86. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders has rec- ommended that states develop public policies and specific institutional mechanisms to, when necessary, provide physical and psychological protection, as well as material resources to that end.124 The Special Rapporteur has also presented a set of minimum guidelines for the development of protection programmes, recommending that states consult with human rights defenders in developing and reviewing such programmes. The structure of protection programmes should be defined by law, while in federal states protection programmes should be defined by federal law and administered by the federal government. Protection programmes should include early warning functions to anticipate and trigger protective measures. They should also provide for an assessment of the safety of family members of human rights defenders who are at risk. Security and law enforcement officials involved in the programme should be specifically and appropriately trained, while physical protection measures should not be outsourced to third parties unless these are trained accordingly. Finally, adequate financial resources should be allocated to the protection programme.125 87. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders has found that many states use their witness-protection programmes as the only mechanisms to ensure the protection of human rights defenders at risk. In most cases, such programmes do not appear to be sufficient to provide safety for human rights defenders as they have not been designed for that purpose.126 In principle, therefore, witness protection programmes should not be used as substitutes for tailored human rights defender protection programmes. If states use these programmes as the basis for the protection of human rights defenders, they should ensure that these programmes meet their specific needs or that they include appropriate additional measures. 88. Regardless of the system used by participating States for the physical and psycho- logical protection of human rights defenders at risk, it is of particular importance that protection programmes are accessible to those who are most in need of protection and that the mechanisms administering them operate in a fair, independent and transparent manner and with the full participation of the beneficiaries. Any protective measures employed should be agreed upon with the individual human rights defender concerned. Furthermore, it is essential that the law enforcement officers and judicial officials involved are adequately trained and sensitized in order to be able to identify the safety and security risks facing human rights defenders and to appropriately address them. The qualifications and integrity of the officials involved in such programmes are also essential to ensuring trust between human rights defenders and the authorities, as trust is an important precondition for the 124  See the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, A/HRC/25/55, paras. 84 and 131. 125  See Ibid. para. 88 and A/HRC/13/22, 30 December 2009, which deals with the issue of security and protection of human rights defenders at length. 126  See A/HRC/13/22, paras. 71-74. 52 Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders