CAT/OP/CHE/ROSP/1 Commission is expected to carry out between 20 and 30 visits to places of deprivation of liberty a year.5 29. According to the list provided to the Subcommittee by the Government of Switzerland prior to the visit, there are more than 400 places of deprivation of liberty throughout the country, including police stations, prisons, psychiatric hospitals, centres for asylum seekers and secure social-care centres. The Commission believes that the total number of places of deprivation of liberty meeting the criteria set out in article 4 of the Optional Protocol could be close to 700. 30. Since the Commission can only carry out around 15 visits a year on average, it will clearly not be possible for it to visit the hundreds of places of deprivation of liberty in the State party with the necessary regularity, as required under article 1 of the Optional Protocol. The national preventive mechanism is thus hindered de facto from fulfilling its mission, as set out in the mandate under the Optional Protocol, to regularly examine, for the purposes of prevention, the treatment of the persons deprived of their liberty in places of detention as defined in article 4 of the Protocol; this is true irrespective of the fact that there are no particularly serious problems in places of deprivation of liberty in the State party, as the delegation observed during its visit. 31. The Subcommittee is concerned about the Commission’s lack of financial resources, which constitutes a major obstacle to its effective and efficient operation, as demonstrated by the low number of visits conducted in relation to the number of places of deprivation of liberty. The Subcommittee finds it regrettable that the Swiss authorities have not allocated the necessary funds to the Commission for the full discharge of its mandate, including funds for the provision of interpretation services to facilitate communication with persons being questioned, as needed, and funds for the conduct of expert medical examinations, including during visits to medical or hospital facilities, among others. 32. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party provide the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture with a budget sufficient to guarantee its operational independence and the proper exercise of its functions, in accordance with articles 17 to 20 of the Optional Protocol. In this regard, it encourages the State party to review the budget allocated to the national preventive mechanism, giving due consideration to the needs expressed by the members of the mechanism itself, so that it can: (a) carry out, in a satisfactory manner, its annual programme of visits throughout the country; (b) enlist, as needed, the services of external experts and interpreters working into various languages; (c) conduct its follow-up activities; (d) work in partnership with actors involved in torture prevention; and (e) satisfy all the logistical requirements for its proper functioning. D. Members 33. The Subcommittee is concerned that the 12 members of the National Commission for the Prevention of Torture perform their duties on a part-time basis and without remuneration, in keeping with the State party’s tradition of part-time public service (milice), even though that tradition is an integral part of the country’s custom of participation, which is practised in a range of fields, including the political and social spheres. 34. The Subcommittee noted that, despite the commendable efforts of the members of the Commission and their strong commitment to preventing torture, there is a de facto limit on their availability, which hampers their ability to carry out their mandate properly, particularly with regard to the number, duration and regularity of visits and the conduct of unannounced or urgent visits with the requisite speed. In the Subcommittee’s view, the fact that members discharge their mandate on a part-time basis and in parallel with another profession makes them less available to carry out tasks related to the national preventive mechanism, including 5 6 Suisse, Conseil fédéral, « Message relatif à un projet d’arrêté fédéral portant approbation et mise en œuvre du Protocole facultatif se rapportant à la Convention contre la torture et autres peines ou traitements cruels, inhumains ou dégradants », document FF 2007 261, sect. 1.4.2, p. 267. GE.21-03779