A/71/44 legislation, held on 22 April 2016 and organized by the Association for the Prevention of Torture and REDRESS. The Committee would like to convey special thanks to these organizations and in particular to the World Organisation Against Torture for its crucial role in coordinating the input of non-governmental organizations to the work of the Committee since its fifty-second session. J. Participation of national human rights institutions and national preventive mechanisms 17. Similarly, the Committee appreciates the work of national human rights institutions and national preventive mechanisms established by States parties as provided for under the Optional Protocol to the Convention. Since the fifty-fifth session, those institutions and mechanisms have had the possibility to meet in private plenary with the Committee. Specifically, at the fifty-fifth session, the Committee met with the institutions of Iraq, Slovakia and Switzerland and the mechanism of Switzerland; at the fifty-sixth session, it met with the institutions of Denmark and Jordan, the mechanism of Denmark and the institutions and mechanisms of Austria and Azerbaijan; and at the fifty-seventh session, it met with the institutions of the Philippines and Tunisia and the institution and mechanism of France. The Committee expresses its appreciation for the oral and written information it receives from them, and looks forward to continuing to benefit from the information it derives from those bodies, which has enhanced its understanding of the issues before the Committee. K. Rapporteurs on reprisals 18. At its forty-ninth session, the Committee decided to adopt a mechanism to prevent, monitor and follow up cases of reprisal against civil society organizations, human rights defenders, victims and witnesses after their engagement with the treaty body system. It subsequently appointed George Tugushi as the rapporteur on reprisals under article 19 and Mr. Bruni as the rapporteur on reprisals under articles 20 and 22. At its fifty-fifth session, the Committee adopted guidelines on the receipt and handling of allegations of reprisals against individuals and organizations cooperating with the Committee under articles 13, 19, 20 and 22 of the Convention (CAT/C/55/2). Those guidelines have been adopted with a clear recognition of the value of the Guidelines against Intimidation or Reprisals (the San José Guidelines). 19. At its fifty-seventh session, the Committee designated Mr. Bruni as the rapporteur on reprisals under article 19, 20 and 22. Information on actions taken by rapporteurs during the reporting period is available on the Committee against Torture web page. L. Treaty body strengthening process 20. At its fifty-fifth session, the Committee discussed the recommendations of the Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies at their twenty-seventh meeting, held in San José from 22 to 26 June 2015, which the Chair of the Committee had facilitated and in which he had played an important role. In that connection, the Committee took important decisions in relation to reprisals (see sect. I.K.). The Committee reaffirmed its support for the treaty body strengthening outcome, while stressing the necessity to allocate sufficient staff resources to the Petitions Unit so as to enable the Committee to address its backlog of individual complaints and therefore efficiently use the additional session time provided under General Assembly resolution 68/268. 4 GE.16-13567