Implementation of the Duties and Powers of the National Preventive Mechanism in 2012 During the visit, the Head of the Asylum Centre explained that the institution faced problems in providing for applicants, interpreters with the knowledge of foreign languages which are rarely used in Slovenia. There is an issue of providing an interpreter for the Pashto language spoken by applicants from Afghanistan. As a result, in cases of providing assistance in interpreting, the Asylum Centre asks for help from other applicants who are accommodated in the Asylum Centre and know at least one broadly understandable language in addition to this language. The NPM believes that this solution is highly inappropriate since, due to potential conflicting relations between applicants, a person interviewed and their close relatives in the country of origin may be put in danger straight away. An expectation was expressed that the presence of an official interpreter would be provided for in the Asylum Centre. It was proposed that the Asylum Centre should consider the option of deploying official interpreters via videoconferencing if the personal presence of an interpreter is difficult to achieve. As and when required, assistance in finding a suitable translator or interpreter should be sought from the European Asylum Support Office (the “EASO”) having a list of interpreters for 360 languages. In regard to the provision of an interpreter for the Pashto language, the Ministry of the Interior explained that the Ministry is aware that the right of an interpreter could not be provided for by engaging another applicant for international protection and agreed with the opinion that such practice is inappropriate owing to mutual relations among applicants and considering the provision of secrecy of a procedure. In regard to the engagement of interpreters through the EASO, the Ministry explained that, Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 439/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European Asylum Support Office envisages that a list of interpreters should be set by the Office to be made available for the asylum support teams, whereby the interpreters are provided for by the Member States. In the light of the above mentioned, a network of interpreters within the scope of the EASO is mainly an intervention mechanism intended for Member States with particular problems. Following a decision by the Office’s Management Board in February 2012, a list of interpreters is also available for the needs of Member States, meaning that Member States may agree on an interpreter without the intermediary intervention by the EASO. In the case of an interpreter for the Pashto language, the list of the EASO was not yet at the disposal of the Ministry, since it was submitted to Member States only in May 2012 when the Ministry had already made contact with interpreters for the Pashto language from Austria, and actual activities regarding the employment of an interpreter were already underway. In spite of this, the Ministry pointed out that the list of the EASO makes the working process significantly easier, especially when an interpreter for a language is not available. However, in any case, prior to any interpreting engagement, a cooperation agreement must be reached with an interpreter and a relevant legal basis must be arranged to pay for his/her services, for which a certain time period is needed. The Ministry had also communicated that, at the end of September 2012, a contract on the provision of translation and interpreting services was finally signed with an interpreter for the Pashto language from Austria. National Preventive Mechanism in the Republic of Slovenia under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 113