recommendations contained therein; 5. Urges States: (a) To cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur in the performance of his or her task, to supply all necessary information requested by him or her and to react appropriately and expeditiously to his or her urgent appeals, and those Governments that have not yet responded to communications transmitted to them by the Special Rapporteur to answer without further delay; (b) To give serious consideration to responding favourably to the Special Rapporteur’s requests to visit their countries; (c) To ensure appropriate follow-up to the recommendations and conclusions of the Special Rapporteur; 6. Also urges States: (a) To implement effective measures to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, particularly in places of detention and other places where persons are deprived of their liberty, including education and training for personnel, who may be involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of any individual subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment; (b) To take persistent, determined and effective measures to have all allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment promptly and impartially examined by the competent national authority, to hold persons who encourage, order, tolerate or perpetrate acts of torture responsible, to have them brought to justice and severely punished, including the officials in charge of the place of detention where the prohibited act is found to have been committed, and to take note, in this respect, of the Principles on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Istanbul Protocol) as a useful tool in efforts to combat torture; (c) To ensure that no statement established to have been made as a result of