important for those NPMs who do not publish visit reports and for whom an annual report is the main
public communication to a wider audience.
Multiple body NPMs should publish a joint report, based on discussions among all institutions to ensure
that the key findings and recommendations reflect the key issues in the different areas of deprivation
of liberty covered by each institution. This is in addition to any individual reports published by each
institution to cover their non-OPCAT activities.
How to strategically disseminate an annual report?
Although the OPCAT refers to the state’s obligation to publish NPM reports, in practice it’s dissemination
is a task that is performed by the NPM. The NPM should therefore guarantee that it receives and
allocates sufficient funds, time and personnel every year to publish and disseminate the report,
including to the authorities and other interested parties.
The NPM should adopt a specific strategy for dissemination of the report, which can include the
following actions:
•
Presentation of the report to high-level authorities, including through a formal hearing with the
parliament.
•
Bilateral meetings with the head of government, and inter-institutional roundtables with several
ministries.
•
Public event to launch the report and raise awareness, as well as spark debate on key issues.
•
Press conference and release of a media kit.
•
Working meetings with other stakeholders, in particular civil society organisations, bar associations
and other actors interacting with the NPM and who can play a role in the implementation of its
recommendations.
•
Wide dissemination of the report (by email and regular mail) to all the above-mentioned institutions
and organisations.
•
Bringing a set of copies of the annual report to lectures, training events and meetings during the
year in order to help present the NPM and the work it does.
•
Publicising the report on social media.
•
Publish thematic articles drawn from the annual report one by one over the following year.
•
Distribution of the report to detention libraries, where it can be accessed by staff and persons
deprived of liberty.
Although not the target audience of NPM reports, a number of international human rights bodies and
mechanisms have an interest in NPM annual reports, in particular the SPT, other international and
regional bodies and other NPMs. It is therefore also important for the NPM to ensure wide dissemination
of its annual report beyond its national borders. A good practice is to send NPM annual reports to the
SPT, who, in turn, publicises them on its own website. It is also useful for NPMs to send their reports
to other NPMs and to relevant regional and international human rights bodies working on detention
issues as a way of engaging and sharing information that can feed into their deliberation.
Annual reports should be translated into the national languages of the country in which the NPM
operates, including indigenous languages. For the purpose of international dissemination and to
facilitate future exchanges on the content of the report with the SPT, it is also a good practice to publish
the full report (or at least its executive summary) in English.
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NPM Toolkit for Asia Pacific NPM-NHRIs