CAT/C/39/2 page 22 76. The Committee members were also provided with the final report of the Campaign for Combating Torture and Impunity. According to the report, 2,206 complaints of torture were registered by the hotline “SOS Tortura” during the period October 2001 to July 2003. Only 1,336 were considered as institutional torture. Most of the complaints came from the following states: São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Pará, and Bahia. It would appear that torture was inflicted mostly in police stations (47.2 per cent), followed by penitentiary units (26.9 per cent). NGOs familiar with the practice of torture, however, informed the Committee that rates of severe physical abuse are in fact much higher than these figures suggest. 77. The Committee received numerous reports that detentions centres almost invariably contain punishment cells (castigo) used by authorities. The cells are alleged to be places where inmates are subject to severe corporal punishment as well as cruel and inhuman conditions of detention These cells are not shown to outsiders and their existence was already denounced by the Special Rapportuer on Torture. The State party has not adequately addressed these allegations. 3. Direct testimonies 78. The Committee members also met with several alleged victims of torture and their relatives who were present during the NGO meetings. The Committee members were informed by NGOs that some victims had refused to meet with them for fear of retaliation. In particular, they recalled the deaths of two witnesses who had given testimonies to a United Nations Special Rapporteur. A number of those who voluntarily agreed to meet with the Committee members requested that their personal cases remain confidential for a variety of reasons, mainly to protect their safety and to prevent reprisals from their employers. 79. The majority of the interviewees claimed to be have been victims of torture and/or ill treatment at the time of arrest. A number of interviewees complained at the way the police had treated them on arrest; in particular they said that the police referred to them as criminals instead of suspects. On a number of occasions, the Committee members heard that arrested persons were not brought directly to police stations, and that transfers took longer than needed, this being the interval when they claimed to have been subjected to ill-treatment or torture. It also seemed that the use of excessive force during arrests was a common practice. 80. Interviewees referred to abuses committed by both the civil and the military police. They reported feeling powerless and unprotected by the State, and agreed that they live in a climate of impunity. Many interviewees complained that legal proceedings are extremely slow, offenders are rarely prosecuted or found guilty for crimes of torture and that financial compensation, if any, takes a very long time to be awarded. In addition, some of them reported that they had been subjected to punishment (castigos) not authorized by law. B. Information obtained in places of detention 81. Places of detention, excluding federal detention centres, are under the responsibility of the individual states. In most states, the Secretary for Public Security is responsible for police stations (delegacias) and the Secretary for Justice through the Penitentiary Administration is responsible for the penitentiary system. Some states, such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo have autonomous Secretariats for Penitentiary Administration. In the Federal District, the penitentiary system is under the responsibility of the Secretary for Public Security.