CAT/OP/SEN/2 III. Recommendations for the national preventive mechanism 11. The Subcommittee takes note of the work done by the Director of the Observatory, Mr. Diouf Tall, since his appointment on 19 January 2012 under Decree No. 2012-119. The Subcommittee wishes to draw attention to the adoption in November 2012 of the Observatory’s rules of procedure, by decision No. 1-2012, and the creation of the National Monitoring Committee of the Observatory, by decision No. 2-2012 establishing various organizational and structural procedures. The Subcommittee also notes the adoption of the Guidance on Visits, on 26 November 2012. 12. The Subcommittee commends the Director’s efforts to forge links with potential partners in Senegal of relevance to his mandate on prevention of torture, at a seminar held on 5 and 6 December 2012 in Dakar. 13. The Subcommittee takes note of the steps taken by the Director to contact other national preventive mechanisms, and in particular his visit to the French preventive mechanism, the Inspector-General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty, from 25 to 29 June 2012, and the Director’s involvement in the exchanges on ratification of the Optional Protocol by the countries of the West Africa region, from 24 to 26 September 2012 in Dakar. A. Recommendations regarding the legal framework of the national preventive mechanism 14. Without wishing to call in question the independence of the current Director, the Subcommittee finds that various components of the legislative framework of the national preventive mechanism make it impossible to guarantee the independence of the institution in accordance with the provisions of article 18 of the Optional Protocol. 15. The Subcommittee notes in particular: (a) the placing of the Observatory in the Ministry of Justice under “Other offices” (Decree No. 2012-1223 of 5 November 2012); (b) the procedure for appointing the Director of the Observatory, namely following nomination by the Ministry of Justice, as provided by Decree No. 2011-842 of 16 June 2011 on the application of Act No. 2009-13 establishing the National Observatory; (c) the Government’s practice of placing State officials at the disposal of the Observatory, as provided under article 3 of the same Decree. The Subcommittee also notes that the powers of the Observatory are interpreted narrowly to exclude places of deprivation of liberty that are under the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces. 16. The Subcommittee has communicated these concerns in the visit report addressed to the Senegalese Government. 17. The Subcommittee urges the Observatory, in accordance with article 8 of Act No. 2009-13 of 2 March 2009 mandating it to make recommendations of a legislative nature, to make a case for the reinforcement of the legal framework of the institution. In that context, the Observatory should recommend that: (a) the National Observatory of Places of Deprivation of Liberty should be separate from the executive branch; (b) the Observatory should be able to select, recruit and remunerate its own staff; (c) the procedure for appointing the Director should be open, inclusive and participatory; and (d) the powers and mandate of the national preventive mechanism should be duly brought into line with the provisions of articles 4 and 20 of the Optional Protocol. 4 GE.13-45918