MONITORING PLACES OF DETENTION : A PRACTICAL GUIDE 42 TABLE 1 : INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL VISITING MECHANISMS (SUITE) TYPE LEGAL BASIS CHARACTERISTICS International mechanisms International Committee of the Red Cross On the basis of the Geneva Conventions (1949) for situations of conflict; On the basis of an agreement with the State for other situations. • Monitoring of conditions of detention targeted at persons arrested and detained in relation to a situation of conflict or internal strife. In certain situations, monitoring extends to other categories of persons deprived of their liberty; • In the situation of an international conflict, the States Parties to the conflict are obliged to authorise visits to military internees and civilian nationals of the foreign power involved in the conflict; • In other situations, visits are subject to prior agreement by the authorities; • Permanent and regular visits during a situation of conflict or strife or its direct consequences; relief or rehabilitation activities with the agreement of the authorities; • Help to restore family links • Confidential procedure and reports. Regional mechanisms Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Prisons and Conditions of Detention in Africa • Country visits, including to places of detention, American to States Parties to the Convention or the Convention on Declaration; Human Rights • Each visit negotiated with the State concerned; (1978) • Public reports about the country situation. American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (1948)7 Following the Kampala Declaration, established by a Resolution of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (1996) • Visits to States Parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights; • Visit only after agreement of the state concerned; • General assessment of conditions of detention and treatment; • Reports are published after integration of comments and observations of state authorities concerned.