FORE W ORD T he N ational Agency for the Prevention of T orture is the body responsible in G ermany for ensuring humane detention conditions and treatment of prisoners. T he Agency hereby presents an annual report of its activities to the F ederal G overnment, the G erman Bundestag, the Länder governments and the Länder parliaments. T he Report covers the period from 1 January to 31 D ecember 2019. particularly focussed on visits to customs authorities. I n order for the impressions in these areas to be described in more detail, they will be set out in separate chapters, preceding the other results of the visits in 2019. T he practices of some of the highest supervisory authorities once again proved problematic this year. T hese supervisory authorities did not always comply with their obligation under A rticle 22 of the O P C A T to examine the recommendations of the N ational Agency and enter into a dialogue with it on possible implementation measures. T his reduced the I n 2019, the N ational Agency celebrated its 10th anniversary. M uch to its regret, it lost its D irector of the F ederal A gency, K laus LangeLehngut, Leitender Regierungsdirektor (retd) and holder of the C ross of the O rder of M erit of the F ederal Republic of G ermany. M r LangeLehngut founded and led the F ederal Agency for the Prevention of T orture with a great deal of voluntary commitment. Right until the end, he played an active role in the further development of the N ational A gency. H is death on 19 O ctober 2019 was a great loss. H is memory and his achievements will always be remembered with respect. Furthermore, there is still no adequate legal basis for the N ational Agency to publish individual names in its reports on visits to privately owned facilities. T he public often does not understand the reasons for this, and it is something that was pointed out by the U N C ommittee against T orture in its concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of G ermany. T he N ational A gency still believes that an adequate legal basis should be created so that it can publish the names of all the facilities visited as well as the associated visit reports and opinions. I t is the only way to ensure it can effectively fulfil its preventive duty, as provided for in the O P C A T . T his A nnual Report provides a summary of the N ational Agency's activities in the period under review, as well as background information on the Agency itself, followed by a section on the standards it has developed. T hese concern the main aspects of humane detention conditions and treatment of persons detained in the facilities visited. T he standards are derived in particular from recurring recommendations made by the A gency, and are continually developed and adapted. T hey can also be found on the N ational Agency's website. Since it had become clear in 2018 that the sufficient for it to fulfil its mandate in line with under international law, the M inisters of Justice of the Länder unanimously agreed to increase the I n 2019, at federal-state level the N ational Agency particularly focussed on visits to psychiatric facilities, and at federal level it from the financial year 2020 with the financial participation of the F ederation. Rainer D opp State Secretary (retd) Ralph- G ünther A dam Former senior civil servant and prison director ( Leitender Sozialdirektor , retd) D eputy D irector of the F ederal Agency C hair of the Joint C ommission 7