(a)Language and terminology used in the text; (b)Information provided to and complaints received from prisoners; (c)Contact with the outside world / social relations and aftercare; (d)Religion; (e)Persons in vulnerable situations; (f)Categorization / special categories; (g)Independent inspection; (h)Private prisons; (i)Preventive approaches to torture, cruel or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 63.The working group on induction and continuous training highlighted, inter alia: (a)The need to prioritize induction and training of new members at the nineteenth session of the Subcommittee; (b)The need to assist newly elected members through the provision of information, personal support and practical assistance to facilitate their first experiences of the Subcommittee plenary (it being recognized that there is a close interconnection between each of these); (c)The desirability of revising the Subcommittee rules of procedure regarding the timing of the election of the Bureau. 64.The working group on reprisals highlighted, inter alia, (a)The need to consider developing a formal policy position on responding to the risk of reprisals and the form that such a policy should take; (b)The need to consider the relationship between the principle of confidentiality and the need to ensure the absence of reprisals; (c)The need to consider the role and responsibilities of NPMs in relation to the risk of reprisals. 65. The working group on procedural issues, including difficulties of access to places of detention, has highlighted, inter alia, (a)The need to consider practical responses to denial or delay of access to some places of detention; (b)The need to consider practical responses to difficulties in gaining entry to some rooms/areas in some places of detention; (c)The need to consider practical responses to barriers placed upon meeting with some persons deprived of liberty, or meeting with them under suitable conditions; (d)The use of information provided by civil society organizations; (e)Other special procedural issues faced when visiting prisons and police stations. C.Issues arising from the work of the Subcommittee 66. The Subcommittee wishes to draw attention to some specific issues which have arisen in the course of its work. It has sometimes been unable to spend as much time as it had hoped in detention facilities due to delays in gaining admission or dealing with other bureaucratic barriers. This is a regrettable waste of valuable resources, and States parties should ensure that the Subcommittee is able to enjoy immediate access to all places of detention, areas within places of detention, persons deprived of their liberty and documentation, in accordance with the provisions of the Optional Protocol. Similarly, while the Subcommittee recognizes the continued efforts and support of civil society in the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, it would like to stress the importance of ensuring the information and materials provided to the Subcommittee are as accurate and as up to date as possible. 67.The Subcommittee is of the view, as stated previously in a number of public documents, that the term “places of detention”, as found in article 4 of the Optional Protocol, should be given a broad interpretation, to include, inter alia, civil and military prisons, police stations, pretrial detention centres, psychiatric institutions and mental health centres, migrant detention centres, juvenile detention centres and social care institutions. The term extends to any place, whether permanent or temporary, where persons are deprived of their liberty by, or at the instigation of, or with the consent and/or acquiescence of, public authorities. Therefore, an interpretation of “places of detention” that is limited to such traditional places of deprivation of liberty as prisons would be overly restrictive and, in the view of the Subcommittee, clearly contrary to the Optional Protocol. 68.In its fourth annual report (CAT/C/46/2) the Subcommittee commented on its approach to individual cases of torture and illtreatment encountered during visits to places of detention. It has since learned that this statement has been misunderstood, and been taken as suggesting that the Subcommittee and NPMs should not engage with individual cases at all. This is not the position of the Subcommittee. While it is emphatically not the case that the Subcommittee investigates individual allegations, during many of its country visits it has documented alleged cases of torture and ill-treatment and has included descriptions of such cases in its reports.