CAT/C/69/3 2. Cooperation with other relevant international organizations 37. The Subcommittee continued its cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross, particularly in the context of its field visits. B. Regional cooperation 38. The Subcommittee continued its cooperation with regional organizations, including the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, building on the reciprocal exchange of letters to give effect to article 31 of the Optional Protocol in order to strengthen complementarity and subsidiarity. The Subcommittee also met with representatives of the Council of Europe and the secretariat to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine for an exchange of views concerning proposals for a protocol to the Convention. The Subcommittee expressed its concerns at aspects of the proposals. The Subcommittee is aware that, following widespread expressions of concern, new proposals are likely. It welcomes the opportunity to contribute to future discussions, drawing on its own expertise and experience concerning the matters to be addressed. C. Civil society 39. The Subcommittee continued to benefit from the support of civil society, including the Association for the Prevention of Torture and a number of academic institutions, including the Human Rights Implementation Centre at the University of Bristol. It also benefited from its contact with civil society organizations during visits, which it thanks for their work in promoting and supporting the Optional Protocol. The Subcommittee is particularly grateful to the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance for facilitating meetings with a delegation from the State of Palestine at its thirty-eighth session regarding the establishment of the national preventive mechanism by the State party. 40. The Subcommittee also welcomes the revision to the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Istanbul Protocol), to which it was pleased to contribute. IV. Developments relating to working practices A. Visits 41. The Subcommittee had planned to resume a programme of 10 visits in 2019, having been able to undertake only six visits in 2018. It was, however, able to make visits to only seven State parties (Cabo Verde, Costa Rica, Ghana, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Switzerland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). A planned visit to the State of Palestine has been delayed sine die (see para. 16 above). Another two visits – to Bulgaria and Paraguay – had also been announced, but could not be made as planned owing to budgetary restrictions. This is the first time in the Subcommittee’s history that visits that had been planned and announced have had to be postponed for such reasons. 42. The Subcommittee reiterates the point it made in its eleventh annual report, on the work undertaken in 2017 (CAT/C/63/4), that the inability of the Subcommittee to undertake a minimum of 10 visits per year significantly diminishes the preventive impact of the Optional Protocol and undermines the proactive nature of the system of prevention that it establishes. It is imperative that the Subcommittee be allocated the resources necessary to enable it to undertake a full visiting programme. B. Working groups 43. The Subcommittee benefited in June and November 2019 from the availability of additional interpretation facilities during its sessions. This permitted all members to contribute more effectively to the working groups and regional teams of the Subcommittee, 8