A/HRC/25/60 10. On 5 November 2013, the Special Rapporteur met with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Strasbourg, France. 11. From 8 to 14 November 2013, the Special Rapporteur conducted a visit to Ghana at the invitation of the Government. 12. On 15 November 2013, the Special Rapporteur discussed the topic of reprisals during a meeting with members of the Committee against Torture and the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Geneva. 13. On 9 December 2013, the Special Rapporteur gave a keynote speech on the theme: “What steps can the international community take to eradicate torture?” at the fifth annual Baha Mousa memorial lecture in London. 14. From 10 to 12 February 2014, the Special Rapporteur conducted a follow-up visit to Tajikistan at the invitation of the Government, to assess the level of implementation of his recommendations and identify remaining challenges regarding torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 15. On 25 February 2014, the Special Rapporteur submitted a written statement to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights of the Senate Judiciary Committee and attended the second hearing on solitary confinement of the Subcommittee, held in Washington, D.C. 16. On 28 February 2014, the Special Rapporteur welcomed the publication entitled “Torture in health-care settings: reflection on the Special Rapporteur on Torture’s 2013 thematic report” published by the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. III. Use of information tainted by torture and the exclusionary rule 17. The exclusionary rule is fundamental for upholding the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (other ill-treatment) by providing a disincentive to carry out such acts. It contains an absolute prohibition on the use of statements made as a result of torture or other ill-treatment in any proceedings.1 However, in practice, this prohibition is not always upheld. Moreover, the wording of article 15 of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment may be its weakest aspect and the one most frequently flouted by States that practice torture. Some States interpret “any proceedings” narrowly, to mean judicial proceedings of a criminal nature against the person who has made the statement. More importantly, some insist that the exclusionary rule is triggered only when it is established that the statement was made under torture. However, the exclusionary rule is a norm of customary international law and is not limited to the Convention, which is only one aspect of it. The exclusionary rule must be considered as one element under the overarching absolute prohibition against acts of torture and other ill-treatment and the obligation to prevent such acts. 1 4 The rule does provide a limited exception: where a person is prosecuted for torture, a statement may be admitted as proof that that statement was made. However, commentators have observed that the wording does not in fact demonstrate an exception, since in proceedings against a person accused of torture, a confession is not admitted to show that it is true, but simply that it was made. See J. Herman Burgers and Hans Danelius, The United Nations Convention Against Torture. A Handbook on the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Dordrecht, Netherlands, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers,1988), pp. 147–148.