13 Working Methods The core of our work is to investigate and understand the specific challenges of the places we visit, to make recommendations on how the risk of inhuman treatment can be limited in order to better safeguard the people who have been deprived of their liberty, and to use dialogue as a means of implementing change. In addition to visits, we work ­strategically with knowledge sharing and advocacy work on a systemic level. The National Preventive Mechanism’s (NPM) main task is to identify the risk of torture and inhuman treatment to prevent people from being subjected to such violations. The risk of torture or inhuman treatment is influenced by factors such as legal and institutional frameworks, physical conditions, training, resources, management and institutional culture.1 The NPM has a broad methodical approach. Our primary method is to visit places where people are deprived of their liberty. This gives us the opportunity to speak with the persons deprived of their liberty, and it provides a good insight into the conditions in places in Norway where deprivation of liberty takes place. — Effective and credible prevention work depends on our freedom to choose which places we visit, and how and when we carry out the visits. It also requires access to all the persons in and all parts of the institutions we visit, and the opportunity to conduct interviews in private. — Visits to places where people are deprived of their liberty During our visit, we would like to have a private conversation with you. Your experience can help others and people who come here at a later date. The conversations are kept confidential. We do not give advance notice of our visits to ensure that the conditions we observe at your institution are as accurate as possible. After the visit, we write a report describing our findings from the visit. The report also contains recommendations about what should be done to prevent anyone being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment. The report is made public. Prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment www.sivilombudsmannen.no 22 82 85 00 or 800 80 039 (Free number) 1 Read more at: www.sivilombudsmannen.no or in our brochure. You can ask one of the staff for a brochure. P.O. Box 3 Sentrum, NO-0101 Oslo Sivilombudsmannens forebyggingsenhet See the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT): The approach of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to the concept of prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 30 December 2010 CAT/OP/12/6.