o explain how the information collected will be used o request information about the place of detention, including whether there are any groups of prisoners with special needs (for example, deaf prisoners, prisoners with other disabilities) and whether there have been any notable changes or events (particularly violent incidents, deaths or other emergencies) since the last visit o explain in detail the need to independently choose prisoners for interviews and the confidentiality of those interviews o emphasize that prisoners do not experience any kind of different treatment or questioning by prison authorities following the interview o determine the location for the interview: avoid locations that might equate you with prison staff (admin office), try to have interviews with the prisoner in the cell, the courtyard, the visiting room, a library o ask for the opinion of the person in charge regarding his or her own proposals for improvements on the issue at hand o fix a meeting to talk about the results of the visit Dependent on the topic of the thematic visit the following registers, if existent, should be consulted in order to select prisoners: Registers relating to persons deprived of their liberty: o by category of prisoners o entry and exit registers o registers of disciplinary measures o medical registers Registers of material supplies for persons deprived of their liberty: o food, hygiene, clothes, bedding, etc o medicines and medical material o educational, sport, and leisure material Registers of events from everyday life within the facility: o use of force or firearms o the regime: meals, work, exercise, educational activities, etc. o incidents and disciplinary proceedings The interview process: o introduce yourself and the purpose of your thematic visit o explain to the prisoner in detail what you can do and what you can not do, especially that you can not act as a representative for the interests and needs of the individual prisoner o do NOT provide the prisoner with your contact details – explain that there will be follow up visits o stress the confidential nature of the interview – in case advocacy is planned for an individual case, get the approval of the prisoner o follow the questions of the reporting template but leave enough space for interviewees to feel at ease and come forward with pressing problems that they feel are important o concentrate on individual talks; in cases of group talks, keep the talk concentrated on the thematic topic, identify other problems as they appear and postpone detailed discussions about those to a later stage o have the interview outside of hearing of any officials 25