CAT/C/39/2 page 67 287. The National Network of Specialization in Public Security is made up of public and private Higher Education Institutions, duly licensed by SENASP-MJ to promote specialization courses (Latu Senso) in public security in order to disseminate among public security professionals, and thus among the institutions where they work, the knowledge and ability to appraise necessary for the construction of a new way of making public security, through a commitment with citizenship, human rights and the construction of social peace, and articulated with scientific progress and accumulated knowledge. 288. The Long Distance Education Network for Public Security is an environment of teaching-learning that aims at informing, forming updating and specializing, at no charge, the operators of public security in Brazil - civil, federal, highway and military officers, firemen and municipal guards, using the media and the Internet. 289. There are also programs targeting specifically the members of the Judiciary Branch and the Public Prosecutor Office, with the objective of improving the performance of these professionals in the struggle against torture. In December 2005, during a Seminar on “Building a National Policy to Combat Torture”, a manual for Magistrates and members of the Public Prosecutor’s Office was launched, containing a description of the duties and responsibilities of judges and prosecutors in order to prevent and investigate acts of torture, as well as other forms of ill treatment. The Manual also offers guidance from the best practices about ways to fight torture at the procedural level, the legal instruments in force and cases tried at the internal and international levels. At this Seminar the theme “The Fight Against Torture in the Formation of Magistrates and Prosecutors” was discussed. 290. Regarding the episode in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Government recalls its observations contained in the section on the general comments on the visit. “186. The Committee members also noted that, in practice, a large number of detainees with whom the Committee members met did not have any free legal assistance, despite the fact that they did not have the funds to pay a lawyer. The Public Defender’s Office is not available in a large part of the country and reportedly, in those cases where it is present, lacks resources to carry out its functions. For instance, the State of São Paulo still does not have a Public Defender’s Office. At the time of the visit, the Public Defender’s Office in Rio de Janeiro was on strike for various reasons, including lack of personnel, precarious work conditions and low salaries (public defenders reportedly earn one third of a judge or prosecutor’s salary).” 291. The Federal Constitution assures the right to full and free legal assistance to those who prove lack of resources. The Public Defender offices of the Union, the states and the Federal District should provide this assistance. To widen the scope of the services of the Public Defender, improve its structure and increase the number of its members, the federal government adopted important measures during the last four years. One of the most important changes at the Constitutional Reform of the Judiciary Branch was the grating of administrative, financial and budgetary to the Public Defenders offices. The practical effects of such autonomy were evaluated at the II Diagnosis of Public Defender services in Brazil, launched by the Ministry of Justice in December 2006. Significant progress was attained in all Public Defender offices, with an increase in budgetary expenses, increase in the number circuit courts and judicial sections