The internal communication and cooperation among the Civil Monitoring Boards (CMBs) further improved following the Annual CMB meeting held on 16 and 17 January 2020 in Antalya. A total of 90 participants benefited from the presentations on the international standards and best practices regarding efficient prison monitoring, aiming to improve the quality of the civic monitoring system and provide full protection of the rights of prisoners.
Two consultants facilitated the group work on topics relevant to the CMB members, such as sustainable methods for exchange of knowledge and experience, preparation for and carrying out visits to penitentiary institutions, drafting reports and formulating recommendations to the authorities, and communication and cooperation with other monitoring mechanisms.
“I learned about good practices from the CMB members from other regions in Turkey” and “The discussions on how to approach and conduct an interview with an LGBT inmate have been very useful”, were some of the thoughts shared during the event, leading to a conclusion that such general meetings significantly contribute towards better understanding of their work and exchange of experiences between different CMBs. Moreover, the consultants proposed concrete measures to further improve internal coordination and external communication with other relevant bodies and stakeholders.
This was the first annual meeting organised within the auspices of the Project “Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Civil Monitoring Boards in Turkey in line with the European Standards” funded by Sweden, Switzerland, the Republic of Turkey, the Human Rights Trust Fund and Canada.
