Enhancing the effectiveness of Civil Monitoring Boards in Türkiye in line with European Standards

The Civil Monitoring Boards (CMBs) have been actively involved in the external monitoring of the penitentiary system in the Republic of Türkiye through conducting on-site visits since 2001. The main task of CMBs is to conduct civil monitoring visits to the prisons and produce reports with binding recommendations for the Ministry of Justice. The deficiency of standards within the monitoring process, as well as the inadequate capacities and lack of training opportunities for the members, remained at unsatisfactory level for a long period of time.

The current “learning by doing” system should be replaced by an institutionalized training system. Therefore, there is an urgent need to work on the capacity building of the CMBs, as well as on increasing the quality of the whole process of the selection and training of its members in order to reach the European standards. Only a well-functioning external monitoring mechanism will contribute to a better penal system by decreasing the human rights breaches.

The Project was divided in 4 components:

Strengthening CMBs independence through revision of the applicable legal and regulatory framework in line with the international standards;
Enhancing CMBs efficiency by further developing their monitoring standards and working methodology and tools;
Ensuring sustainable training provision for the CMB members; and
Improving CMBs internal coordination and communication with other external monitoring mechanisms.

This Project was estimated to cover approximately 100 activities to be implemented by 31 May 2022, with an overall budget of 1,600,000 Euros.

Project documentation

Useful information

PROJECT NEWS

Back Finalisation of the Training Modules and materials for the prison monitors in Turkey

@ Council of Europe

The final version of seven Training Modules and related training materials for the members of the Civil Monitoring Boards (CMBs) was prepared, following the Working Group (WG) meeting held from 30 November until 4 December 2021 in Izmir, Turkey.

The WG members, composed of representatives of the CMBs, Directorate General for Prisons and Detention Houses (DGPDH), National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) and academics from the selected universities, together with one enforcement judge and prison controller, agreed that the training materials will further improve the quality of the civil monitoring system and enhance the prison monitoring skills of CMB members, aligning it with best European practices.

The training programme will also further increase the capacities of the CMBs members with regards to monitoring disciplinary procedures and healthcare provision in prisons and enhance their communication skills and interview techniques. As a result, the CMBs will be better equipped to interconnect with prisoners and prison staff, to obtain accurate and reliable information with respect to prisoners’ rights and treatment, which will help them to produce tailored reports with specific recommendations.

The meeting was facilitated by five consultants and took place within the Project entitled “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 of the Council of Europe and Canada.

Turkey 6 December 2021