108 Towards the Effective Protection of LGBTI Persons Deprived of Liberty Police interviewing (or interrogation) presents high risks for LGBTI persons, particularly when arrests are based on discriminatory profiling. LGBTI individuals should be informed of the reasons for their arrest and the charges being brought against them from the very outset of detention. Basic safeguards, such as prompt access to a lawyer, the right to notify a third party, the right to be brought promptly before a judge, and the immediate provision of information on rights, are essential to mitigating the risks of abuse and ensuring that detention is not arbitrary. During interviews, police officers may threaten to disclose the detainee’s sexual orientation or gender identity to family members, friends, or colleagues in order to force a confession, or simply to punish them for their “deviant” behaviour (for instance, there are reported cases of trans women being brought to the police on false pretexts, and required to perform sexual acts or extorted in exchange for their release). The presence of a lawyer from the outset of detention, and during all questioning, is hence essential to prevent coercion and to guarantee that the detainee’s rights – including the right to privacy – are respected throughout interviews. LGBTI persons in police custody should also have the right to see an independent medical doctor, who should not further victimise or stigmatise them. The audiovisual recording of interviews, as well as written records of the names of all interviewers and persons present during interviews, and the exact place and times of (including rest periods between) interviews, are additional safeguards that have the potential to provide useful information for monitoring bodies seeking to assess how police questioning is conducted. The language logged in records may moreover provide an indication of police attitudes more broadly (e.g. writing “a woman dressed in men’s clothes” to describe a trans man). Audiovisual recordings of interviews are especially important safeguards against torture and other ill-treatment, and monitors may use footage to cross-check information in case of allegations of mistreatment. Monitoring bodies should however be aware that inappropriate conduct, including beatings, often take place outside the view of cameras. The risks for LGBT people are particularly high in countries where same-sex relations are criminalised, as detainees face the dual challenges and harms wrought by homophobic or transphobic police attitudes