CAT/OP/DEU/1 The SPT also recommends that the State Party increase the NPM budget to the extent necessary to allow it to carry out its visiting programme in all regions of the country, conduct follow-up visits and be based in its own premises, recalling that an adequate budget helps secure the functional and perceived independence of the NPM.11 39. While the SPT appreciates and acknowledges that the NPM members possess a great amount of experience in their respective fields, due to insufficient resources and inadequate training, the NPM is primarily focussed on material conditions of detention and its visits are not carried out in a sufficiently rigorous manner. Other aspects of its preventive mandate of the NPM, such as proposing innovative means of strengthening preventive safeguards in the context of detention pending deportation, the use of physical restraints (Fixierung), preventive detention and solitary confinement or the legal framework surrounding deprivation of liberty, are not adequately covered. 40. The SPT recommends that the State Party facilitate joint training of members and staff of the NPM, including the provision of adequate resources, in order to enhance its ability to efficiently fulfil, collectively and individually, the functions of the NPM as provided in the Optional Protocol.12 41. The SPT noted with appreciation the distribution of a leaflet on the NPM by the Joint Commission. However, the SPT observed that authorities in charge of places of detention, persons deprived of their liberty and civil society did not clearly understand the role of the mechanism and the distinct roles of, and relationship between, the Federal Agency and the Joint Commission as a collective body. The lack of visibility of the NPM may have a detrimental effect on its efficiency. For example, some civil society actors which the SPT met highlighted the lack of clarity and transparency concerning the activities, achievements and priorities of the NPM, including the process by which its members were selected. 42. The SPT recommends that the State Party (a) take steps to assist the NPM make its mandate and work better known to the general public, (b) ensure that the NPM is recognised as a key component in the country’s system for prevention of torture and ill-treatment, (c) contribute to making the work of the NPM more visible by, for example, public awareness campaigns and other promotional activities including producing and distributing materials on the mandate and activities of the NPM, in various languages, to the detention personnel and detainees and to civil society, including associations of former service users, lawyers and the judiciary. In addition, the SPT recommends that the State Party publish and widely disseminate the Annual Reports of the NPM, including transmitting them to the SPT, in accordance with Article 23 of the Optional Protocol. 43. The prevention of torture and other forms of ill-treatment should not be limited to examining material conditions of deprivation of liberty but involves exploring other issues such as preventive detention, detention pending deportation, the use of solitary confinement, and much else besides. 44. The SPT recommends that the State Party assist the NPM by recognising its role as regards both material conditions of detention and the applicable legal and regulatory frameworks, both of which are equally important, and, in particular, recognising that its mandate embraces proposing innovative approaches to issues such as detention pending deportation, the use of physical restraints (Fixierung), preventive detention and solitary confinement etc. 11 12 8 CAT/OP/12/5, para. 12. CAT/OP/12/5, para. 31.