A/HRC/4/33/Add.2 Page 78 16 December 2006 contains a provision requiring torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment to be punishable by law. As of the beginning of 2007, the Interim Constitution had not yet been promulgated by the House of Representatives. 420. Recommendation (c) stated: Incommunicado detention be made illegal, and persons held incommunicado released without delay; 421. According to information received from NGOs and other sources, no action has been taken so far to make incommunicado detention illegal. Article 14 (5) of the Constitution of 1990 provides that persons who are arrested shall not be denied the right to consult and be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice. Similarly, Section 15 (1) (d) of the Civil Rights Act provides that “except when otherwise provided for in current Nepali law, no arrested person shall be deprived of the right to consult a legal practitioner or agent of his choice according to law and to have his case pleaded by them”. However, CPN-M suspects held by the security forces were never given access to lawyers while held by the security forces (see below). 422. With an end to arrests of CPN-M suspects by the Nepalese Army, the practice of holding detainees incommunicado, often in unacknowledged detention, in army barracks has ceased. There are sometimes allegations of delays for detainees in police custody to have access to families or lawyers, but generally detainees are not held incommunicado. 423. Recommendation (d) stated: Those legally arrested should not be held in facilities under the control of their interrogators or investigators for more than the time required by law to obtain a judicial warrant of pre-trial detention, which should not exceed 48 hours. After this period they should be transferred to a pre-trial facility under a different authority, where no further unsupervised contact with the interrogators or investigators should be permitted; 424. According to information received from NGOs and other sources, as indicated above, CPN-M suspects were routinely held for long periods incommunicado often in unacknowledged detention with no access to a judicial authority while in NA barracks. These practices have ended since April 2006. The Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Control and Punishment) Ordinance (TADO) – under which many detainees were held without charge or trial under the previous government – lapsed at the end of October 2006 and has not been renewed. Most detainees held under TADO were gradually released after April 2006. A small number of persons affiliated with CPN-M are now facing other charges. 425. Of TADO detainees held at in the five high security prisons of Nepal between January and April 2006, many alleged they had been tortured by the security forces prior to being transferred to prison. Nearly all detainees reported being beaten and threatened with death as routine practice, even when they were not being interrogated. The methods described included beatings with sticks (lathis) mainly on the soles of the feet, kicking, punches directed at the head and to the chest. A minority of detainees also reported electric shocks, water immersion until suffocation and mock execution. 426. With regard to police custody, many detainees held by police are often held beyond 48 hours before being released or transferred to a pre-trial facility. Numerous allegations are reported of beatings of criminal suspects at police stations, especially during interrogation. Article 14 (6) of the Constitution requires that every person who is arrested and detained in