JEAN-JACQUES GAUTIER NPM SYMPOSIUM 2015 for the "do no harm" principle. While monitoring reports are mainly devoted to the institutions visited, thematic reports - or even a specific section in annual reports - may have a wider impact and reach not only prison authorities but also the general public. By highlighting difficulties faced by LGBT persons in detention, NPMs encourage the authorities to improve the detention conditions of this group and thus prevent future abuses, while bringing more visibility to a generally misunderstood issue. 8 France: Publication of an 'opinion' on the care and management of transsexual prisoners In 2010, the Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté (French NPM) published an 'opinion' (avis) in the Journal officiel de la République française on the care and management of transsexual prisoners. 8 In what can be considered a short thematic report, the opinion details developments on this issue based on numerous testimonies gathered from prisoners serving long sentences during site visits or from their correspondence. The opinion contains the following recommendations aimed at improving care for transgender detainees: • enable transgender detainees to benefit from access to a clearly identifiable specialist medical team throughout the care pathway; • ensure that transgender information and support; detainees receive adequate • ensure that the physical integrity of transgender detainees is protected without having to place them in solitary confinement for this purpose; • uphold the right of transgender detainees to intimacy and privacy. Such opinions enable the thematic treatment of an issue and its dissemination beyond the professional context of the penitentiary world and usually attract significant media coverage. 8 26 Opinion of 30th June 2010 concerning the care and management of transsexual prisoners, in: Opinions and Recommendations of the French 'Contrôleur général des lieux de privation de liberté' 2008 - 2014, see: http://www.apt.ch/en/ resources/opinions-and-recommendations-of-the-french-controleur-general-deslieux-de-privation-de-liberte-2008-2014/