A/HRC/25/41 also encourage the Government to invite the Special Rapporteur on torture to make a country visit and assist in these important reform efforts. 33. In response to the UNAMA/OHCHR report, on 22 January 2013, President Karzai established a fact-finding presidential delegation to investigate the allegations of torture and ill-treatment contained in the report. UNAMA/OHCHR cooperated fully with the delegation. In February 2013, the delegation publicly announced that 48 per cent of the detainees it interviewed had experienced torture and ill-treatment at the time of arrest and during interrogation by ANP and NDS officials. The delegation also noted that two thirds of the detainees who were interviewed had not had access to a defence lawyer. 34. After receiving the delegation’s report, on 16 February 2013, President Karzai endorsed its recommendations and issued Presidential Decree No. 129. This decree ordered the NDS, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court to investigate allegations of torture, prosecute alleged perpetrators, release detainees and prisoners in arbitrary detention, and increase access of defence lawyers and medical personnel to detainees to prevent torture and arbitrary detention and ensure accountability. 35. During 2013, UNAMA/OHCHR engaged with government officials from relevant institutions and ministries, troop contributing nations, international donors, defence lawyers, human rights organizations and civil society to advocate and track implementation of the Presidential Decree. Visits to detention facilities continued with UNAMA/OHCHR assessing both the implementation and effectiveness of the Presidential orders and providing technical assistance when requested. UNAMA/OHCHR findings to date have indicated that torture and ill-treatment of conflict-related detainees persists in some detention facilities and that ANP and NDS personnel continue to use torture to obtain confessions. Presidential Decree No. 129 alone is not an effective deterrent to torture; greater accountability is needed. 36. However, some progress has been made, with basic accountability measures taken in several cases: there were torture-related arrests of Afghan Local Police officers in Kunduz in May 2013, but no prosecutions yet in this case; the AIHRC made a complaint of torture against a prominent ANP Commander in Kandahar to the NDS prosecutor which resulted in the Commander receiving a warning letter from the NDS and the police regarding his conduct; an ANP officer in Herat province received a similar reprimand. UNAMA/OHCHR also received reports that two NDS officials, who were arrested in Uruzgan province in June 2013 for allegedly torturing detainees, have been transferred to a Kandahar military court to await trial. These cases could set a precedent for addressing torture in the future. 37. Access to detention facilities has improved; in April 2013, the Director of the NDS ordered its detention facility directors to provide full access to human rights organizations and facilitate unannounced visits. Some provincial directors have established internal complaints mechanisms to investigate allegations of torture and internal monitoring mechanisms. While these complaints procedures are an improvement, they are internal measures that lack independence and transparency. 38. Defence lawyers have access to provincial NDS detention facilities, but can usually access detainees only after the investigation phase has been concluded. The Legal Aid Department of the Ministry of Justice lacks capacity and alone cannot address the current shortfall of legal aid defence lawyers. The Ministry of Public Health has made some progress to ensure that medical personnel working in detention facilities across Afghanistan are aware of Presidential Decree No. 129. Most medical personnel, however, lack independence as they report directly to the NDS and the Ministry of Interior Affairs and fear that they will face reprisals if they endorse findings of physical abuse or torture. 10