E/CN.4/1995/111 page 34 extent to which statements and declarations are put into practice. The recommendations that follow are aimed at reinforcing and supporting the efforts of the Colombian Government to translate the commitment into reality. Particular emphasis is laid on measures that could contribute to the prevention of further human rights violations. VI. RECOMMENDATIONS 115. While initiatives to raise awareness of human rights among members of the security forces and the population in general through educational and other measures are to be welcomed as a necessary step, the Special Rapporteurs wish to emphasize that respect for, and thus enjoyment of, human rights, can only be improved if impunity is effectively fought. The Special Rapporteurs call on the Government to fulfil its obligation under international law to conduct exhaustive and impartial investigations into all allegations of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and torture, to identify, prosecute and punish those responsible, grant adequate compensation to the victims or their families and take all appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of such acts. 116. The present system of military justice ensures impunity for acts such as summary execution, torture and enforced disappearance. The United Nations General Assembly, in its Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (resolution 47/133 of 18 December 1992), stipulated that persons alleged to have committed acts of enforced disappearance should be tried only by the competent ordinary courts, and not by any other special tribunal, in particular military courts (art. 16.2). The Special Rapporteurs are of the opinion that this should apply equally to extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and torture. Therefore, the only appropriate step would be to remove such acts from the ambit of military justice. This should be clearly spelled out in the law. 117. The civilian justice system, however, is not functioning properly either. The ordinary courts prosecute to conviction in only about one tenth of all cases of murder. The Special Rapporteurs therefore call on the authorities to take the necessary steps with a view to strengthening the ordinary justice system so as to make it more efficient in all circumstances, thus making unnecessary the use of special justice systems, such as the Regional Justice System. The following may be recommended to this effect: (a) Allocation of the necessary human and material resources, especially at the investigative stages of judicial proceedings. Judicial police functions should be carried out exclusively by a civilian entity, namely the technical unit of the criminal investigation police. This would allow the independence of investigations and constitute an important improvement in the access to justice for victims of and witnesses to human rights violations, who, at present, very often see their complaints being investigated by the very institutions they accuse of being responsible for these violations. (b) The provincial and departmental offices of the Procuraduría should be given sufficient autonomy and resources to carry out prompt and effective investigations into alleged human rights violations.