A/HRC/4/40 page 16 China 27. Following the Working Group’s visit to China, the Government informed the Group that it had taken due note of its recommendations and that the relevant departments were studying them carefully. Ecuador 28. Concerning the visits carried out during 2006, the Government of Ecuador reported that it was working on the implementation of the Group’s recommendations. By Executive Decree No. 1339 of 20 April 2006, it has established the Sub-Secretariat of Citizen Security, which will have, as a main responsibility, to guarantee the respect of human rights of detainees through the necessary coordination of the activities of the National Police, the Attorney-General’s Office, the Judiciary and the National Directorate for Social Rehabilitation. The municipalities of Cuenca, Guayaquil and Quito were drafting a legal norm which would allow them to participate in issues concerning contraventions and minor offences. This would accelerate the judicial processes for such infractions and guarantee the rights of the detainees. Lastly, by Executive Decree No. 1330-A of 7 April 2006, the Government had declared all the penitentiary establishments to be in a state of emergency, thus obtaining the necessary financial resources to urgently attend to the needs of such detention centres. A sum of US$ 8 million was immediately assigned. Nicaragua 29. The Government of Nicaragua reported that it had undertaken measures to comply with the recommendations of the Working Group. For instance, concerning the situation of the detention centres in the Southern Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS), it announced that it had decided to build a new penitentiary in the city of Bluefields and was trying to obtain the required financial resources. III. LEGAL OPINION ON PREVENTING ARBITRARY DETENTION IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERNATIONAL TRANSFER OF DETAINEES, PARTICULARLY IN COUNTERING TERRORISM A. Introduction 30. Cooperation among States in law enforcement and criminal justice matters is crucial to international efforts to bring to justice perpetrators of terrorist acts, their accomplices and financial supporters, and thereby prevent further terrorist attacks. In reacting to the unprecedented terrorist attacks on the United States of America, the Security Council decided in resolution 1373 (2001) of 28 September 2001 that all States shall “Afford one another the greatest measure of assistance in connection with criminal investigations or criminal proceedings relating to the financing or support of terrorist acts, including assistance in obtaining evidence in their possession necessary for the proceedings” (para. 2 (f)). In the same resolution, the Council also called upon all States to “Cooperate, particularly through bilateral and multilateral arrangements and agreements, to prevent and suppress terrorist attacks and take action against perpetrators of such acts” (para. 3 (c)).