CAT/C/ZAF/CO/2 victims. The State party should provide assistance to all families whose relatives died in detention with regard to obtaining records and gathering further information in order to have the initial inquests reopened and to solve the cases of other suspicious deaths. In particular, the State party should indicate how it intends to give effect to the judgment of the North Gauteng High Court concerning the death of Ahmed Essop Timol. Marikana incident 30. The Committee is gravely concerned at reports about the violent conduct and lethal use of force by the police and security forces on 16 August 2012 against striking mineworkers at Marikana, which resulted in 34 deaths and serious injury to 78 persons, and at the slow pace of investigations into the criminal responsibility of South African Police Service officials and into the potential liability of the Lonmin mining company (arts. 2, 4, 10–14 and 16). 31. The State party should: (a) Implement the recommendations of the Marikana Commission of Inquiry, ensure the prompt prosecution of the police officers implicated in the Marikana deaths and punish those convicted of illegal killings; (b) Investigate the potential liability of the Lonmin mining company for the Marikana incident and review the compliance of companies with their responsibilities under all relevant legal standards for operations in the mining sector; (c) Give priority to the speedy settling of civil claims in relation to the killings perpetrated during the protests of 16 August 2012 in order to provide effective remedies to the families of the victims; (d) Revise laws and policies regarding public order policing and the use of force, including lethal force, by law enforcement officials in order to ensure that all policing laws, policies and guidelines are consistent with the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, and inform the Committee, in the State party’s next periodic report, of the implementation of those laws, policies and guidelines; (e) Ensure that the training for law enforcement and security forces on the use of force emphasizes the absolute prohibition of torture and the need to respect the principles of necessity and proportionality in accordance with the Convention and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. Police brutality and excessive use of force 32. The Committee is concerned: (a) At numerous reports of acts of torture committed by police officials, including the report by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate of 217 cases of torture and 3,661 cases of assault recorded during the period 2017/18, as well as reports of 112 rapes committed by police officers, including 35 committed while the officers were on duty; (b) That such acts have resulted in a significant increase in the number of deaths in police custody, including 394 deaths as a result of police action and 302 deaths in police custody for the 2016/17 period, while less than half are investigated; (c) At the absence of recommendations for prosecution submitted by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, which has the legal mandate to receive, log and investigate complaints against assault or torture by the police, to the National Prosecuting Authority, to institute criminal proceedings (arts. 2, 4, 10–14 and 16); (d) At the unambiguous and openly hostile language of some politicians in this connection, which may amount to hate speech or instigation to hate crimes. 8