CAT/C/SYR/CO/1 mechanism in regard to their treatment and review procedures in respect to their detention. The Committee is also concerned at allegations that those detained in such facilities could be held for prolonged periods without any judicial review, in practice in incommunicado detention and subject to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (arts. 2, 11 and 16). The State party should ensure that no one is detained in a secret detention facility under its de facto effective control. As often reiterated by the Committee, detaining persons in such conditions constitutes, per se, a violation of the Convention. The State party should also investigate and disclose the existence of any such facilities, the authority under which they have been established and the manner in which detainees are treated in such facilities. The Committee urges the State party to close all such facilities. Complaint mechanism 16. Notwithstanding the information provided to the Committee in the State party report on the possibility for a person to submit to the Office of the Public Prosecutor a complaint of torture allegedly committed by a public official, the Committee regrets the lack of an independent complaint mechanism for receiving and conducting impartial and full investigations into the many allegations of torture reported to the authorities, and for ensuring that those found guilty are appropriately punished. The Committee also regrets the absence of information, including statistics, on the number of complaints of torture and illtreatment and results of all proceedings, at both the penal and disciplinary levels (art. 2, 5, 12, 13 and 16). The State party should take urgent and effective measures to establish a fully independent complaint mechanism, should ensure prompt, impartial and full investigations into the many allegations of torture and should prosecute alleged perpetrators and punish them, as appropriate. The State party should ensure in practice that complainants are protected against any ill-treatment or intimidation as a consequence of his/her complaint or any evidence given. The Committee requests the State party to provide information, including statistics, on the number of complaints filed against public officials on torture and ill-treatment, as well as information about the results of the proceedings, at both the penal and disciplinary levels. Refugees and asylum seekers 17. While noting with appreciation the State party’s generous policy to admit and grant permission to stay to a significant number of nationals from Iraq and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Committee is concerned at the absence in the State party of a national procedure for the determination of refugee status and that the national legislation on aliens does not recognize any special status attributed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The Committee notes with concern that the State party has not acceded to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) and the Optional Protocol (1967) thereto, nor to the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954) or to the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961) (arts. 2, 3, 11 and 16). The State party should establish a national procedure for determination of refugee status and amend its national legislation to recognize special status attributed by UNHCR. The Committee recommends that the State party consider becoming party to the Refugee Convention, the Optional Protocol thereto and other related international legal instruments. 6