Following the design of the new prison monitoring toolkit earlier this year, the first on-site coaching session was conducted successfully from 20 to 24 September 2021 in Sincan Prison near Ankara, for 12 members of the Civil Monitoring Boards (CMBs) from Ankara, Eskişehir and Nevşehir.

This session, aiming at testing the applicability of the toolkit, covered all prison monitoring stages, namely preparation, conducting the visit, reporting and follow-up. It contributes towards establishing a more uniformed prison monitoring approach throughout Turkey and enhancing the capacities of the prison monitors in better assessing the compliance of prison conditions and treatment vis-a-vis the applicable international standards and national legislation. The CMBs members found the piloting session very useful since it enabled them to recognize their shortcomings while interviewing prisoners and writing an effective monitoring report.

The piloting was conducted in the closed women’s prison, juvenile prison and L4 type prison, where foreign prisoners are accommodated, focusing on healthcare provision and units, enhancing CMB’s interviewing skills with respect to prisoners, as well as improving their interaction with prison administration and staff. Four prominent consultants, out of which three former CPT members, facilitated and guided the session, thus developing the local CMBs’ capacity and increasing their confidence in applying the newly developed toolkit in practice.

The second piloting will be held at the end of October in a prison facility in Antalya. Detailed evaluation reports with recommendations for improvements will follow each pilot phase.

The meeting was held 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.