Preliminary remarks 1.The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT) was established following the entry into force in June 2006 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT). The SPT began its work in February 2007. 2.The aim of the OPCAT is “to establish a system of regular visits undertaken by independent international and national bodies to places where people are deprived of their liberty”, in order to prevent ill-treatment. The term ill-treatment should be interpreted in its widest sense, to include inter alia ill-treatment arising from inadequate material conditions of deprivation of liberty. The SPT has two pillars of work: visiting places of deprivation of liberty to examine current practice and system features in order to identify where the gaps in the protection exist and which safeguards require strengthening; and assisting in the development and functioning of bodies designated by States Parties to carry out regular visits - the national preventive mechanisms (NPMs). The SPT focus is empirical - on what actually happens and what practical improvements are needed to prevent ill-treatment. 3.Article 11 paragraph c) of the OPCAT provides that, for the prevention of torture in general, the SPT shall cooperate, inter alia, with other United Nations organs and mechanisms as well as with regional and national institutions. Article 31 provides that the SPT should also consult and cooperate with bodies established under regional conventions with view to avoiding duplication and promoting effectively the objectives of the OPCAT. 4.Under the OPCAT, a State Party is obliged to allow visits by the SPT to any places under its jurisdiction and control where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty, either by virtue of an order given by a public authority or at its instigation or with its consent or acquiescence. States Parties further undertake to grant the SPT unrestricted access to all information concerning persons deprived of their liberty and to all information referring to the treatment of those persons as well as their conditions of detention. They are also obliged to grant the SPT private interviews with persons deprived of liberty without witnesses. The SPT has the liberty to choose the places it wants to visit and the persons it wants to interview. Similar powers are to be granted to NPMs, in accordance with the OPCAT. The work of the SPT is guided by the principles of confidentiality, impartiality, non-selectivity, universality and objectivity, in accordance with article 2, paragraph 3 of the OPCAT. Introduction 5.In accordance with articles 1 and 11 of the OPCAT, the SPT visited Sweden from Monday 10 to Friday 14 March 2008. 6.In this first visit to Sweden the delegation of the SPT concentrated its work on the evaluation of basic safeguards for the prevention of ill-treatment at the early stage of deprivation of liberty by the police, as well as on the evaluation of the regime of remand prisoners held under restrictions. The delegation also examined the readiness of the designated NPMs to carry out their mandate as envisaged by the OPCAT and possibilities for future cooperation. 7.The delegation consisted of the following members of the SPT: Mr. Zdeněk Hájek (Head of the delegation), Ms. Marija DefinisGojanovic and Mr. Wilder Tayler Souto. 8.The SPT members were assisted by Mr. Avetik Ishkhanyan, expert , and Ms. Helle Dahl Iversen and Ms. Kukka Savolainen, staff members of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as by three interpreters. I. COOPERATION A. Facilitation of the visit 9.In advance of the visit, the Swedish authorities had designated Ms Victoria Li, Deputy Director from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, to act as liaison officer for the SPT visit. In preparation for the visit, the SPT requested and was provided by the authorities with extensive documentation of the legislation relating to deprivation of liberty as well as lists of places of deprivation of liberty. The SPT wishes to express its appreciation for the good facilitation of the visit and for the excellent cooperation by the Swedish authorities and the officials and staff working in the locations visited, and to thank the liaison officer, Ms. Li, for her efforts to that end. B. Meetings at central level 10.The delegation held meetings at central level with many officials, and discussed with the senior officials and staff in establishments visited and members of civil society. Furthermore, the delegation had a meeting with the Parliamentary Ombudsmen and the Chancellor of Justice on the issue of National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs). A full list of officials and others with whom the delegation met can be found in Annex I. C. Places of deprivation of liberty visited by the delegation 11.During the visit, the delegation reviewed the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty at different institutions, the safeguards for their protection, and conducted private interviews with detainees. A full list of places of deprivation of liberty visited can be found in Annex II. D. Access 12.The delegation was granted unrestricted access to all the places it wished to visit and to information requested and had the opportunity to interview persons deprived of their liberty in private, in full accordance with the OPCAT.