A/67/44 their right to have access to a lawyer and to contact a relative or trusted individual is guaranteed. The remedy of habeas corpus should be reviewed and strengthened and the necessary steps taken to ensure that the procedure granting it is summary and brief and that decisions on it are taken within the legal time limit in every case. The State party should guarantee that individuals in police custody are able to undergo an independent medical examination at the very start of their detention and not in the presence of a police officer. The State party should make certain that persons deprived of their liberty are registered promptly and ensure that the custody records in police stations are inspected regularly to check that they are being maintained in accordance with the procedures established by law. The State party should also ensure that the provisions of Decision No. 176/2010, on registration of detainees, are observed and, to that end, should consider making said decision law. Free legal assistance (12) While welcoming the recent adoption of the Organization Act on the Public Defender Service and the increased human resources allocated to it, the Committee expresses concern at the limited number of public defenders in the country, which prevents many persons deprived of their liberty from receiving adequate legal assistance. The State party should guarantee free legal assistance from the very start of detention for all persons requesting such assistance who do not have the means to pay for it themselves. To this end, the State party should improve working conditions in the Public Defender Service and allocate more human, financial and material resources to the institution to enable it to perform its duties. State of emergency (13) The Committee takes note of the declaration, in Act No. 4473 of 10 October 2011, of a 60-day state of emergency in the departments of Concepción and San Pedro. The Committee notes with concern that other states of emergency have been declared during the period covered by the State party’s report. Despite the information provided by the State party on the steps taken to safeguard the human rights of the persons affected, the Committee is concerned about restrictions on human rights in this period, as well as about potential violations of the Convention during the state of emergency. The State party should limit the declaration of a state of emergency to cases in which it is strictly necessary, and should at all times respect the provisions of article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The State party should also adhere strictly to the absolute prohibition of torture, in accordance with article 2, paragraph 2, of the Convention, which states that no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture. National human rights institution (14) The Committee welcomes the appointment in 2001, after a seven-year wait, of the State party’s first national ombudsman. The Committee is concerned, however, that, according to the delegation of the State party, the mandate of the current ombudsman has expired and that no suitably qualified successor has as yet been appointed. The Committee is also concerned that the Office of the Ombudsman does not have the necessary resources to accomplish its task of independently and effectively protecting and promoting human rights (art. 2). The Committee recommends that the State party take the necessary steps to appoint a new, suitably qualified ombudsman as soon as possible, in accordance with the procedure established by law. The State party should equip the Office of the Ombudsman with sufficient financial, material and human resources to carry out its GE.12-44492 77