CAT/C/33/D/207/2002 Page 4 complaint filed by the victim therefore amounts to an insurmountable impediment in the exercise of the victim’s right to act as a private prosecutor and to have his case heard before a court. Finally, even if there were a legal possibility for the victim himself to file for a formal judicial investigation because of the inaction of the public prosecutor, this would in effect be unfeasible if, as in the instant case, the police and the public prosecutor had failed to identify all of the alleged perpetrators beforehand. Article 158 (3) of the CPC provides that the person against whom a formal judicial investigation is requested must be identified by name, address and other relevant personal data. A contrario, such a request cannot be filed if the alleged perpetrator is unknown. The complaint 3.1 The complainant claims that the acts described constitute a violation of several provisions of the Convention, in particular articles 2, para.1 read in conjunction with article 1; article 16, para.1; and articles 12, 13 and 14 taken alone and/or together with article 16, para.1. Such acts were perpetrated with a discriminatory motive and for the purpose of extracting a confession or otherwise intimidating and/or punishing him. He also submits that his allegations should be interpreted in the context of the serious human rights situation in the State party and, in particular, the systematic police brutality to which Roma and others are subjected to. In evaluating his claim the Committee should take into account his Romani ethnicity and the fact that his membership in a historically disadvantaged minority group renders him particularly vulnerable to degrading treatment. All else being equal, a given level of physical abuse is more likely to constitute “degrading or inhuman treatment or punishment” when motivated by racial animus and/or coupled with racial epithets than when racial considerations are absent. 3.2 With respect to article 12 read alone or taken together with article 16, para. 1 of the Convention, the complainant claims that the State party’s authorities failed to conduct a prompt, impartial and comprehensive investigation into the incident at issue, notwithstanding ample evidence that an act of torture and/or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment had been committed. Public prosecutors seldom institute criminal proceedings against police officers accused of violence and/or misconduct even though such cases are in the category of those that are officially prosecuted by the State. When the victims themselves or NGOs on their behalf file complaints against police misconduct, public prosecutors as a rule fail to initiate proceedings. They generally restrict themselves to requesting information from the police authorities and, when none is forthcoming, they take no further action. Judicial dilatoriness in proceedings involving police brutality often results in the expiration of the time period envisaged by law for the prosecution of the case. Notwithstanding the proclaimed principle of the independence of the judiciary, practice makes clear that public prosecutor’s offices do not operate on this principle and that both they and the courts are not independent of the agencies and offices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This is especially true with respect to incidents of police misconduct. 3.3 With respect to article 13 of the Convention the complainant submits that the right to complain implies not just a legal possibility to do so but also the right to an effective remedy for the harm suffered. In view of the fact that he has received no redress for the violations at issue he concludes that his rights under article 13 taken