National Preventive Mechanism Fifth Annual Report 2013–14 The CPT’s report on its October 2012 ad hoc visit, which involved the presence of a CPT delegation on a chartered immigration removal flight between London and Colombo (Sri Lanka), was broadly positive about the preparation for removal process it observed and the efforts to conduct it in a humane way. The CPT made recommendations regarding the accreditation and implementation of a revised training package for escort staff, the presence of interpreters during escort flights and the need to include psychological assessments in the recruitment of escort staff.41 The government agreed for its responses to both reports to be published.42 NPM members began preparing a response to the CPT, to be sent in the next business year. iv. Council of Europe and UK NPM meeting on immigration detention A meeting was organised by HMI Prisons with the Council of Europe (Parliamentary Assembly and Directorate General of Democracy) to support work to develop the codification of a set of Immigration Detention Rules applicable to Council of Europe members, which would be similar in approach to the European Prison Rules. The meeting, held at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on 21 and 22 November 2013, brought together NPMs from across the Council of Europe and members of the SPT and CPT, as well as a number of international experts from academia and NGOs. Discussions during the meeting focused on key concerns about the treatment of and conditions for immigration detainees across Europe, and sharing best practice in immigration detention monitoring. NPMs present at the meeting shared concern about the lack of consolidated rules in the area of immigration detention, and agreed that such rules would help them fulfil their mandates as detention monitoring bodies. HMI Prisons, as a member of the UK NPM, presented its proposals for some of the principles that should be included in a future set of minimum standards for immigration detention. A final declaration (see Appendix Seven) called on the Council of Europe to take forward these proposals. v. International exchange of experience NPM members benefit from the expertise of other NPMs and the UK NPM frequently hosts external delegations with which it shares its own expertise. During the year, delegations were received from Macedonia (NIPBICVS), Netherlands (CSSIW), China (Care Inspectorate), Czechoslovakia (Care Inspectorate), Turkey (Care Inspectorate), Japan (HMI Prisons) and Libya (HMI Prisons). The NPM coordination met with delegations from Kyrgystan and Turkmenistan. The Association for the Prevention of Torture shadowed the joint HMIC/HMI Prisons inspection team during an inspection of police custody facilities in Thames Valley Police in September 2013. NPM members visited Macedonia (HMIC), Indonesia (HMI Prisons) and Russia (IMB and HMI Prisons) to support the development of independent monitoring. Further information sharing among NPMs is conducted through a European newsletter, to which the UK NPM contributes. Meetings were also held with the ICRC delegation in London to discuss shared areas of interest. 41 http://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/gbr/2013-14-inf-eng.htm 42 http://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/gbr/2013-15-inf-eng.pdf and http://www.cpt.coe.int/documents/gbr/2014-12-inf-eng.pdf 34