MONITORING PLACES OF DETENTION : A PRACTICAL GUIDE 26 2. MONITORING PLACES OF DETENTION THROUGH VISITS 2.1 What is meant by monitoring places of detention? Monitoring describes the process, over time, of regular examination of all aspects of detention. The examination can involve all or certain categories of persons deprived of their freedom in one or more places of detention. All aspects of detention are interdependent and must be examined in relation to each other (see CHAPTER IV): ■ The legal and administrative measures set and applied within the place of detention with a view to protecting the person, guaranteeing his or her right to life and physical and psychological integrity; ■ the living conditions during detention; ■ the regime of detention (activities, contacts with the outside world); ■ the access to medical care; ■ the organisation and management of detainees and of personnel as well as the relations between the detainees and the detaining authorities. Monitoring includes the oral or written transmission of the results of the examination to the authorities concerned and, in some cases, to other players involved in the protection of persons deprived of their liberty at the national and international levels, and to the media. It also includes the follow-up regarding the implementation of the recommendations transmitted to the authorities. 2.2 The importance of monitoring Monitoring of detention conditions is absolutely necessary for various reasons: ■ Depriving a person of his or her liberty is a serious coercive act by the State, with inherent risks of human rights abuses;