process of ratification of this treaty. As such, the national preventive mechanism, in order to perform the complementary work to that of the SPT and in accordance with the requirement for access set out in the OPCAT, must have free access to all types of places where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty, including among others, police stations, places for administrative detention, prisons, psychiatric institutions and institutions for persons in need, military detention facilities, facilities for children in conflict with the law and in need and means of transport of detained persons. 69.As a result of the discussions with the Commission representatives, the SPT is concerned that the HRCM may not have appropriately qualified people to undertake the variety of jobs related to the NPM work and that the HRCM might face the problem of inadequate financial resources. Current budgeting procedures were such that they might not guarantee the required financial autonomy; the SPT was informed that the practice of processing the Commission’s budget proposals was being developed. The SPT requests information on the budgetary and human resources made available to the HRCM to effectively carry out its functions as NPM, including a breakdown of the budgetary resources allocated for it to carry out the work as NPM. 70.In light of this first meeting with the national preventive mechanism, the SPT appreciates that the State of the Maldives has initiated the process of establishing the national preventive mechanism and calls upon the State to continue with the process of consolidating and institutionalizing it. For these purposes, it reaffirms the following guidelines addressed to the State in order to guarantee the optimum development of this mechanism, as well as directed at the national mechanism so that a comprehensive and complementary plan may be put in place allowing the NPM to accomplish its functions for the prevention of torture. B. Guidelines 1. Guidelines regarding the State party 71.The SPT wishes to indicate some guidelines for the State party concerning certain key issues of NPMs. The State should: (a)Guarantee the functional and perceived independence of the national preventive mechanism, as well as the independence of its staff and any experts it may use as consultants in order to prevent any real or perceived conflict of interest; (b)Adopt all necessary measures in order to guarantee that the experts of the national preventive mechanism have all the professional competencies that are required, including gender balance and the adequate representation of ethnic and minority groups of the country; (c)Provide the necessary resources for the functioning of the national preventive mechanism; (d)Provide the means to allow the national preventive mechanism to comply in a sustainable way with the principles related to the status of the national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (so called Paris Principles); (e)Provide the NPM with access to all information regarding the number of persons who are deprived of liberty in places of detention, as well as on the number of places of detention and their location; (f)Provide the NPM with access to all information regarding the treatment of these people and their conditions of detention, including access to all types of files; (g)Provide the NPM with the possibility of interviewing persons deprived of liberty, in private, with the assistance of an interpreter if necessary, as well as interviewing any other person whom the national preventive mechanism believes capable of providing relevant information; (h)Not sanction nor carry out acts that could be detrimental for people or organizations who provide information to the national mechanism; (i)Examine the recommendations made by the NPM and establish a dialogue with this mechanism regarding possible measures of implementation; (j)Publish and disseminate annual reports issued by the national preventive mechanism. 2. Guidelines regarding the National Preventive Mechanism 72.The SPT wishes to indicate some guidelines for the NPM itself concerning certain key issues. The NPM should: (a)Safeguard and maintain its functional independence, as well as the functional independence of its staff. Establish modalities so that other non-governmental actors working with and promoting the prevention of torture may have ways to cooperate with the mechanism or participate in it; (b)Assure and maintain the recruitment of personnel with the professional competence required, taking into account gender balance and an adequate representation of ethnic and minority groups of the country; (c)Monitor and evaluate its own functioning in terms of international standards established by the principles relating to the status and functioning of the national institutions for the protection and promotion of human rights (Paris Principles); (d)Plan use of resources and ways to guarantee periodic visits to check the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in all types of places of detention and take appropriate measures for their protection;