CAT/C/MDA/CO/3 Ombudsman is only a member; and that this ambiguity could lead to a duplication of duties and overlapping activities; (b) Not all members of the council on the prevention of torture enjoy equal status as part of the national preventive mechanism, which may affect cooperation and information-sharing in the council and its effectiveness and independence; (c) The role of the council does not go beyond undertaking scheduled visits to detention facilities; (d) The national preventive mechanism does not have sufficient financial, administrative or staffing resources to carry out its mandate and that it does not have high public visibility (art. 2). 16. The State party should: (a) Amend Law No. 52 in order to resolve the remaining ambiguities in the legal framework that impair the cooperation of members and the efficient functioning of the council on the prevention of torture; (b) Ensure that the mandate of the council includes regular, unhindered and unannounced visits to all places where persons are deprived of their liberty, including psychiatric hospitals and psychoneurological institutions, as well as residential institutions for children; and ensure that it is able to hold individual and unsupervised interviews, as outlined in the report of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment for the national preventive mechanism (CAT/OP/MDA/2); (c) Enable the council to carry out its mandate independently and effectively, including through the formalization of a clear, transparent and participatory selection and appointment process, in accordance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles), and provide it with a sufficient budget and administrative and staffing resources; (d) Implement the report of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture for the national preventive mechanism. Conditions of detention 17. The Committee is seriously concerned about reports of overcrowding in at least six penitentiary institutions; at reports that material conditions in penitentiary institutions in some cases endanger the lives of inmates and amount to inhuman and degrading treatment, in particular in Prison No. 13 in Chisinau; and at reports concerning the collusion of custodial staff with criminals, resulting in the ill-treatment of prisoners. The Committee is also concerned that the State party lacks an effective mechanism to examine complaints from inmates about their treatment and conditions of detention (arts. 2, 11–14 and 16). 18. The State party should: (a) Allow independent monitoring bodies, including the national preventive mechanism and international bodies, to carry out regular unannounced visits to all places of detention and to meet in private with detained persons; (b) Reduce overcrowding in all places of detention, in particular in Penitentiary No. 2 in Lipcani, Penitentiary No. 6 in Soroca, Penitentiary No. 7 in Rusca, Penitentiary No. 15 in Cricova, Penitentiary No. 18 in Branesti, and Penitentiary No. 13 in Chisinau (and consider closing Penitentiary No. 13), including by implementing legislation allowing for alternatives to detention, in accordance with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules); (c) Intensify its efforts to bring the conditions of detention in places of deprivation of liberty into line with international standards such as the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), by, inter alia, ensuring that detainees are provided with adequate material and 6