A/HRC/RES/31/31 arrest, detention or imprisonment in any territory under its jurisdiction, with a view to preventing any cases of torture, Mindful of existing principles, guidelines and standards relevant to interrogation, including the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the United Nations Body of Principles for the Protection of all Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, and also mindful of the Luanda Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention in Africa, adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, adopted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and the revised standards for law enforcement agencies, issued by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1. Emphasizes that States must take persistent, determined and effective measures to prevent and combat all acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, stresses that all acts of torture must be made offences under domestic criminal law punishable by appropriate penalties that take into account their grave nature, and calls upon States to prohibit under domestic law acts constituting cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; 2. Urges all States that have not yet become a party to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to do so, and to give early consideration to signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol thereto as a matter of priority; 3. Welcomes the Convention against Torture Initiative, launched in March 2014 on the thirtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention, to achieve the universal ratification and improved implementation of the Convention by 2024, and related regional initiatives on the prevention and eradication of torture; 4. Urges States to adopt, implement and comply fully with legal and procedural safeguards against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and to ensure that the judiciary, and where relevant the prosecution, can effectively ensure compliance with such safeguards; 5. Stresses that effective legal and procedural safeguards for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment include ensuring that any individual arrested or detained on a criminal charge is brought promptly before a judge or other independent judicial officer, and permitting prompt and regular medical care and legal counsel at any stage of detention and visits by family members; 6. Also stresses the obligation of States to ensure that anyone who is arrested is informed at the time of arrest of the reasons for the arrest, and is promptly informed of any charges against him or her in accessible forms of communication, including in a language that he or she understands, and be provided with information about and an explanation of his or her rights; 7. Calls upon States in the context of criminal proceedings to ensure access to lawyers from the outset of custody and during all interrogations and judicial proceedings, and timely access of lawyers to appropriate information to enable them to provide effective legal assistance to their clients; 8. Encourages States to ensure that a proper and consented medical examination by a medical practitioner is available to persons in police custody and pretrial detention as promptly as possible after their admission to the place of detention, and to ensure that the results of every examination and relevant statements by the detainee and the medical 2