CAT/C/70/2 D. Dialogue arising from visits, including publication of the Subcommittee’s reports by States parties and national preventive mechanisms 13. The substantive aspects of the dialogue arising from visits are confidential. Reports are made public only with the consent of the recipient.3 By the end of 2020, the Subcommittee had transmitted a total of 94 visit reports to States parties and national preventive mechanisms, including within the reporting period to Ghana, Senegal (to both the State party and the national preventive mechanism), Switzerland (to both the State party and the national preventive mechanism) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (to both the State party and the national preventive mechanism). 14. A total of 58 visit reports have been made public following requests from States parties or national preventive mechanisms under article 16 (2) of the Optional Protocol, including five in 2020, namely the reports addressed to the State party arising from the visits of the Subcommittee to Costa Rica, the Niger and Poland, and the reports addressed to the national preventive mechanisms of Poland and the United Kingdom. While fully respecting the principle of and right to confidentiality provided for in the Optional Protocol, the Subcommittee welcomes the increasing number of visit reports that are being published, believing that this reflects the spirit of transparency on which preventive visiting is based and facilitates better implementation of the respective recommendations. The Subcommittee encourages the recipients of reports to request their publication. 15. In conformity with established practice, the recipients of reports are requested to submit a written reply within six months of their transmission, giving a full account of the action taken and that will be taken to implement the recommendations contained in the reports. During the reporting period, the Subcommittee received six such replies, namely from Costa Rica (both from the State party and the national preventive mechanism), Maldives, Poland (both from the State party and the national preventive mechanism) and the United Kingdom (from the national preventive mechanism). E. Developments concerning national preventive mechanisms 16. The Subcommittee has continued to engage in dialogue with States parties and signatories at its sessions concerning the designation or functioning of their national preventive mechanisms. At its fortieth, forty-first and forty-second sessions, it held meetings with representatives of Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Gabon, Georgia, Guatemala, Mali, Mongolia and the State of Palestine. 17. In accordance with its mandate under articles 11 (b) (i) and (ii) of the Optional Protocol, the Subcommittee established and maintained direct contact with national preventive mechanisms. During its sessions in 2020, the Subcommittee held meetings with the representatives of the national preventive mechanisms of Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Bulgaria, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Maldives, Mauritania, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Senegal, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Togo, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Uruguay. 18. The Subcommittee and its members have continued to receive invitations to attend numerous national, regional and international meetings, mostly online, concerning the designation, establishment and development of national preventive mechanisms in particular and on the Optional Protocol in general. The Subcommittee is grateful to the organizers of those and all other events to which it has been invited. The Subcommittee would also be grateful if all invitations to official events and discussions could be made through the 3 Data concerning visit reports, including those that have been made public, are available at https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/ CountryVisits.aspx?SortOrder=Chronological. 5