States must ensure that the full range of legal and practical safeguards to prevent torture is available, including guarantees related to the right to personal liberty and security, and to due process rights. These are, for instance, the right for anyone arrested or detained on criminal charges to be brought promptly before a judge and to be tried within a reasonable amount of time or to be released. They also include the right promptly to challenge the lawfulness of one’s detention before a court. The Human Rights Committee, in its general comment N° 29, has confirmed that this right is to be protected at all times, including during a state of emergency, thereby highlighting the crucial role of procedural guarantees in securing compliance with the absolute prohibition of torture or any other form of inhuman, cruel or degrading treatment. Additionally, detainees must be given regular access to medical doctors and legal counsel. Finally, States should allow the regular and independent monitoring of detention centres (see also sect. D below). The entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture on 22 June 2006 is a significant development towards ensuring the practical protection of detainees against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. It establishes an international Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture with a mandate to visit places of detention in States parties and requires States parties to set up national preventive mechanisms, which are also to be provided with access to places of detention and prisoners. The High Commissioner for Human Rights has encouraged all States to sign and ratify this instrument as an important practical measure and a demonstration of their commitment to preventing torture and ill-treatment, and protecting the human rights of those within their jurisdiction. C. Transfer of individuals suspected of terrorist activity States have an obligation to conduct any transfer of detainees in a manner which is transparent and consistent with human rights and the rule of law, including the right to respect for a person’s inherent dignity, the right of everyone to recognition before the law and the right to due process. The international human rights legal framework requires that any deprivation of liberty should be based on grounds and procedures established by law, that detainees should be informed of the reasons for their detention and promptly notified of the charges against them, and that they should be provided with access to legal counsel. In addition, prompt and effective oversight of detention by a judicial officer must be ensured to verify the 33