A/HRC/13/39/Add.5 threatened when I tried to obtain access to the military barracks in Malabo and when I attempted to visit the police headquarters in Bata a second time, in order to assess whether detainees had been subjected to reprisals after my first visit. All my movements throughout the country were constantly monitored, which was even openly admitted by the Government during my debriefing. The Minister of Interior frankly told me that intelligence sources had informed him about my meetings with the human rights officer of the (only legal) opposition party. The fact of having met members of the legal opposition was even used as the main argument why my report was rejected by the Government as biased.7 16. Various Governments obstructed my efforts of independent and objective factfinding by extensively preparing detention facilities and instructing detainees about my visit. In order to better prepare my visits, Governments often demanded that I tell them in advance which facilities I wished to inspect. It was only after long and difficult negotiations that certain Governments such as China, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Equatorial Guinea, accepted that my visits are, in principle, unannounced. Nevertheless, through extensive monitoring of my movements throughout the respective countries, these Governments could, at least to some extent, predict which detention facilities I intended to visit. This might even have been well-intended, i.e. the authorities responsible for the detention facilities wished to make as good an impression as possible. It also had the positive sideeffect that prisons were renovated, cleaned and freshly painted, that the food, health services and recreation possibilities were improved during my missions, and that detainees were released from solitary confinement. Two examples of such well-intended preparations were Indonesia and Kazakhstan, where the prison directors were already waiting outside their facilities to warmly welcome me. In Indonesia, where I had to fly from island to island, I even met military intelligence officers who told me that their task was to inform their superiors whether and when all members of my team had left the respective island. In Kazakhstan, a police car was sent to escort me to the next city I intended to visit. All prisoners in areas that I could possibly visit were told about my mission and instructed to stage prison bands and parties in order to impress me. The paint on cell doors was so fresh that it had not even dried and we had to be careful not to touch it. Detainees told us exactly how they were instructed to interact with us, and we were later informed that prisoners in other facilities, which we could not visit for lack of time, were disappointed because their extensive preparations were in vain. In China, officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had insisted to escort me throughout the mission. In some countries, notably China, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Equatorial Guinea, these efforts of constantly putting me under surveillance and control were so persistent that I considered interrupting or terminating the mission. 17. Even if well-intended, i.e. to assist and protect me, these activities obstruct any efforts of objective fact-finding. My task is to independently assess, to the best of my abilities, conditions of detention and instances of torture as they are in reality. All efforts of the authorities aimed at creating a situation which is not genuine make my task of objective fact-finding much more difficult and may even be counter-productive as they naturally raise suspicions that the Government has something to hide. There is no country in the world without the risk of torture and ill-treatment and where prison conditions could not be improved. If Governments wish to use my findings and reports as a solid basis for a comprehensive needs assessment aimed at improving the situation, it is in their own interest to let me carry out my work as smoothly and effectively as possible. In practice, only relatively few countries enabled me to conduct my fact-finding without any notable interference or obstruction. I wish to particularly mention in this context the Governments of Georgia, Paraguay, Togo, Denmark, Moldova and Uruguay. In Uruguay, I was even 7 8 A/HRC/10/44/Add.1, A/HRC/13/39/Add.4.