4. Ensure financial independence of NPMs to operate effectively, including providing them with adequate financial resources and ring-fencing their budgets if they are part of another larger budget. 5. Improve knowledge of detaining authorities and persons deprived of their liberty of the NPMs’ preventive mandate and torture prevention in general, including through seminars or training. 6. Systematically publish NPMs annual reports, and SPT and European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) visits reports and make all efforts to translate and make them available in the main national language(s) as soon as possible. 7. Ensure that national legislation requires authorities to respond to NPMs recommendations and establish an effective mechanism, composed of relevant State agencies, international organisations, civil society experts and the NPM, to follow up on NPMs’ and other monitoring bodies’ recommendations. 8. Ensure that persons deprived of their liberty are aware of their rights, including access to legal and medical assistance, freedom from torture, not to be forced to make confessions and their right to redress for any violations they may suffer. 9. Ensure that the health care of persons deprived of their liberty is overseen by relevant public health authorities. 10. Use detention as a measure of last resort, and when persons with special needs are detained, ensure that they have access to appropriate facilities and services. Detaining authorities should be trained on how to recognize the need of persons in situations of vulnerability, including victims of human trafficking. 11. Ensure that the rights of persons accused or convicted of national security and terrorism-related offences are fully respected. 12. Collect and publish data on the composition of the detained population, including those with special needs and characteristics, in order to inform action to reduce risk of torture and other ill-treatment. 13. Prioritise changing the culture of policing, through on-going training of police regarding evidence-based investigations and control of use of force. States should ensure the accountability of all ranks of law enforcement officials, including by taking actions in response to allegations and convictions of torture and ill-treatment. The following recommendations were made directly to the OSCE, through the Officce for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights: 14. Support networks and regular peer-to-peer exchange of experiences, information and practices between NPMs in the OSCE region, with involvement of the SPT, and relevant regional bodies when appropriate. 15. Support training programmes for NPMs, with the involvement of SPT and regional bodies, to ensure minimum standards and common methodology in detention | 33