CPT: 10TH GENERAL REPORT 9 Visits 3. The CPT organised 16 visits totalling some 150 days during 1999, an increase of around 20 days as compared to 1998. A complete list of the countries and places of detention visited by CPT delegations in 1999 is set out in Appendix 4. 4. The CPT carried out 11 periodic visits : to Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Norway, Portugal, Romania, the Russian Federation, San Marino, and the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland). This was the first time the CPT had visited Latvia, Northern Ireland, Romania, and the Russian Federation on a periodic basis. Bulgaria, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Norway and San Marino received their second periodic visit from the Committee, and Austria and Portugal, their third. In previous annual reports, the CPT has indicated that, in the interests of maintaining the momentum for change, the average period between periodic visits to a given country should not exceed four years. Unfortunately, due to inadequate resources, the Committee is not at present able to meet this objective in many cases. In 1999, it was only met with respect to Bulgaria and Portugal; the gap between the periodic visits to Austria and Hungary was five years, to Liechtenstein and Norway - six years, and to San Marino - seven years. 5. Five ad hoc visits were organised, to Estonia, Greece, the Netherlands Antilles, Turkey and Ukraine. The January 1999 ad hoc visit to the Netherlands Antilles deserves to be highlighted, as it was organised following an invitation from the Netherlands authorities. This was only the second example of a CPT visit being carried out at the request of a State, a somewhat surprising fact given that a number of situations can be imagined in which such an approach could prove useful to a government. The Committee was requested to review on the spot the action which had been taken to improve the situation at Koraal Specht Prison in Curaçao - an establishment which the CPT had visited previously - and to hold consultations with the Netherlands Antilles authorities with a view to establishing a clear timetable for the taking of further measures required. The ad hoc visits to Estonia, Greece and Ukraine were of a follow-up nature, their purpose being to verify whether recommendations made by the CPT during earlier visits as regards specific establishments and/or particular issues had been fully implemented. The CPT’s ad hoc visit to Turkey in early 1999 was also in part of a follow-up nature, enabling the Committee to assess the progress made since its periodic visit in October 1997 as regards the treatment and physical conditions of detention of persons deprived of their liberty by the police. The delegation also visited the prison on the island of İmralı, where it examined the treatment of the establishment's sole inmate, Abdullah Öcalan. 6. For the most part, cooperation between States and the CPT in the context of visits has been very good at both national and local level. Awareness of the Committee's mandate is by now fairly widespread in Europe among the officials and staff working in the various categories of establishments where persons may be deprived of their liberty. Nevertheless, there have been some exceptions to this generally positive situation. In particular, delays in getting access to specific establishments are still encountered from time to time, especially as regards law enforcement agencies. In some recent cases, these difficulties flowed from the fact that the credentials issued to CPT delegations by authorities at national level were disregarded by law enforcement officials. Steps must be taken to ensure that delegations are issued with credentials which are effective at all levels and vis-àvis all authorities (including city and regional). It should be added that on returning to establishments which have previously been the subject of a visit, CPT delegations still find on occasion that the management of those establishments have received no information concerning the Committee's earlier findings. Obviously, such a state of affairs is not satisfactory.