109 Part 3 • The position of particularly vulnerable persons (for example, children, those who are mentally disabled or mentally ill) should be the subject of special safeguards.130 Lack of professional skills and training in the art of questioning may be a contributing factor to the use of torture and ill-treatment. The questioning of suspects is a specialist task that calls for specific training. This is especially so in terrorism-related cases, which are often very challenging, in particular where suspects may have received training in how to counter police interview tactics. Dealing with people from different cultures, who may react in unexpected ways, and conducting the interview through an interpreter may compound these challenges. Interviews are conducted in the context of the legal system that applies in a particular country, the role of the police vis-à-vis prosecutors and the facilities, such as video and audio recording, that may be available. Some general advice and points for consideration from a human rights perspective may prove helpful: • It is important to take time to establish a relationship with the suspect who, if he or she speaks, must do so freely and under no improper pressure from the police; • The interviewing officers must be fully familiar and fully comply with the applicable law and the rules of procedure governing police interviews of suspects; • They must also be fully familiar with the legal definition of the crime of which the interviewee is suspected and know what elements of the suspect’s conduct they have to probe, the points they have to prove and any legal defences they may have to explore; • They should research or be provided with the suspect’s personal history and background, his or her previous dealings with the police and his or her personal circumstances; 130 Preventing Torture – A Handbook for OSCE Field Staff, (Warsaw: ODIHR, 1999), pp. 55–56, <http://www.refworld.org/docid/498aaafd2.html>.