218. In the absence of a visit to Egypt, the Committee therefore could neither support the Government’s position nor call into question the allegations of torture, and it had to draw its conclusions on the basis of the information available to it. 219. The Committee considers that the information received with regard to allegations of the systematic practice of torture in Egypt appears to be well founded. Its conclusion is based on the existence of a great number of allegations, which came from different sources. These allegations largely coincide and describe in the same way the methods of torture, the places where torture is practised and the authorities who practice it. In addition, the information comes from sources that have proved to be reliable in connection with other activities of the Committee. 220. On the basis of this information, the Committee is forced to conclude that torture is systematically practised by the security forces in Egypt, in particular by State Security Intelligence, since in spite of the denials of the Government, the allegations of torture submitted by reliable non-governmental organizations consistently indicate that reported cases of torture are seen to be habitual, widespread and deliberate in at least a considerable part of the country. 221. The Committee recommends that Egypt reinforce its legal and judicial infrastructure in order to combat the phenomenon of torture in an effective way. In this connection, the Committee wishes to emphasize that it had recommended to the Government of Egypt, in November 1994, that it should set up an independent investigation machinery, including in its composition judges, lawyers and medical doctors, that should efficiently examine all the allegations of torture, in order to bring them expeditiously before the courts. This independent group should also monitor the safeguards against torture guaranteed to persons deprived of their liberty under Egyptian law, in particular by having access to all the places where allegations of torture have been reported, by alerting immediately the authorities concerned whenever those safeguards are not fully respected, and by making proposals to the authorities concerned to ensure that those safeguards are respected in all places where persons are detained. 222. In addition, the Egyptian authorities should undertake expeditiously a thorough investigation into the conduct of the police forces in order to establish the truth or otherwise of the many allegations of acts of torture, bring the persons responsible for those acts before the courts and issue and transmit to the police specific and clear instructions designed to prohibit any act of torture in the future. -36-