115 SRT has underscored the need for “replacing the paradigm of opacity surrounding the 405 places of deprivation of liberty by one of transparency.” 304. The essential condition for effective scrutiny of prison management is precisely the independent monitoring of its operations and of detention facilities (in the broadest sense). This function falls first to those public authorities required by law to monitor the situation of people deprived of liberty or to protect their basic rights (e.g., people’s defense offices or ombudsmen, judicial authorities, public prosecution services, public attorneys, etc.) and, then, to other independent entities whose functions include supervising and monitoring the situation of persons in custody, such as civil society 406 organizations and academic institutions that conduct research in prison settings. 305. A particularly important role is played in this context by the monitoring mechanisms created under treaties, such as the national preventive mechanisms provided for in the optional protocol to the UN Convention against 407 The Inter-American Commission therefore renews its call for the OAS Torture. member States to ratify this treaty and for those that have already done so to create 408 and implement the national preventive mechanisms that the treaty provides for. These mechanisms should be given sufficient resources and the necessary institutional support to operate effectively and with the autonomy and independence that the 409 nature of their monitoring functions demands. 306. At the same time, it is also important that no arbitrary restrictions be placed on the admission of those outside parties or organizations that visit detention centers to conduct human rights work, academic studies, charity work, or monitoring efforts in accordance with the applicable legal provisions and regulations. 405 UN, Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, A/57/173, adopted July 2, 2002, para. 36. See also, UN, Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, A/56/156, adopted July 3, 2001, para. 34. 406 In this regard, after its visit to El Salvador, the WGAD recommended the State to “[e]ncourage visits by NGOs to prisons and detention centers.” UN, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Report on Mission to El Salvador, A/HRC/22/44/Add.2, published January 11, 2013, para. 132(q). 407 UN, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the General Assembly by means of resolution 57/199, December 18, 2002. To date this treaty has been ratified by fourteen OAS member states: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. 408 According to the provisions of international law, when States ratify an international pact they are required to make the necessary amendments to their domestic laws to ensure the execution of the obligations assumed, and to do so within a reasonable time. Of course, the treaty in question may set specific time frames for the implementation of its provisions, in which case states are required to abide thereby. 409 IACHR, Press Release 151/12 – IACHR Welcomes Law Creating the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Argentina, Washington, D.C., December 30, 2012. This message has been consistently reiterated by the IACHR in its brief reports issued after the working visits of its Rapporteurship on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty, available at: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/pdl/activities/countries.asp.