Report of the Human Rights Defender on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2012 Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment   Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Adopted on 18 December 2002 at the fifty-seventh session of the General Assembly of the United Nations by resolution A/RES/57/199. Protocol is available for signature, ratification and accession as from 4 February 2003 (i.e. the date upon which the original of the Protocol was established) at United Nations Headquarters in New York. PREAMBLE The States Parties to the present Protocol, Reaffirming that torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are prohibited and constitute serious violations of human rights, Convinced that further measures are necessary to achieve the purposes of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) and to strengthen the protection of persons deprived of their liberty against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Recalling that articles 2 and 16 of the Convention oblige each State Party to take effective measures to prevent acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in any territory under its jurisdiction, Recognizing that States have the primary responsibility for implementing those articles, that strengthening the protection of people deprived of their liberty and the full respect for their human rights is a common responsibility shared by all and that international implementing bodies complement and strengthen national measures,  Recalling that the effective prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading  treatment or punishment requires education and a combination of various legislative, administrative, judicial and other measures, Recalling also that the World Conference on Human Rights firmly declared that efforts to eradicate torture should first and foremost be concentrated on prevention and called for the adoption of an optional protocol to the Convention, intended to establish a preventive system of regular visits to places of detention, Convinced that the protection of persons deprived of their liberty against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment can be strengthened by non-judicial means of a preventive nature, based on regular visits to places of detention, Have agreed as follows: 156