IX. Rules of procedure of the Commission of the Länder for the Prevention of Torture Preamble The prohibition of torture and mistreatment is among the most important human rights guarantees. The United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UN Anti-Torture Convention) obliges the States Party to prevent any act of torture and to make torture offences punishable. Article 16 para. 1 of the UN Anti-Torture Convention lends concrete form to this obligation by stipulating that they should also “prevent […] other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment which do not amount to torture as defined in article I”. The Optional Protocol to the UN Anti-Torture Convention, moreover, contains a method for the prevention of torture and mistreatment. To this end, Article 3 of the Optional Protocol stipulates that national preventive mechanisms are to be established. The national preventive mechanism in Germany is composed of the Federal Agency and the Commission of the Länder. The Commission of the Länder is hence mandated to use a preventive system of visits to prevent not only torture in the narrow sense of the word, but any kind of mistreatment. This obligation to prevent torture and mistreatment is broad and is not static, but its specific concept can develop further. For the inspection of places where people are deprived of their liberty, this means that the Commission of the Länder not only draws attention to obvious problems, but also sheds light on circumstances which may favour torture and mistreatment. Further, in accordance with Art. 2 para. 3 of the State Treaty, the Commission of the Länder’s job is to improve conditions for persons who have been deprived of their liberty and to make recommendations to the competent authorities. The Commission of the Länder primarily uses as its basis the valid German law and the concomitant case-law when making its visits. Furthermore, where appropriate the Commission of the Länder relies on international agreements which are relevant to its mandate, and also includes international case-law as well as recommendations of the corresponding committees of the United Nations and of the Council of Europe in its assessment. The Commission of the Länder for the Prevention of Torture (hereinafter: Commission of the Länder) adopted the following rules of procedure, which were most recently amended on 7 July 2011, at its session held on 24 September 2010, in accordance with Article 7 of the State Treaty on the establishment of a national mechanism of all Länder in accordance with Article 3 of the Optional Protocol of 18 December 2002 to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. 116