MONITORING PLACES OF DETENTION : A PRACTICAL GUIDE 65 Monitoring is thus based on a four-step process: a) objective and professional documentation of the conditions of detention b) analysis of their conformity with national and international standards c) formulation of recommendations d) follow-up on the implementation of the recommendations. a) Objective and professional documentation of the conditions of detention The visiting body determines, as exhaustively as possible, the state of affairs as regards the conditions of detention – i.e., the practice – by summarising: ■ the point of view of the authorities, the staff, and the different professionals taking care of the persons deprived of their liberty; ■ the point of view of the persons deprived of their liberty; ■ the point of view of other available sources (lawyers, families of detainees, associations, NGOs); ■ what the members of the visiting team have observed in the places of detention. It is important that before transmitting complaints to the higher authorities, and before drawing their conclusions, the members of a visiting body take into account all these sources of information. This is essential if the body is to reach a comprehensive analysis of the conditions of detention and make meaningful recommendations. Allegations of serious ill-treatment and torture, however, should be transmitted to the authorities immediately, and at a level that does not endanger the person or persons concerned by the allegation (see Chapter IV, Torture and ill-treatment).