CAT/OP/HND/3 CONAPREV appears to have a great deal of potential as a national preventive mechanism – a potential that can be developed if it is given the human and financial resources that it needs to do its job, to build its technical capacities and to improve the methodology it uses in visiting facilities and the quality of the reports it prepares on those visits. The Subcommittee is of the view that the members and staff of the national preventive mechanism should be required to review their working methods on a regular basis and undertake further training in order to enhance their ability to perform the functions entrusted to them under the Optional Protocol.2 8. In addition to visiting places of detention in conjunction with CONAPREV, members of the Subcommittee held meetings with a number of different officials and civil society organizations to discuss institutional aspects of the national preventive mechanism and its relationship with other bodies. Representatives of CONAPREV were present at only some of these meetings. Recommendations relating to institutional issues 9. The Subcommittee found that the main institutional factors impeding the work of the national preventive mechanism were an insufficient budget, a poorly structured staffing table and the mechanism’s low public profile. The Subcommittee is aware that CONAPREV has taken steps to address some of these problems by, for example, creating a web page and publishing a manual on torture prevention. The Subcommittee is also aware that CONAPREV is a fairly new institution and that it is not entirely to blame for these problems. The Subcommittee is therefore making recommendations to the State party in these connections. There are, however, steps that CONAPREV can take to improve its performance, as outlined below. 10. During their visit to Honduras, members of the Subcommittee contacted the President and the Minister of Finance with a view to facilitating the release of pending budget allocations for 2012 to CONAPREV. They also approached Members of Congress and urged them to consider amending the CONAPREV Organization Act in order to resolve the problems encountered in this respect. CONAPREV, for its part, should take steps to back up the efforts made on its behalf by the Subcommittee. The Subcommittee recommends that the national preventive mechanism execute its annual budget in a timely and responsible manner on the basis of a pre-established workplan and that it ensure that allocations are disbursed in the year for which they were granted. As a minimum, this plan should provide for a well-structured staffing table (one that maintains a gender balance and ensures the inclusion of members of the country’s ethnic and minority groups) that is in accordance with the organization’s regulations and should give a description of each post. 11. The Subcommittee recommends that the national preventive mechanism submit a proposal to the legislature for an amendment to the applicable law so that CONAPREV can have a budget of its own. The preventive mechanism should also lobby for this type of solution. 12. Until such time as the mechanism has a technical secretariat, the Subcommittee recommends that, in order to address the mechanism’s staff shortage, it should explore creative ways of strengthening the human resources at its disposal by, for example, setting up internship programmes or partnering with universities and civil society. 2 4 CAT/OP/12/5, para. 31. GE.13-40547