(h) The work programme of NPMs should cover all potential and actual pl aces of deprivation of liberty; (i) The periodicity of NPM visits should ensure effective monitoring of such places as regards s afeguards against illtreatment; (j) Working methods of NPMs should be developed and reviewed with a view to effective identification of good p ractice and gaps in protection; (k) States should encourage NPMs to report on visits with feedback on good practice and gaps in protection to the institutions concerned, as well as with recommendations to the responsible authorities on improveme nts in practice, policy and la w ; (l) NPMs and the authorities should establish an on-going dialogue based on the recommendations for changes arising from the visits and the action taken to respond to such recommendations, in accordan ce with Article 22 of the OPCAT; (m) The annual report of NPMs shall be published in accordance with Article 23 of the OPCAT; (n) The development of NPMs should be considered an on-going obligation, with reinforcement of formal aspects and working methods refined and improved incrementally . 42. The SPT invites the authorities to take into account the views of the SPT expressed in paragraphs 37 to 41, and requests the Government to provide information on any new developments in respect of the NPMs within six months. III. SITUATION OF PERSONS DEPRIVED OF THEIR LIBERTY A. Police facilities 1. Basic safeguards 43.The SPT considers that the right to inform a close relative or another third party of their choice of the deprivation of liberty, the right of access to a lawyer and the right of access to a doctor are fundamental safeguards against ill-treatment which should apply from the very outset of deprivation of liberty. For the proper exercise of these rights, it is fundamental that the persons obliged to remain with the police are informed without delay of all their rights, including those mentioned above and the relevant procedural rights that the person concerned may exercise. (a)Information of rights 44.There is no clear provision in the Swedish legislation on the duty to inform the person obliged to stay with the police about his/her rights, and no system for reading people their rights at the moment of apprehension is established in practice. 45.In a meeting with the National Police Board (Rikspolisstyrelsen) the delegation was told that a person questioned by the police is informed about his/her rights at the first questioning which takes place as soon as possible after apprehension (the so called 24 (8) questioning, the number referring to the relevant section in the Code of Judicial Procedure, Rättegångsbalk). This information is given orally, and includes at least information on the right to have a defence counsel. The person concerned is also informed of the reasons for the apprehension. This was also confirmed by the officers in charge whom the delegation met in the police stations visited. 46.However, it remained unclear to the delegation as to which rights, other than the right to have defence counsel, the persons concerned are and should be informed about. Furthermore, on the basis of the interviews with the detainees, the delegation gained the impression that information on rights was not provided in either a consistent or a systematic manner in all police stations. However, most of the detainees interviewed by the delegation said that they were informed about the right to have a lawyer. 47.Initially, the delegation was informed by Rikspolisstyrelsen that an information sheet listing the rights of the persons who are obliged to stay with the police had already been drawn up, that it was available at police stations in Swedish, and that it would be translated in several languages. The delegation was later notified in writing that such a sheet exists in draft form, but that it had not yet been distributed to the police stations because the authorities were investigating whether there was a need to harmonize it with the provisions of the Proposal for a Council Framework Decision on Certain Procedural Rights in Criminal Proceedings Throughout the European Union(COM(2004) 328 final). Once finalized, the sheet would be translated into all official EU languages and into five minority languages spoken in Sweden, and distributed to police stations. 48.The provision of information on rights is an important safeguard as well as a prerequisite for effective exercise of due process rights and the prompt production of the person concerned before a judge. The SPT emphasizes the duty of the Swedish authorities to ensure that all persons obliged to stay with the police are made aware of their basic rights as well as of all the relevant procedural rights that such persons may exercise at this stage of the proceedings. The SPT also stresses the obligation on the part of the police to assist in the exercise of all such rights as from the very outset of deprivation of liberty. 49. The SPT recommends that the information sheet listing the rights of the persons obliged to stay with the police be finalized as soon as possible and distributed to all police stations. Information on rights should be given orally for persons who do not know how to read and through interpretation for persons who do not have sufficient knowledge of any of the languages in which the written version is produced. The SPT would like to receive a copy of this sheet and, in due course, confirmation that such a sheet is available in all police stations and in use.