applied by the courts of the State party or has been invoked before them (art. 2). The State party should incorporate the obligations prescribed by the Convention into its national legislation. It should also make certain that public officials, judges, magistrates, prosecutors and attorneys receive training that covers the provisions of the Convention so that they will be in a position to apply them directly and to assert the rights they establish before the courts of the State party. GE.13-44591 3