and ill-treatment; (2) access to basic legal safeguards such as a lawyer and doctor of one’s own choice; (3) the physical and psychological conditions in places of deprivation of liberty, including mental health institutions; (4) specific practices of torture and ill-treatment in places of detention; (5) places or practices of particular concern; (6) the existence of secret places of detention; and (7) the functioning of the NPM (or the process of establishing an NPM). In Mexico, NGOs drew the SPT’s attention to a number of detention facilities that were not recognised by the government in the list of existing detention facilities submitted to the SPT. This enabled the SPT to visit and report on the situation in these detention facilities despite the lack of government recognition of their existence. When producing the report, it is important to keep a few general considerations in mind. First, for most countries, the SPT will have many resources that can provide the general picture of torture and ill-treatment in the country, such as other UN human rights mechanisms and regional mechanisms. Second, the SPT only has a limited amount of time available during the visit, which means that they may not have a lot of time to understand the complete situation and context in the individual detention facilities it visits. It is therefore very helpful if they have some idea of what to look out for in specific places of detention. NGOs can contribute to this by producing reports, which are as concrete and welldocumented as possible. This may include statistics and case examples focusing on the situation in specific places of detention or the use of specific methods/practices of torture and ill-treatment. It is important to note that statistics should preferably be processed and with commentary, and cases should not be submitted in the hope that they are individually addressed – only to illustrate trends. Another focus area could be the impact of certain rules or regulations on torture and ill-treatment in detention. Through these reports, the SPT members will be better prepared, and they will have a solid understanding of the context around specific places of detention, which would otherwise be difficult to obtain without a more continuous detention monitoring in a country. In other words, one of the main objectives is to put the members of the SPT delegation in a position where their understanding and appreciation of the national context is as close to that of a local detention monitor as possible. Although there are no fixed deadlines for when to submit the reports, it is recommended to submit them as early as possible after the visit has been announced to make sure that the SPT and its Secretariat has sufficient time to process and analyse the information. It may be advisable to contact the SPT Secretariat directly in order to get an indication of any informal deadlines for submitting information. Another good practice in preparation for SPT visits is to have a pre-mission seminar in the country involving all relevant stakeholders, including government representatives, representatives of the NPM and NHRI, civil society and one or more SPT members. The aim of such a seminar is to ensure a greater familiarity among domestic stakeholders with the procedures Working with the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture: A practical guide for NGOs engaging with SPT country visits 11