of the regime running that facility. Moreover, special needs of detainees in particular situations of vulnerability are often ignored and not provided for. B. Detention conditions 1. Material conditions As per international standards, states are obliged to avoid prison-like environments, and to guarantee certain standards concerning the material conditions, the length of detention, and the respectful treatment and regime, in accordance with the non-criminal status of migrants in detention. Addressing material conditions of detention, however, must be accompanied by an unequivocal reaffirmation that administrative detention should remain the exception rather than the rule.13 As such, accommodation, sanitation, hygiene, drinking water, food, clothing, bedding, safe custody of and access to personal property and effects as well as access to health care must all be provided to an adequate standard and in a manner that is safe and respectful of the dignity of individual detainees. In addition, the design and physical environment of detention facilities ought to ensure that all detainees have adequate privacy.14 The European Court has also found that inappropriate conditions of detention may amount to ill-treatment under article 3 of the ECHR.15 According to the participants, in practice in the OSCE region, the detention conditions of migrants can be extremely poor, and can sometimes amount to ill-treatment or even torture. In general, as the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture emphasized during the discussion, any detention regime which puts detainees, including migrants, in conditions incompatible with international standards, regardless of the intentional or negligent nature of these conditions, can indeed fulfil the definition of torture. 2. Access to rights and procedures Migrants should be able to appeal their detention and benefit from effective remedies. Provision of legal aid depends on the free legal aid system in the country. Participants discussed that in some OSCE participating States the legal aid schemes are not adequate or not sufficiently accessible, including because of language barriers. Participants also shared key challenges of their monitoring work in the context of timely procedures. They explained that in some OSCE participating States, submitting an appeal to the court does not halt the deportation process. Subsequently, it happens that when lawyers appear before the court the person has already been deported. Access to interpretation - Communication and lack of information in an understandable language were highlighted as other areas of concern. It was mentioned that in some places, there are interpreters or phone translators, but overall participants agreed that timely and sufficient quality See e.g. UNHCR, Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of AsylumSeekers and Alternatives to Detention (UNHCHR Detention Guidelines): https://www.unhcr.org/publications/legal/505b10ee9/unhcr-detention-guidelines.html. 14 https://www.apt.ch/content/files_res/monitoring-immigration-detention_practical-manual.pdf. 15 If the place and conditions of detention are not appropriate, this may also breach Article 3 of the European Convention on Human RIghts (see, for example, M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece [GC], §§ 205-234; S.Z. v. Greece, and HA.A. v. Greece). 13 10