The Commission was informed by SPs that in the event an inmate wished to complain about the assault or violence to which he was subject during arrest, the routine practice is that a letter would be submitted through the SP to the relevant Superintendent of Police of the police station area where the incident occurred. The standard letter would request an inquiry into the allegation and necessary action but there was no standard procedure with the procedure followed by prisons differing slightly. For instance, PCP refers such cases to the Assistant Superintendent of Police of the relevant police station while KRP refers them to the Senior Superintendent of the Ratnapura Police. However, in an interesting example, the SP of the BRP stated that they not only record assaults by the police but also inform the National Police Commission (hereinafter referred to as NPC) of such incidents. The SP of the BATRP stated that in addition to the general procedure, a report is sent to the Prison Headquarters for necessary action. It was noted that many persons do not report violence to the prison authorities upon admission due to the fear of possible reprisals from the relevant police entity. Also, the Commission was not able to verify if, following the referral of such complaints by the prison authorities to the police, inquiries are in fact conducted, and if action is taken by the entity responsible to sanction the relevant police officer. Even if the person is produced before the Judicial Medical Officer (hereinafter referred to as JMO) by the prison, the Medico-Legal report would remain with the JMO unless the inmate wished to pursue remedies, such as actively pursue the police complaint, or file a fundamental rights petition or complain to the Commission, in which event the report would be called for by the relevant remedial institution. Thus, the effectiveness of the process remains unknown as there is no mechanism in place to follow up on the matter. Hence, not only is there need for a standard procedure for the recording of the allegation of assault and examination and referral of the prisoner to the JMO, but a mechanism to follow-up on the action taken by the police and the NPC with regard to such complaints is also required. 4.1. Role of medical personnel in identifying and reporting police torture According to SMR 3433, if a medical professional becomes aware of any signs of torture or inhuman, degrading punishment they should document and report such cases to a competent medical, administrative or judicial authority. This must be done in a manner that does not expose the prisoner to a foreseeable risk of harm. The Commission found that prisoners who are newly admitted to a prison would be subjected to a medical examination. The Medical Officer (hereinafter referred to as MO) who is conducting the medical examination would inquire whether the inmate was subjected to any sort of assault while in police custody prior to admission into the prison. Visible injuries will be recorded by the MO and if the inmate is suffering from severe injuries which cannot be treated by the MO inside the prison, the inmate will be referred to the General Hospital (hereinafter referred to as GH). If there is a PH, the inmate will first be sent to the PH for treatment and then sent to the GH if s/he cannot be treated in the PH. 33 SMR 2015, r 34. 44