MONITORING PLACES OF DETENTION : A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR NGOS III - FOLLOW-UP 67 OF THE VISIT The visit is not an end in itself: It is merely the beginning of a process aimed at improving the conditions of treatment and detention of persons deprived of their liberty. The phase which follows the visit is thus as important as the visit itself, if not more so. 1. HANDLING THE INFORMATION COLLECTED DURING THE VISIT Depending on the visiting team’s observations and the gravity of the problems encountered, the information collected during the visit can be used quickly to prepare oral or written representations, or it can be used later to draw up a synthesis report on the detention conditions. Summary reports can cover several visits carried out to the same place of detention or different places. The NGO must be able to identify reference points or indicators which enable it to follow the evolution over time of the conditions of detention in the places that it visits regularly. This means that the information gathered by the visiting teams must be analysed, organised, and filed in such a way that it can be used as efficiently as possible when needed. Information which is neither analysed nor filed logically is lost information. It is a good idea to draw up visit reports which have the same structure and headings for each visit. These reports prove particularly useful when summarising several visits and in preparing the next visit.