(d)The Law on the Establishment of Administrative Tribunals (1999) providing for the examination of complaints concerning acts, actions or omissions of public officials; (e)The transfer of responsibility for enforcement of criminal punishments from the Ministry of the Interior to the Ministry of Justice by Law No. VIII-1631 of 18 April 2000; (f)The ratification of several human rights treaties, notably the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and ongoing cooperation with the Committee for the Prevention of Torture; (g)The ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 2003; (h)The development of a National Human Rights Action Plan approved by resolution of the Parliament of Lithuania No. IX-1185 of 7 November 2002; (i)The development of institutional structures for human rights, in particular the Parliamentary Ombudsman, the Ombudsman for Equal Opportunities of Women and Men and the Children’s Rights Ombudsman; (j)The establishment of the Witness and Victim Protection Service of the Police Department; (k)The steps initiated to reduce overcrowding by, inter alia, introducing a crime of misdemeanour which prescribes non-custodial punishments. C. Subjects of concern 109.The Committee expresses concern about the following: (a)The absence of a comprehensive definition of torture as set out in article 1 of the Convention, and lack of a specific criminal offence of torture in criminal law (art. 4); (b)The failure in practice to enable detained persons to obtain access from the outset of their detention to a lawyer, independent doctor or family members; (c)Allegations of ill-treatment of persons in custody that may amount to torture, particularly any that may take place during police interviews; (d)Procedures related to expulsion of foreigners which in some instances may be in breach of article 3; the conditions in the facilities where foreigners awaiting expulsion are kept and the absence of data on the age, sex and country of destination of expelled foreigners or stateless persons, specifically those at the Foreigners Registration Centre; (e)The large increase in complaints about the treatment of prisoners by the police (largely due to the State’s own positive efforts to make the complaint process more confidential) and that, according to the State party, almost half of such complaints have been upheld. The Committee is further concerned that investigations into allegations against police officers are not conducted by a body independent of the police; (f)Reports that some State-appointed lawyers have shown little interest in how their clients who are detained are treated; (g)The lack of information on compensation and rehabilitation provided to victims of torture and/or ill-treatment; (h)That conditions in places of detention are poor, as acknowledged by the State party, and that some prisoners “live in fear” of interprisoner violence, as noted by the European Committee to Prevent Torture; (i)The lack of information provided regarding allegations of brutality against conscripts in the army. D. Recommendations 110. The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Adopt a definition of torture that covers all the elements contained in article 1 of the Convention and incorporate into the Penal Code a definition of a crime of torture that clearly responds to this definition; (b) Ensure that all detained persons have immediate access to a doctor and a lawyer, as well as contact with their families at all stages of detention (art. 2); Take all appropriate measures to prevent acts of torture and ill treatment by, inter alia: Ensuring that health-care personnel are trained to identify signs of physical and psychological torture; Emphasizing the importance of training prison officials to develop good communication skills between themselves and with detainees, as a measure to reduce the resort to prohibited physical coercion, and to reduce inter-prisoner violence; Taking other appropriate measures to prevent acts of ill-treatment by members of the police, and establish a fully independent and impartial investigation system;