A/HRC/42/20 effective investigations with respect to deaths in custody and all allegations of abuse or violence.133 Human rights mechanisms also highlighted the need to adequately investigate instances of inter-prisoner violence and decried the absence of accountability and punishment commensurate with the crimes in such cases.134 Failure to investigate results in impunity and this has been described as a human rights violation in and of itself in cases of torture and ill-treatment.135 46. The Committee against Torture also expressed concern about how investigations were being conducted. The Committee raised the issue of conflicts of interest in investigations, particularly when complaints of torture or ill-treatment were conducted by the perpetrators of such treatment or detention authorities, or by the prosecutors who were also in charge of the criminal case against the detainee rather than independent authorities. 136 Other lacunae have also been identified, such as the absence in forensic services of medical personnel trained in documenting and investigating torture. 137 In other cases, the actions of the detaining authorities, such as delaying or preventing access to the scene of the events,138 or in other cases ordering the cleaning of a potential crime scene before the arrival of police,139 have resulted in obstructing the investigations into deaths in detention or allegations of torture and ill-treatment. 47. Several resources are available to States to assist them in the implementation of their obligation to investigate deaths in custody. In its general comment No. 36, the Human Rights Committee sets out some of the requirements and objectives of investigations into potential violations of the rights to life, including, for instance, the need for transparency, both with regard to the victim’s next of kin and the public. The Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death is rooted in the international legal obligations of States to respect and protect life and to investigate unlawful deaths. It specifies that the duty to investigate is triggered when a State agent causes the death of a detainee or when a person dies in custody. The duty entails reporting the event, without delay, “to a judicial or other competent authority that is independent of the detaining authority and mandated to conduct prompt, impartial and effective investigations into the circumstances and causes of such a death”.140 In 2013, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) published its Guidelines for Investigating Deaths in Custody, providing States with detailed guidance on the norms and standards to be respected and the methodology to be followed by preliminary, judicial and non-judicial investigations into cases of death in custody.141 The Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, also known as the Istanbul Protocol, provides detailed guidance for investigating cases of alleged torture and reporting such cases to the relevant authorities, setting out the standards for the legal investigation and documenting the physical and psychological effects of torture by medical professionals. 142 3. Data collection 48. Adequate and accurate data-gathering can help identify trends across detention facilities, improve oversight and ensure that investigations are effective and perpetrators are held accountable. Several treaty bodies have emphasized the importance of data for 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 See CCPR/C/MDA/CO/3; CCPR/C/ECU/CO/6; CCPR/C/UZB/CO/4; CCPR/C/VEN/CO/4; CEDAW/C/IRQ/CO/4-6; CEDAW/C/GTM/CO/8-9; CRC/C/KAZ/CO/4; CRC/C/GAB/CO/2; CRC/C/TZA/CO/3-5; CRC/C/KGZ/CO/3-4; CAT/C/LKA/CO/5; CAT/C/TKM/CO/2; CAT/C/TUR/CO/3. See CAT/C/MDA/CO/3; CAT/C/BGR/CO/6; CAT/C/KAZ/CO/3; CAT/C/NLD/CO/5-6; CCPR/C/CYP/CO/4; CCPR/C/BOL/CO/3; CCPR/C/BIH/CO/2. Submission of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. See CAT/C/CHN-MAC/CO/5; CAT/C/KAZ/CO/3; CAT/OP/UKR/3; CAT/OP/MNG/1; CAT/OP/UKR/3; submission of the Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Distrito Federal (Mexico). See CAT/C/TJK/CO/2. See CAT/OP/UKR/3. Canada, Office of the Correctional Investigator, “Fatal response”. Minnesota Protocol, para. 17. ICRC, “Guidelines for Investigating Deaths in Custody”. Istanbul Protocol. 13