of weapons. This register should contain information on the officer’s identity, the circumstances in which the shots were fired (including date, time and place), the consequences, the identity of those wounded or killed, and the relevant medical reports. 318.The Subcommittee recommends that measures to prevent the possession of weapons by inmates should be tightened up. 319.The Subcommittee recommends that the State party should set up an effective, confidential and independent complaints system in all prisons. Each prison should keep a register of complaints, which should include information on the complainant’s identity, the nature of the complaint, the action taken, and the outcome of the complaint. 320.The Subcommittee recommends that adequate measures be taken to protect women prisoners, and that the principle of separation between women and men in prisons should be observed. Annex Comments by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Subcommittee’s preliminary observations Pursuant to the provisions of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which was ratified in April 2006, the Subcommittee on Prevention visited Honduras from 13 to 21 September 2009, and met with senior Government officials and visited places of detention and deprivation of liberty in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and Choloma, Cortes. The visit took place within the framework of the Convention against Torture, and its Optional Protocol, and the promotion and protection of human rights. It gave rise to a number of preliminary observations, on which comments were invited. Comments are herewith provided as follows: 1.Current political and social situation The Subcommittee states that it is not unaware of the debate regarding the legitimacy of the governing authorities but that, without engaging in an analysis of the issue, the current authorities are responsible for ensuring effective respect for human rights, regardless of the circumstances; we fully agree that this is an obligation of the State within the framework of the rule of law. The Subcommittee considers that the events of 28 June accentuated pre-existing institutional weaknesses and therefore formulates various recommendations aimed at extending the scope of protection in this regard, such as the creation of a central register, in the Supreme Court, to record cases of torture, defined as an offence. We fully acknowledge that a number of mistakes were made in response to the excesses committed by opposition groups against individuals, and against public and private property; they were not the result of a systematic policy of violation of fundamental rights, but of a desire to preserve the stability of the nation and the security of its inhabitants. We note in particular that the Subcommittee specifically acknowledges and expresses its appreciation of the way in which the authorities facilitated its visit and provided prompt and unhindered access to places of detention, thereby demonstrating that we met our international obligations under article 4 of the Optional Protocol. 2.Legal and institutional framework for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in Honduras As a party to the Convention against Torture, and to other international human rights instruments of the United Nations system and the Inter-American system, Honduras specifies in the provisions of its Constitution and other secondary legislation that everyone has the right to physical, psychological and moral integrity, and the right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In this extensive section, the Subcommittee formulates recommendations with regard to situations that have recently been, and are still being dealt with in order to overcome the shortcomings that still exist in the institutional system in this area. We have made some progress in this regard, through the formulation and adoption of new laws to promote the adoption of measures to prevent human rights violations, and the establishment of regulatory institutions, and through the increasingly effective supervision of the police and the army by civilian authorities. We believe that the recommendations concerning judicial matters made by the members of the Subcommittee are for the most part feasible and necessary in order to effectively ensure the prevention of torture and other cruel treatment; studies must therefore be carried out, and administrative and budgetary measures adopted, so that the recommendations can be implemented as soon as possible. In this context, we appreciate the recommendations, which focus on a number of aspects that are of vital importance for the protection of human rights, and the bodies that constitute the judiciary have expedited the processing of the various requests for habeas corpus made on behalf of persons deprived of their liberty, resulting in most cases in the release of those persons. We do not have reliable information to suggest that, within the framework of the recent political events, the police or military authorities systematically used torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment as an institutional mechanism for restoring law and order. If any such act were to have occurred, it would undoubtedly have been an isolated incident, and would have been duly reported to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, in order to hold the perpetrators criminally liable for the offence of torture (Criminal Code, art. 209A).