A/55/290 against Torture to apply universal jurisdiction in respect of alleged perpetrators of torture (articles 5 and 7) and to make torture a crime under domestic law (article 4). He further recalls the latest resolution adopted by the Commission on Human Rights on the question of torture (resolution 2000/43), in which the Commission stressed the general responsibility of all States to investigate allegations of torture and to ensure that those who encourage, order, tolerate or perpetuate such acts are held responsible. Case law under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and the American Convention on Human Rights indicates that a failure to prosecute, or at least a failure to investigate in a manner which potentially leads to prosecution, is incompatible with the responsibilities of States under these conventions. He similarly recalls the adoption on 17 July 1998 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the preamble of which expressly states that the establishment of the Court is fuelled by the determination to put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes and thus to contribute to the prevention of such crimes. It stresses that the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished and that their effective prosecution must be ensured by taking measures at the national level and by enhancing international cooperation. It further provides that it is the duty of every State to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for international crimes. In the light of the above, it is the view of the Special Rapporteur that States may now exercise universal jurisdiction over the alleged perpetrators of torture. 33. In that context, the Special Rapporteur welcomes the decision of the House of Lords, the highest court in the United Kingdom, which concluded in March 1999 that Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, former head of State of Chile, was not immune from being extradited to Spain to stand trial on charges of human rights abuses, including torture. The House of Lords determined by reference to the Convention against Torture that immunity was inconsistent with the wording of the Convention. Similarly, the Special Rapporteur is pleased to note the decision by the Chilean Supreme Court to strip General Pinochet of his immunity, clearing the way for his future trial in connection with a notorious military death squad believed to be responsible for the deaths of 72 political prisoners. The Special Rapporteur recently expressed his concern, 8 with the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, to the Government of Senegal over the circumstances surrounding the recent dismissal of charges of being an accomplice to torture against the former President of Chad, Hissène Habré. E. Torture and poverty 34. As he stated during his oral presentation to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-sixth session, the Special Rapporteur believes that the question of poverty is all too relevant to issues falling within his mandate. 35. It is true that many of the more high-profile cases of torture that come to international attention concern people involved in political activities of various sorts. Such victims of torture may well be of a class or connected with organizations that have international contacts. The experience of missions in several parts of the world has led the Special Rapporteur to observe, however, that the overwhelming majority of those subjected to torture and ill-treatment are ordinary common criminals from the lowest strata of society. They are the ones who cannot afford good lawyers, or who may have access only to less-than-diligent lawyers provided, in some instances, by the State, or who may not have access to any lawyer at all; whose families do not have the connections to be taken seriously by the police, prosecutors or judges, or even the means of securing life-saving health care that may be obtained outside the place of detention, or of providing food fit to eat when the detaining authorities and institutions fail to make these available; and who do not have any idea of what their rights are, even the right not to be tortured, or how those rights may be secured. Indeed, they are often members of the lowest level of an underclass that is disconnected from all opportunity of leading decent lives as productive economic citizens. It must be noted that increasingly, information from nongovernmental sources is received in respect of torture or ill-treatment of persons believed to be involved in ordinary criminal activity. To what extent this trend may be a reflection of a greater awareness of a more long-standing problem is speculative. 36. The Special Rapporteur noted during one of his missions that the prison personnel in that country were underpaid, undertrained, and housed in conditions calculated to erode any sympathy they might have for their charges. Similar observations can be made