MONITORING PLACES OF DETENTION : A PRACTICAL GUIDE 84 through the talk. The point of equilibrium will also depend on the emotional state of the person deprived of liberty; ■ the distribution of time between the person’s need to communicate and the visitor’s need to obtain information, depending on the estimated length of time available as calculated beforehand. Interviewing a person alleging torture is an extremely delicate process. Interviewing such a person in detention requires particular care. Excellent specialist literature on the subject exists, to which members of visiting mechanisms can refer, and which can be used for training: ■ Giffard, Camille, The Torture Reporting Handbook - How to document and respond to allegations of torture within the international system for the protection of human rights, Human Rights Centre, University of Essex, United Kingdom, 2000, Part II – Documenting allegations, pp. 29-51; ■ United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Professional Training Series no. 8, The Istanbul Protocol, Manual on the Effective investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, New York, Geneva, 2001, Chapter IV- General considerations for interviews. See Annex 5 for how to obtain these publications and the languages in which they are available. 4.4.4 Talks with the staff in charge of persons deprived of liberty The staff can usually be divided into two categories: those responsible purely for surveillance and delivering services to the detainees ��� food, medical or social care, education, work, etc. Talks with the latter