Seeking Remedies for Torture Victims: A Handbook on the Individual Complaints Procedures of the UN Tready Bodies a) Objective of Protocol Article 1 of the Protocol states the objective of the Protocol: The objective of the present Protocol is to establish a system of regular visits undertaken by independent international and national bodies to places where people are deprived of their liberty, in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Subcommittee) works together with domestic monitoring bodies, known as National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs), to prevent torture and other mistreatment by States parties through regular visits to centres of detention. This emphasis on prevention through cooperation between an international mechanism and domestic bodies (also referred to as the ‘two-pillar system’412) differentiates the Protocol from other existing anti-torture mechanisms. b) The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment The Subcommittee (or SPT) consists of twenty-five members nominated and subsequently elected to four-year terms by the States parties in a secret ballot.413 As with the HRC and the CAT Committee, the Subcommittee members operate in an independent expert capacity.414 A Subcommittee member should have experience in the area of justice administration, including criminal law, police or prison administration or in a field which relates to the treatment of individuals who are deprived of their liberty.415 The fundamental principles that should guide all members of the Subcommittee in their actions and approach are “confidentiality, impartiality, non-selectivity, universality and objectivity”.416 The Subcommittee held its first session in February 2007; it usually convenes three times a year for sessions lasting one week at the United Nations Office at Geneva.417 Under Article 11 of the OP, the Subcommittee has two main tasks. The first is to visit places of detention and communicate what they observe to the State parties. The second is to liaise with and assist in the operation of the National Preventive Mechanism. 412 See Commission on Human Rights, Report of the working group on a draft optional protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, (2002) UN Doc. E/CN.4/2002/78, para. 13; see also Nowak and McArthur (2008), pp. 920–924. 413 Article 5(1), OPCAT. See also SPT, Rules of Procedure, (2013) UN Doc. CAT/OP/3, Rule 6(1). 414 Article 5(6), OPCAT. 415 Article 5(2), OPCAT. 416 Article 2(3), OPCAT. 417 A list of the sessions is available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/opcat/sessions.htm. 136