Follow-up to the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur in the report of his visit to Jamaica from 12 to 21 February 2010 (A/HRC/16/52/Add.3) 2010 (A/HRC/16/52/Add.3) 47. By letter dated 22 November 2011, the Special Rapporteur sent the table below to the Government of Jamaica, requesting information and comments on the follow-up measures taken with regard to the implementation of the recommendations. The Government of Jamaica responded by providing information on the measures taken with regard to the implementation of the recommendations. 48. The Special Rapporteur takes note of the fact that torture is prohibited under the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms; however he remains concerned that there remains no definition of torture as a separate offence in the criminal law. 28 The Special Rapporteur welcomes the steps taken to review the Convention against Torture with a view to considering its ratification. 49. The Special Rapporteur expresses concern about the reported cases of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement bodies, including the reported de facto extrajudicial killings by police, and the lack of prompt and thorough investigations launched into allegations of ill-treatment or excessive use of police force and number of convictions held. He calls upon the authorities to ensure prompt and through ex officio investigations for all allegations of ill-treatment or excessive use of police force by clarifying the mandates of the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions with respect to the conduct of investigations and prosecutions.29 50. The Special Rapporteur notes that although the Office of the Public Defender is mandated to visit police lock-ups, it has reportedly been facing ongoing difficulties for undertaking preventive visits to places of detention due to recently withdrawn requirement of 48-hour advance notice prior to undertaking the visit and an incident of death threat to ones if its members. He calls upon the Government to establish an effective independent national human rights institution, and provide it with adequate financial and human resources. 51. The Special Rapporteur expresses concern that according to the information received, the detention periods in pre-charge detention have reportedly ranged from three to 25 days, in violation of domestic law. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to reduce, as a matter of priority, the period of police custody to a maximum of 48 hours; ensure that access to lawyers of the suspect‘s own choosing is granted from the very moment of apprehension and that no further unsupervised contact with the interrogators or investigators should be permitted. 52. The Special Rapporteur observes that although complaints and allegations of abuse are reportedly sent to the Inspectorate Unit of the Ministry of National Security for investigation, the fact remains that this mechanism is marred by allegations of a lack of independence and ineffectiveness and that the complaints are essentially addressed to the same body alleged to have perpetrated the 28 29 See para. 21 of the Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee, Jamaica, 2011. See also Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee, Jamaica, 2011, para. 10. A/HRC/19/61/Add.3 126 Jamaica