CAT/OP/BRA/1 years by different United Nations mechanisms have not been fully implemented. The SPT is hopeful that its visit and the resulting recommendations will be heeded and that they will provide a strong impulse for the current Government of Brazil to take resolute action to eradicate torture and ill-treatment for all persons deprived of their liberty. 9. The SPT requests the Brazilian authorities to provide it with a follow-up reply within six months from the date of transmission of this report, giving a full account of the State party’s actions taken to implement the recommendations. 10. The present report will remain confidential until such time as the Brazilian authorities decide to make it public, as stipulated in article 16(2) of OPCAT. The publication of this report will undoubtedly serve as an additional means for preventing torture and ill-treatment in Brazil, as the SPT considers that the widespread dissemination of the recommendations would contribute to a transparent and fruitful national dialogue on the issues the report covers. 11. The SPT wishes to draw the State party’s attention to the Special Fund established in accordance with article 26 of OPCAT. Recommendations contained in public SPT visit reports can form the basis of an application by the State party for funding of specific projects through the Special Fund. 7 12. The SPT recommends that Brazil requests the publication of the present report in accordance with article 16(2) of OPCAT. 13. The SPT wishes to express its gratitude to the Brazilian authorities and, in particular, to the Governmental focal points in the Human Rights Secretariat for their positive cooperation and facilitation of the visit. 14. Further details about the SPT’s concerns regarding access and cooperation are contained in the confidential preliminary observations. II. National Preventive Mechanism 15. Brazil should have established or designated a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) at the latest one year after ratification of OPCAT.8 At the time of the visit, however, the Brazilian NPM had still not been established. During the last day of the SPT visit to the country, the Government of Brazil presented the SPT with a draft NPM law, which was submitted to Congress shortly thereafter as bill 2442/2011. The SPT is pleased about this development and hopes that discussion of the draft law in Congress will proceed swiftly. 16. Further to its mandate under article 11 (b)(i) of OPCAT, the SPT would like to express its views on the draft NPM law. While the SPT considers that many elements of the proposed NPM are positive and reflect OPCAT provisions, it remains concerned about the method for selecting NPM members. The current draft proposes a system whereby the President of Brazil selects NPM members from a list of candidates prepared by the National Committee for the Prevention and Combat of Torture, whose members, in turn, are selected and appointed by the President. In this connection, the SPT recalls its Guidelines on NPMs,9 which call for an open, transparent and inclusive process for the selection and appointment of members of the NPM. Such process should involve a wide range of stakeholders, including civil society, and should be in accordance with published criteria. Furthermore, the draft law makes no reference to the need to strive for gender balance and 7 8 9 4 Please see http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/opcat/SpecialFund.htm In accordance with article 17 of OPCAT. The SPT guidelines on national preventive mechanisms, CAT/OP/12/5.