Investigation 90. Independent, prompt, impartial and effective investigations must be carried out ex officio whenever there are reasonable grounds to believe that an act of torture or other ill-treatment may have occurred, irrespective of whether a complaint has been received.203 Where there is suspicion or indication that torture may have taken place, there is an obligation for the competent authorities to investigate, with a view to establishing whether the offence took place and, where sufficient evidence exists, to prosecute and punish the person(s) responsible.204 This obligation derives from the absolute international legal prohibition of torture, and it is incorporated into numerous national constitutions. 91. Failure to conduct independent, prompt and impartial investigations into allegations of torture and bring perpetrators to justice were raised as significant concerns in several of the OSCE participating States surveyed, and were cited among the principle reasons why torture persists. A low rate of investigation and prosecution for torture is a consistent issue throughout the OSCE region.205 Aside from issues with investigations themselves, as further elaborated below, investigations are not initiated for the majority of torture allegations in a number of OSCE countries, and even fewer reach court. Statistics from one OSCE Eastern European OSCE participating State surveyed may serve as an example for the low rate of charges for torture in comparison to the numbers of complaints made, which is a widespread phenomenon across the OSCE region: out of 687 complaints made in 2018, prosecutors initiated investigations in 242, in which charges were made in only 93 cases.206 92. The Civic Solidarity Platform, a coalition of over 90 CSOs from the OSCE region, has highlighted that “Even where there are bona fide attempts at prosecution, these are often undermined by a lack of adequate safeguards and by corrupt, obstructive and non-transparent investigative mechanisms.”207 In the majority of countries surveyed, investigations into allegations of torture are carried out by the public prosecutor’s office, with a few exceptions, where investigations are conducted by separate bodies. 93. For several OSCE participating States, concerns were raised about perceived or actual collusion between prosecutors and the police officers they are investigating. 203 Article 12 UNCAT, op. cit., note 19. 204 Ibid., Articles 12, 6 and 7. 205 Civic Solidarity Platform, “Kyiv Declaration the OSCE Should Make Combating Torture a Priority”, Adopted by the participants of the OSCE Parallel Civil Society Conference Kyiv, 2–4 December 2013. 206 Questionnaire response Promo Lex Association (Moldova) (2019). 207 CSP Outcome report – OSCE Parallel Civil Society Conference, Belgrade (2015), p. 29. 57