where law enforcement relies on confessions as the principal means of solving cases and courts fail to put an end to these practices.”18 Although most countries have legal and procedural safeguards to prohibit forced confessions and to prevent the overreliance on confessions, these do not always provide effective protections against the use of torture. 12. Obtaining a confession remains one of the principle incentives for torture, if not the main incentive. As such, it is specifically included in the definition of torture in UNCAT.19 The link between the use of torture and confessions was reflected in some of the survey responses: In one Central Asian participating State, for example, 83 per cent of the torture cases dealt with by the reporting CSO involved the obtaining of a confession.20 In another State from Central Europe, the need to obtain a confession or witness testimony is perceived as one of the main incentives for the use of torture and other ill-treatment by police.21 More broadly in the Council of Europe region, which is widely considered as having made significant progress in implementing safeguards against torture and other ill-treatment, the CSO DIGNITY found that “In more than half of the CoE Member States, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has in the recent past heard allegations and found forensic medical and other evidence … of various forms of ill-treatment … that were applied at police premises and in the course of questioning for the purpose of obtaining a confession or information. In some cases, the ill-treatment alleged was of such severity that it could be qualified as torture.”22 13. Several fair trial rights enshrined in international and regional human rights law can also safeguard suspects from being tortured or ill-treated to obtain a confession during the investigative stage of detention, where the risk of torture or other ill-treatment is highest. In particular, these include the right to the presumption of innocence, the right against self-incrimination, the right to legal assistance, 18 19 20 21 22 UN General Assembly Seventy-first session, Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of punishment, (2016) A/71/298, para. 99. UN General Assembly, Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 10 December 1984, Article 1. Questionnaire response, Golos Svobody (Kyrgyzstan) (2019). Questionnaire response, Hungarian Helsinki Committee (Hungary) (2019)citing also Borbála Ivány, András Kádár, and András Nemes, ‘Hungary’, in Richard Carver & Lisa Handley (eds), op. cit., note 13, pp. 188–189 and 230. DIGNITY, “Combating Torture During Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention Discussion Paper”, Conference hosted by the Danish Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, (2018) p.4, para 7. 15