20 . Notwithstanding the creation in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of a body charged with the handling of complaints against police officers and prison staff alleging torture and ill-treatment ( the Sector for Internal Controls and Professional Standards ( SCIPS ) ) , the number of complaints leading to convictions was still very small , at least according to the statistics published in the report of the United States Department of State on the human rights situation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia ; that was truly astonishing .