CAT/C/52/2 Optional Protocol informed of developments relating to reprisals; establishing a database of reprisal cases; and cooperating with NPMs to promote common policies to prevent reprisals. 68. The Subcommittee would keep its policy, once formally adopted, under constant review. (c) Working group on systemic issues relating to national preventive mechanisms 69. The Subcommittee has decided that it would be helpful to draw up guidelines concerning the manner in which the Subcommittee undertakes its work with NPMs. The guidelines are currently internal to the Subcommittee, as it trials and evaluates them. Both the guidelines and their confidential nature will be reviewed by the Subcommittee at its session in June 2014. The guidelines not only reflect the Optional Protocol mandate of the Subcommittee, but also reflect and respond to the views expressed by both States parties and NPMs concerning their aspirations and their expectations of the Subcommittee in that regard. 70. The guidelines provide details concerning the work of the four regional teams established within the Subcommittee (see para. 50 above) and the responsibilities of their members. The main task of the regional teams is to undertake and coordinate the NPM related activities of the Subcommittee within each region. Every Subcommittee member is assigned to a regional team and is appointed country rapporteur for a number of States. The main task of the country rapporteur is to maintain an up-to-date overview of the situation regarding the establishment and work of the NPM. Each regional team is led by a head, whose principal task is to direct and coordinate the activities of the team, under the overarching direction of the Subcommittee Bureau, led by the Vice-Chairperson for NPMs in conjunction with the Subcommittee Chairperson. 71. The guidelines also establish the framework within which the Subcommittee can develop its relations with others regarding NPM activities. The Subcommittee seeks to actively engage with other United Nations bodies and external stakeholders in the fulfilment of its NPM related mandate, and is particularly keen to encourage its regional teams to foster collaborative activities between NPMs and other stakeholders themselves. V. Substantive issues: corruption and prevention of torture and other ill-treatment A. Introduction 72. “Corrupt and malfunctioning criminal justice systems are a root cause of torture and ill-treatment of detainees”.9 There is a recognized correlation between the levels of corruption within a State and the prevalence of torture and ill-treatment: corruption breeds ill-treatment, and disregard for human rights contributes to the prevalence of corruption. In this section of the present report, the link between the two phenomena is considered and the need to take steps towards preventing corruption as a means of better protecting detainees from torture and other ill-treatment is highlighted. This also involves, inter alia, a 9 Manfred Nowak, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, addressing the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on 24 April 2009. See www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/un-human-rights-rapporteur-denounces-torture.html. 15