Appendix IV NPM recommendations to the OSCE Supplementary Human Rights Dimension Meeting National Preventive Mechanisms recommendations to the OSCE Supplementary Human Rights Dimension Meeting, Vienna, 10‑11 April 2014 National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs) welcome Switzerland’s decision to place the issue of torture prevention back at the top of the OSCE’s political agenda and devote a Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting to this crucial human rights issue. The following recommendations to OSCE participating States, the OSCE/ODIHR and the Swiss Chairpersonship-in-Office were developed by NPMs from 17 countries within the OSCE region during a pre-meeting, 9-10 April in Vienna. NPMs recommendations to OSCE participating States: All OSCE participating States should: 1. Ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT) and establish a NPM, in accordance with the OPCAT requirements. All NPMs should have their mandate, powers and independence enshrined in national law. 2. Ensure full on-going government cooperation and dialogue with NPMs and the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) to achieve progressive 76 improvements in detention policy and practice and the NPMs’ ability to carry out their preventive mandate. 3. Ensure unimpeded and immediate access to all places of detention, including those outside of their territorial jurisdiction but under their effective control, where people are or may be deprived of their liberty, whether managed by public or private institutions. Information on NPMs’ members and their mandate should be made available to all detaining authorities. 4. Ensure financial independence of NPMs to operate effectively, including providing them with adequate financial resources and ring-fencing their budgets if they are part of another larger budget. 5. Improve knowledge of detaining authorities and persons deprived of their liberty of the NPMs’ preventive mandate and torture prevention in general, including through seminars or training. 6. Systematically publish NPMs annual reports, and SPT and European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) visits reports and make all efforts to translate and make them available in the main national language(s) as soon as possible. 7. Ensure that national legislation requires authorities to respond to NPMs recommendations and establish an effective