CHECKLIST: COMPOSITION OF VISITING TEAM ;; Language(s) relevant for the visit ;; Relevant experience and skills (such as legal, social, medical and psychological professionals; child-related, gender and asylum-seeker specialists) ;; Gender balance and sensitivity ;; Representation of ethnic, minority and indigenous groups, if relevant Visitation methodology NPMs should develop guidelines, policies, practices and tools for their visits to various types of places of detention. A list of useful resources and tools can be found in the Annex to this Guide. NPMs should also establish workplans or programmes which, over time, encompass visits to all locations under the jurisdiction and control of States where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty, in accordance with articles 4 and 29 of the Optional Protocol.46 The guidelines and policies should address, inter alia, the following issues: uuselecting the focus of a visit: the Subcommittee has recommended that NPMs develop criteria for selecting the facilities to be visited, which will ensure that all such facilities are visited periodically; these criteria should be based on the type and size of the institutions and the severity of the human rights issues of which the NPMs are aware, while not excluding any types of institutions or any geographical areas from the scope of their work;47 uuconducting private interviews; uuidentifying and engaging with groups of detainees that may be at heightened risk (such as members of ethnic minorities, indigenous persons, and LGBTI persons); uuensuring that information from all available sources is collected in advance, during and after their visits; uucross-checking, testing and assessing observations and ensuring that recommendations are based on rigorous analysis and are well grounded; uuproviding feedback or debriefing with the representatives of places of detention at the end of their visits; and uumaintaining the confidentiality of interviews with detainees and of other sources of information. These guidelines and policies should also provide guidance in response to individual cases of torture and ill-treatment. Methodology for conducting interviews During interviews, the members of NPMs should introduce themselves to persons deprived of their liberty and explain their mandate, placing particular emphasis on its preventive nature. The interviewers should also obtain the consent of the interviewees and make it clear that the interviews are confidential, voluntary and can be concluded at any time at the interviewees’ request. Ideally, the interviewers would provide the interviewees with brochures describing the NPMs’ mandates and working methods, explaining the concept of informed consent and providing contact information. They should also indicate that any form of reprisal could be reported to the NPMs. 46 CAT/OP/12/5, para. 33. 47 CAT/OP/HND/3, para. 18. KEY CRITERIA FOR AN EFFECTIVE NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM I 25