Preventing Torture An Operational Guide for National Human Rights Institutions 1.3. Developing practical tools NHRIs may decide to develop practical tools to assist them undertake visits, such as checklists or questionnaires for interviews. These tools can help ensure that a consistent approach is used during each visit to places of detention, especially when there are different visiting teams from the NHRI. They should, however, provide a general guide for the visit, rather than setting out a format to be strictly followed. Monitoring places of detention requires the ability to adapt to a variety of situations and to respond to the specific circumstances of particular detention facilities. The Philippines Commission on Human Rights caries out regular visits to all prisons in order to assess conditions against national and international human rights standards for the treatment of prisoners and detainees. The Commission has developed a set of guidelines for detention monitoring in order to standardize their inspection procedure. 1.4. Preparing for the visit It is crucial that NHRIs set aside adequate time to prepare for the visit, as this ensures that the visiting team can make greatest use of the time they spend in the detention facility. 1.4.1. Defining the objective of the visit During the initial visit to a place of detention, the goal of the NHRI should be to gain an overview of the conditions of detention and the treatment of detainees in the facility, as well as to collect information on the most pressing problems. Image: APF / Michael Power During following visits, the visiting team may decide to concentrate on specific aspects of the detention facility, such as its complaint system, its disciplinary procedures, medical care or violence between prisoners. 86 | Chapter 8: Monitoring places of detention