A/HRC/7/3/Add.2 page 89 451. As TADO has already been nullified, the question of any individual being held under it does not arise at all. The present democratic government is committed to rule of law and guarantees the right of detainees to consult and/or hire lawyers even while in custody (see A/HRC/4/33/Add.2, para. 436). 452. Recommendation (h) stated: Judges and prosecutors routinely ask persons brought from police custody how they have been treated and, even in the absence of a formal complaint from the defendant, order an independent medical examination; 453. As previously reported, most detainees do not make formal complaints of illtreatment or torture when taken before a judge or prosecutor, mostly though fear of reprisals. 454. Respect for human rights has been reaffirmed in the Interim Constitution of Nepal. The domestic laws prohibit subjecting people to torture or cruelty and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The State Cases Act, 1993 provides the right to detainee to ask the judicial authorities for medical examinations without any fear of reprisal (see A/HRC/4/33/Add.2, para. 438). 455. Recommendation (i) stated: All allegations of torture and ill-treatment be promptly and thoroughly investigated by an independent authority with no connection to that investigating or prosecuting the case against the alleged victim. In the opinion of the Special Rapporteur, the NHRC might be entrusted with this task; 456. Systematic torture in unacknowledged detention (especially in Nepalese Army barracks) of those suspected of having links with the CPN-M had largely ceased prior to April 2006, but the torture and arbitrary detention of criminal suspects by police have persisted. In addition, certain practices common during the conflict have occasionally reappeared – mostly in connection with the arrest of individuals accused of belonging to armed groups. These have included several cases of unacknowledged detention, beatings, failure to observe court orders regarding releases, several cases of illegal (unacknowledged) detention by the APF. 457. OHCHR received some 100 allegations of ill-treatment and sometimes torture of mostly criminal suspects, including female and juveniles, in police stations in 2007. The alleged torture/treatment has included slaps, beatings with sticks and lathis and pipes, kicks to the chest, soles of the feet and ribs, and in one case a mock execution. There are allegations of one death in custody as a result of torture. Another detainee – an alleged member of an armed group - was reportedly extrajudicially executed after arrest. It is reported that at times detainees were threatened not to report ill-treatment or were hidden before visits by OHCHR. Much of the ill-treatment and torture appeared to be related to the extraction of confessions during interrogation. No criminal investigations have been launched, although there are examples of minor disciplinary sanctions being imposed in a few cases. In September, for example, OHCHR raised with police officials the cases of six detainees, including that of a 14-year-old boy, who were subjected to torture/ill-treatment in Morang and Sunsari Districts. No criminal