50
6.
Focal points of the visits
conducted within the powers
of the NPM
To prevent ill-treatment, each State Party “shall keep under systematic review
interrogation rules, instructions, methods, and practices as well as arrangements
for the custody and treatment of persons subjected to any form of arrest, detention
or imprisonment in any territory under its jurisdiction”.93
The goal of the NPM’s visits is to encourage the respective authorities
and institutions to improve the effectiveness of their measures aimed at the
prevention of ill-treatment.94 I share the Subcommittee’s view that “the scope
of preventive work is large, encompassing any form of abuse of people deprived of
their liberty which, if unchecked, could grow into torture or other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment”.95
In the course of the visit of places of detention, the NPM examines the
conditions of placement of persons deprived of their liberty and their treatment. The visiting delegations examined those aspects of placement and
treatment which presented the highest risk of the insufficient enforcement
of the fundamental rights of persons deprived of their liberty.
A special feature of the visits conducted in connection with performing
tasks related to the NPM is that the detection and identification of signs of
torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,
physical and psychological abuse, in particular, is carried out with the use
of medical and psychological methods.
The focal points were determined on the basis of the CPT’s reports on
visiting places of detention in the territory of Hungary, the reports of the
UN Committee against Torture, the reports of the Subcommittee on Preven-
93
94
95
See Article 11 of the UN Convention against Torture.
See: SPT: Report on the visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to the Maldives (26 February 2009), (Clause 5 of CAT/OP/
MDV/1).
See: SPT: First annual report (Clause 12 of CAT/C/40/2).
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