CAT/OP/1/Rev.1
maintaining the confidentiality of the detainee concerned and any other source of relevant
information and protecting such persons against reprisals.
C.
Visit reports
30.
Visit reports should focus on the most important issues, that is, the reporting of illtreatment, gaps in policies, regulations and practices, and the appropriateness of conditions
under which detainees are living, and should reflect any systematic lack of protection of the
rights of detainees. Good practices should be noted and filed for systematic analysis. Cases
of deliberate ill-treatment should be examined to identify gaps in the protection of persons
deprived of their liberty.
31.
Recommendations should be well founded and should reflect, among other things,
relevant international norms and practices. In general, recommendations should have a
preventive focus, addressing systematic gaps and practices (root causes), and be feasible in
practice. They should be relevantly focused, precise and non-complex, so as to avoid
confusion in the dialogue about their implementation.
32.
The national preventive mechanism should, based on its experience, develop a
strategy for the use of its report, which should include the submission of the report to
relevant official bodies and the Government as a basis for and dialogue, and possibly its
publication and dissemination, for the purpose of alerting the wider society.
D.
Follow-up to recommendations for change issued by the Subcommittee
and by the national preventive mechanism
33.
The national preventive mechanism should regularly verify the implementation of
recommendations, primarily through follow-up visits to problematic institutions, but also
based on relevant information from, among others, human rights bodies, governmental
institutions and civil society. In order to facilitate effective follow-up, the mechanism
should put in place a follow-up strategy that is clear and impact-oriented and develop the
practices and tools necessary to implement the strategy.
34.
The mechanism should maintain a constructive dialogue with, firstly, those to
whom the recommendations are addressed, namely, governmental authorities and the
directors/managers of the places of detention concerned, but also with their supervising
authorities. The dialogue should involve both written and oral exchanges on the
implementation of the recommendations. Those to whom the recommendations are
addressed should, on request from the mechanism, develop a concrete policy or plan of
action to commence reform where needed. In particular cases it may be appropriate to
recommend that authorities immediately put an end to certain practices and initiate a
criminal investigation.
35.
Visit reports, including recommendations, should, in principle, be published.
Exceptions may exist where the national preventive mechanism considers it inappropriate
to do so or where there is a legal impediment. Annual reports must be published and should
include, in addition to recommendations for change, the outcome of the dialogue with
authorities, i.e., follow-up on recommendations mentioned in previous annual reports. The
mechanism may also publish thematic reports.
36.
The national preventive mechanism should maintain a dialogue with other relevant
national and international actors, including civil society, consider all relevant information
received from them and advocate for submission of relevant information to the mechanism.
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