CAT/C/TUN/CO/3 (e) Provide more training for forensic physicians on the Istanbul Protocol and ensure that judicial officials question physicians about their findings; (f) Ensure that judges launch investigations on their own initiative whenever there are reasonable grounds to believe that an act of torture or illtreatment has been committed. Mechanisms for complaints and protection against reprisals 21. In the light of the Committee’s previous recommendations (A/54/44, para. 96), the Committee remains concerned about reports of reprisals committed by the police against the families and counsel of victims with the aim of preventing them from submitting complaints of torture. The Committee also regrets that Tunisian legislation does not explicitly protect the confidentiality of complaints submitted to prosecutors through prison administrations. As for access to a lawyer for the submission of complaints, the Committee notes that such access is hampered by the fact that authorization must be requested from the investigating judge during pretrial detention, and after conviction, from the DirectorateGeneral of Prisons, and that lawyers’ interviews with their clients must take place in the presence of a prison guard (arts. 2, 12, 13 and 16). 22. The State party should: (a) Put in place an independent, effective, confidential and accessible mechanism to facilitate the submission of complaints by victims of torture and illtreatment, including by persons deprived of their liberty; (b) Uphold the principle under which communication between lawyers and their clients is secret and ensure access to counsel without delay for any persons deprived of their liberty; (c) Establish a system for the protection of victims of torture, witnesses and other persons supporting victims so that they are protected against all forms of reprisals; (d) reprisals. Take criminal and disciplinary measures against those who carry out Invalidity of confessions obtained under torture 23. While welcoming the amendment of article 155 of the Code of Criminal Procedure concerning the admissibility of confessions, the Committee remains concerned about reports that confessions made under torture have been admitted as evidence in court in the absence of any investigation into the torture allegations. The Committee is further concerned at the absence of any information on cases in which courts have declared evidence obtained under torture or duress to be null and void (art. 15). 24. The State party should adopt effective measures to ensure full compliance with article 155 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Committee thus invites the State party to: (a) Ensure that in cases of allegations of torture it is for the prosecuting authority to establish that evidence has not been obtained under duress; (b) Adopt the legislative measures required to permit proceedings to be reopened on the grounds that they have been held on the basis of confessions extracted under torture. 6 GE.16-09569