for different areas of the SPT’s work: visits, NPMs, external relations and jurisprudence/rapporteur. Furthermore, the SPT has assigned the responsibility of regional focal point to four of its members covering Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe. Other members play also a very active and important role on the work of the SPT. The SPT was established under the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT), which means that it is only mandated to visit and otherwise engage with countries that have ratified or acceded to the OPCAT. Information about countries that have ratified or acceded to the OPCAT can be found here: http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV9-b&chapter=4&lang=en SPT country visits Country visits are one of the main activities of the SPT. The aim of the country visit is to address systemic problems leading to a risk of and/or real practices of torture or ill-treatment. This is done through an on-site evaluation of the legislation, the policy and institutions relating to places of detention, conditions of detention and measures taken to prevent torture and illtreatment, such as the establishment of an NPM and the implementation of basic legal safeguards such as access to a lawyer and a doctor of one’s own choice. The SPT is among the international human rights monitoring bodies that spend the most time in the field in each of the countries it reviews. As a result, its analysis and recommendations are often more detailed, precise and concrete than what is provided by many other international human rights monitoring bodies. For organisations working on torture eradication, an SPT country visit is an excellent opportunity to bring 6 international attention to your priority issues and to use international monitoring for promoting domestic change. The SPT visits can focus on different elements of its mandate. In some cases, the main focus is to visit places of detention to assess how the treatment of detainees and the conditions of detention can be brought in compliance with international standards, including those prescribed in the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) and other instruments, such as the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. In other cases, the SPT might visit a country to follow up on the implementation of previous recommendations or to provide technical support for the establishment of a NPM. The duration of country visits varies depending on various elements such as the size of the country, complexity of governmental structures, the size of the prison population and Working with the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture: A practical guide for NGOs engaging with SPT country visits