42 5. The NPM’s visits In order to perform my tasks related to the NPM, I have to regularly examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty and held at various places of detention specified in Article 4 of the OPCAT also in the absence of any petition or alleged impropriety.79 The primary objective of the NPM’s visits is to establish which elements of the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty may lead to torture or other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment, and how to prevent them. Another important task of the NPM is to make recommendations in order to prevent these from happening or recurring.80 As a general rule, the staff members of the Department do not inquire into complaints lodged with the Office. The only exceptions are submissions containing data or information indicative of the violation of the provisions on the prohibition of sanctions, stipulated in Article 21.1 of the OPCAT, which are investigated by the staff members of the Department authorised to perform tasks related to the NPM. The Department forwarded all individual complaints submitted to the e-mail address displayed on the NPM’s homepage or to my colleagues during the visits to the competent organizational unit of my Office. Although inquiring into the individual complaints submitted to my Office falls outside the Department’s jurisdiction, studying them provides guidelines for selecting the locations of visits and the focal points. 5.1. Planning and preparing the visits By virtue of Section 30 of the Ombudsman Act, “the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights shall determine the rules and methods of his inquiries in normative instructions”.81 79 80 81 See Section 39/B(1) of the Ombudsman Act. SPT: Report on the visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to the Maldives (26 February 2009), (Clause 5 of CAT/OP/MDV/1). See Commissioner for Fundamental Rights Directive 3/2015. (XI. 30.) AJB on the professional rules and methods of his/her inquiries.