the purpose of the visits. In practice, visits have lasted between five and seventeen days. The number of SPT members who participate in country visit varies, but the SPT always aims to send members with diverse skill sets, including from the health and legal profession and those with knowledge of gendered approaches. During the visit, the SPT will meet with all relevant stakeholders including representatives from relevant ministries, police and detention officials, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI), NPMs if they have been designated, or, alternatively persons involved in the establishment of a NPM, NGOs and relevant UN field offices. Most importantly, the SPT will visit a number of different places of detention in the country. These include a wide variety of places where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty including police stations, regular detention centres, detention centres for migrants and asylum seekers and mental health and social care institutions. The aim of these visits is to assess the general conditions and treatment of detainees. The SPT does not address or otherwise take up individual cases of torture or ill-treatment that it may encounter during its visits. The outcome of an SPT country visit is a confidential report analysing the country situation and providing recommendations for how to improve the conditions of detention and prevent the occurrence of torture and ill-treatment. It is important to note that the analysis and recommendations not only focus on the situation inside places of detention but also look at other elements that may contribute to the prevention of torture, such as accountability procedures, capacity building needs and the legal and institutional framework. The report will also contain a separate section looking at the status of NPM establishment and the functioning of NPMs where these have been established. The report will be transmitted to the government usually within three to five months after the visit has been finalised. The government will be requested to provide written information on initiatives taken to implement the recommendations of the SPT within six months of receiving the report.2 Based on these responses, the SPT might initiate a written and oral dialogue with the government on implementation of its recommendations, and, in some instances, it might request a follow up visit.3 These visits are likely to be shorter and specifically focused on engaging the government on its implementation of some or all of the recommendations made by the SPT after its initial visit. 2. Fourth annual report of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, CAT/C/46/2 (3 February 2011), paragraph 19 3. Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Article 13, paragraph 4 Working with the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture: A practical guide for NGOs engaging with SPT country visits 7