A/HRC/31/57/Add.3 counsel in preventing any form of coercion during investigative activities and in ensuring that a person taken to a police car or police station enjoys the same guarantees against any type of pressure or ill-treatment as a person in a temporary detention isolator. 45. The Special Rapporteur notes the programme for former prisoners, initiated in 2012, which is aimed at supporting the rehabilitation of persons released from penitentiary institutions and at facilitating their reintegration into society as full-fledged members. The programme also includes the provision of health-care services and psychological assistance. B. Safeguards and prevention 46. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the approval given on 18 May 2015 for the plan of action against torture and ill-treatment for 2015/16 by the Interagency Council on Combating Torture and Other Forms of Degrading and Inhuman Treatment or Punishment, which was presented in late February by the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Civil Integration. The plan involves cooperation between several government agencies, with various objectives: (a) strengthening procedural, legislative and institutional mechanisms against ill-treatment; (b) ensuring effective investigation of all cases of ill-treatment; (c) ensuring the defence and rehabilitation of and compensation for victims of ill-treatment; and (d) training, awareness-raising and capacity-building as integral components of the fight against ill-treatment. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the latest version of the plan no longer includes the objective of “ensuring effective disclosure to the public of cases of ill-treatment, and prompt, impartial and effective investigation of complaints”, but merely provides for “the dissemination of information”. 47. In the above context, the Special Rapporteur learned that the “hearsay” law had been amended to ensure that no conviction may be based solely on hearsay evidence. 48. With regard to the investigation, prosecution and punishment of acts of torture, the Special Rapporteur is aware of a 2014 reform of the law on plea bargaining that, inter alia, allows the defendant to invoke it when a plea agreement has been reached as a result of undue pressure (torture or other ill-treatment) or to conceal acts of torture or ill-treatment. 49. The Special Rapporteur notes that, for several years prior to 2012, the rate of conviction in Georgia was higher than 90 per cent. The threat of torture and the almost certain prospect of conviction led to an excessive use of plea bargaining and the circumvention of fair trials. In addition, he was informed of threats to deny access to a plea bargain if the defendant reported torture or ill-treatment. 50. According to recent amendments, a judge in charge of a case, before approving any plea agreement, is required to verify whether the agreement has been reached voluntarily and whether the defendant has been subjected to any type of pressure. Even after the court has approved a plea agreement, the defendant has the right to challenge it before a higher court if, inter alia, it has been reached through the application of pressure or by undue treatment. 51. The testimonies given by numerous inmates indicated to the Special Rapporteur that plea bargaining is common and that there is still an element of coercion in its practice. While the prospect of torture no longer seems to motivate defendants to admit to wrongdoing, the prospect of long months or years in very restrictive pretrial detention may effectively do so. Available data suggest that, in the past five years, a clear majority of criminal cases have been solved this way; indeed, figures for the Supreme Court show that, in 2013, the ratio of plea bargaining to the total number of convictions was 89.6 per cent; in 2014, the ratio dropped to 69.9 per cent. 9