A group of 25 members of the Civil Monitoring Boards (CMB) have attended an online course on the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) standards. The course was prepared under the European Programme for Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP), as an online learning tool that will help the CMB members to increase their knowledge and skills on the CPT standards on prisons and prison monitoring.
After the welcoming addresses by the representatives of Criminal Law Co-operation Unit of the Council of Europe and the Directorate General of Prisons and Detention Houses, the representatives of the CPT Secretariat and the HELP Programme, together with the national HELP tutor, presented the work of the CPT and the HELP course on the CPT Standards. They provided the participants with overview of the structure of the course, including the national adaptation process and important practical aspects, thus sharing with them necessary information for the online learning process.
Over the following month and based on the planning set by the national tutor, these selected CMB members will undertake the course, complemented by the adaptation to the domestic legal and institutional framework. In a long-term, it is expected that by using this course, CMB members will increase their knowledge on the CPT standards in prison monitoring and apply them when conducting their own visits to prisons.
The online launching event was organised on 30 June 2021, within the scope of the Project entitled “Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Civil Monitoring Boards in Turkey in line with the European Standards” implemented by the Council of Europe, and funded by Sweden, Switzerland, the Republic of Turkey, the Human Rights Trust Fund of the Council of Europe and Canada.
