FOREWORD The National Agency for the Prevention of Torture (National Agency) was established in 2009 on the basis of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OP-CAT). Its task within the context of preventing inhuman conditions of detention is to regularly review and make recommendations for improving the conditions of detention and the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. The National Agency has found that including the term “torture” in its designation can prove an obstacle when it comes to fulfilling this task, since its remit is then often reduced to the “prevention of torture”. In fact, no evidence of torture was found in any of the institutions visited. Nevertheless, a number of issues were identified based on which recommendations were then made. The National Agency comprises the Federal Agency for the Prevention of Torture (Federal Agency) and the Joint Commission of the Länder for the Prevention of Torture (Joint Commission). Every year it submits a joint Annual Report to the Federal Government, the German Bundestag, the Land governments and the Land parliaments. This Annual Report covers the period between 1 January and 31 December 2013. For the sake of thematic consistency, the Annual Report 2013 also covers the visit to Rendsburg Pre-Deportation Detention Facility on 13 January 2014. The National Agency visited a total of 36 facilities in 2013. These visits focused on custody pending deportation and forced returns by air. The Report sets out the National Agency’s stance on fundamental issues around the enforcement of custody pending deportation in Germany, and it comes out in favour of enforcing such custody pending deportation only in facilities established specifically for that purpose. Chapters III and IV contain descriptions of the Agency’s visits, its recommendations and the statements provided by the supervisory authorities in response to those recommendations, as well as best practice examples. In addition to conducting its national visits, the National Agency engaged in numerous international activities in the period under review. Further, Germany received visits from two international preventive mechanisms, the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT) and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). Once more, the National Agency’s financing and staffing were an important issue in the period under review. The Federal Agency was expanded by the addition of a second member, but although the Conference of Ministers of Justice of the Länder gave its approval for an additional member to join the Joint Commission, no decision has yet been taken on financing this position. Should its financial and human resources not be increased, the Joint Commission will not be able to fulfil some of its tasks in 2014. 8