activities. Currently, there are 83 states parties to the OPCAT and 65 of them have already designated NPMs.1 National Preventive Mechanism of Georgia According to the amendments made to the organic law of Georgia on Public Defender, The Public Defender of Georgia carries out the functions of a National Preventive Mechanism, envisaged by the OPCAT. In order to fulfill powers of the National Preventive Mechanism, the Special Preventive Group is set up with the Public Defender of Georgia. The group regularly monitors the conditions and treatment of detainees and prisoners or persons whose liberty is otherwise restricted, convicted persons, as well as persons in mental health facilities, elderly care homes and children’s homes in order to protect them from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.2 The structure of the National Preventive Mechanism of Georgia is as follows:  Department of Prevention and Monitoring of the Public Defender’s Office;  Special Preventive Group, which includes experts from various fields, selected through public call;  The Advisory Council of the NPM constituting a consultative body aimed at supporting NPM activities. 2. REVIEW OF ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT BY THE NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM 2.1. PREVENTIVE VISITS The task entrusted to the National Preventive Mechanism, as a part of the global system of prevention of torture, is to identify risk factors of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and follow up on them, and elaborate recommendations aimed at eradicating these factors.2 To this end, in the reporting period, the Special Preventive Group visited the following establishments: 34 visits to 8 penitentiary establishments; 9 visits to 5 psychiatric establishments; 9 visits to 9 small family type homes for children; 9 visits to 9 homes for children run by religious denominations;3 45 visits to 45 police divisions; 21 visits to 19 TDIs; and there were 6 focus group meetings with lawyers and NGOs working in the regions of Georgia. Temporary Accommodation centre of Migrants was 1 Data retrieved from the official web site of the Association for the Prevention of Torture: http://apt.ch/en/ opcatdatabase/ [last accessed: 07.06.2018]. 2 The approach of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to the concept of prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, para. 5 (С), twelfth session, Geneva, 1519 November 2010, available at: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/699284/files/CAT_OP_12_6-EN.pdf, (accessed on 13.03.2018). 3 For more details see chapter on Protection of Rights of the Child. 3