- 14 In its response to the 2001 visit report the Greek authorities provided the CPT with a detailed list of the various human rights courses followed by police officers and constables. However, theory and practice are often very different, and new recruits may find it hard to apply the theory on the ground. For this reason, the CPT recommends that the Greek authorities seek to integrate human rights concepts into practical professional training for high-risk situations such as the apprehension and questioning of suspects. Further, it recommends that specific training be provided to those police officers who carry out custodial duties, emphasising their duty of care and the responsibility they have for all detainees during their time of detention in police stations. 18. One of the most effective means of preventing ill-treatment by law enforcement officials lies in the diligent examination by the competent authorities of all evidence of such treatment brought before them3 and, where wrongdoing emerges, the imposition of appropriate disciplinary and/or criminal penalties. This will have a strong deterrent effect. Conversely, if the relevant authorities do not take effective action upon complaints referred to them, those minded to ill-treat persons deprived of their liberty will believe that they can act with impunity. The fact that few formal complaints of ill-treatment are recorded is not necessarily a reliable guide as to the extent of the problem. Once again, several persons interviewed by the delegation stated that their attempts to complain to the prosecutor or judge, before whom they had been brought during or at the end of their custody, had met with no response. Others indicated that they had been discouraged from complaining, including by their own lawyers, on the ground that it would not be in their best interests. 19. As the CPT has stressed in previous reports, it is axiomatic that prosecutors and judges should take appropriate action when there are indications that ill-treatment by the police may have occurred. In this regard, the CPT recommends once again that whenever criminal suspects brought before a prosecutor or judge allege ill-treatment by law enforcement officials, the prosecutor/judge record the allegations in writing, order immediately a forensic medical examination and take the necessary steps to ensure that the allegations are properly investigated. Such an approach should be followed whether or not the person concerned bears visible external injuries. Further, even in the absence of an express allegation of ill-treatment, the prosecutor/judge should request a forensic medical examination whenever there are other grounds to believe that a person brought before him could have been the victim of illtreatment. Appropriate steps must also be taken to ensure that persons who may have been victims of ill-treatment by law enforcement officials are not dissuaded from lodging a formal complaint. 3 The allegations of ill-treatment received at Venna Special Holding Facility for Aliens was an occasion when such a diligent examination should have taken place (cf. paragraphs 52 to 56 below).