wishes to state that any searches carried out must not violate the right to dignity, and therefore vaginal searches should not be conducted as a matter of course. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party consider conducting an assessment of the abuse allegedly often suffered by women at the hands of police officers when they are arrested. The Subcommittee also recommends that the Mexican State take appropriate security and control measures with respect to visitors to the prison, particularly women, ensuring respect for their dignity and privacy. E.Failure to investigate, impunity and lack of redress 268.The delegation noted that criminal investigations into allegations of torture and other ill treatment are not pursued with the necessary diligence and timeliness on the part of prosecutors and that they seldom result in conviction of the perpetrator(s). The Subcommittee believes that this failure to investigate leads to impunity. 269.The Subcommittee also believes that this lack of investigation discourages victims from reporting alleged abuse and leads to widespread distrust of the justice system. When victims do not report such incidents, they have no possibility of seeking redress, including medical and psychological treatment for victims and their families and measures to ensure that such acts are not repeated. 270. The Subcommittee urges the State party to establish mechanisms and controls for following up on allegations of torture, to create a national assistance programme to provide redress for victims of acts of torture and to mount a prevention campaign aimed at averting the recurrence of such acts. F.Dialogue with authorities 271.The meetings held with Mexican authorities were very helpful in enabling the delegation to understand the framework of the system of deprivation of liberty. The Subcommittee reiterates its gratitude to the various ministries and institutions for the valuable information provided before, during and after the visit. 272.The Subcommittee wishes to point out to the State party that this is not an exhaustive report and it reflects only the main concerns that the delegation wished to raise with regard to the places and states visited. Taking into account the country’s complexity and federal structure and the short duration of the visit, this report has tried to capture the most salient impressions of the members of the delegation, which have been examined and discussed here from the perspective of the Subcommittee’s mandate of torture prevention. 273.The Subcommittee has learned with alarm that in the wake of the visit riots have occurred in several places of detention, with tragic consequences, including the loss of human lives. The Subcommittee wishes to register its concern about these incidents, which clearly show the shortcomings of the prison system in the State party and point up the urgent need for the Mexican State to address the recommendations made here by the Subcommittee and to do so as soon as possible. 274.By means of a note verbale dated 20 April 2009, the Mexican authorities provided some responses to the delegation’s preliminary observations. The Subcommittee welcomes those responses and reiterates its request for further clarification of some issues on which insufficient detail was provided. 275. The Subcommittee requests the Mexican authorities to provide within six months of official receipt of this visit report a full written response to the report and in particular to the conclusions, recommendations and requests for further information contained herein. This six-month period will allow time for at least some of the steps planned or in the process of being implemented to be realized in practice and for a programme of longer-term action to be initiated. The Subcommittee looks forward to continued cooperation with the Mexican authorities in the framework of a shared commitment to improve safeguards for the prevention of all forms of ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. 276.The Subcommittee is concerned that there may be reprisals against detainees interviewed by the delegation. On several occasions, detainees expressed reluctance to speak to the Subcommittee delegation for fear of the consequences that might ensue. 277.The Subcommittee wishes to remind the State party that any form of intimidation or reprisals against persons deprived of their liberty is a violation of its obligation under the Optional Protocol to cooperate in the work of the Subcommittee. In accordance with article 15 of the Optional Protocol, the Subcommittee appeals to the authorities of the State party to ensure that there are no reprisals as a result of the visit and requests detailed information on measures taken by the State party to prevent retaliation against detainees who provided information to the Subcommittee. In that connection, the Subcommittee thanks the State party for its communication dated 14 November 2008 explaining the measures taken by the competent authorities in respect of one of the people interviewed by the delegation during the visit, who was subsequently subjected to threats and reprisals. V.Summary of conclusions and recommendations 278. In line with Mexico’s policy of transparency and in accordance with article 16 of the Optional Protocol, the Subcommittee recommends that Mexico should make this report public, as other countries visited by the Subcommittee (Sweden and Maldives) have done. Making the report public would undoubtedly serve as an additional mechanism for preventing torture and ill-treatment by enabling widespread dissemination of the report’s recommendations, which are aimed both at federal and state institutions, at the national preventive mechanism and, indirectly, at human rights commissions and civil society organizations. A.National preventive mechanism 279. The national preventive mechanism should be strengthened such that all institutions, civil society organizations and