Council of Europe

The news of the Russian PMC Project can be found on the new address : http://www.coe.int/pmc

The Nizhniy Novgorod seminar will be dedicated to public control in places of detention of the Federal Penitentiary Service. A special attention will be paid to the specific nature of public control by PMCs and to ensure a clear understanding of international standards./p>

More than 30 PMC members from different regions of the Privolzhskii Federal District are expected to participate in this training. The program of this seminar is promised to be rich: the discussions on the existing problems with the monitoring of human rights in places of detention in the above mentioned Federal District; the short lectures about international standards of the treatment of administrative detainees, suspects, accused and convicted; also the lectures about the legal status, powers and forms of PMC activities as well as the normative legal acts regulating the activity of public monitors. The participants will learn about some practices of conflict prevention in the institutions of GUFSIN in Nizhny Novgorod Region. They also will be able to discuss the needs to improve the regulatory framework in penitentiaries. Seminar participants are expected to get a good theoretical knowledge and practical experience.

On 1-2 February 2014 in Yekaterinburg, the cohesive team of trainers from the NGO "Man and Law" (the Republic of Mari El) will hold a training seminar "Protection of human rights in the PMC activities." The seminar is expected to involve more than 30 PMC members and representatives of human rights commissioners from Sverdlovsk, Tyumen and Chelyabinsk regions. The workshop is prepared for newly elected PMC members, who do not have enough of experience and need the detailed information about what are the human rights violations in the correctional institutions and how the PMC members can detect them.

The theoretical part of the work will be constructed in the form of interactive mini - lectures on human rights values, and then the participants will have the practical part of the work - development of skills in preparation for the workshops. Three experienced “coaches” - Irina Protasova, Sergei Poduzov, Nicholas Gusakov – have their own technique – for each topic there is a keynote speaker and the co-rapporteur who is ready to supplement when there is a need for it. This technique allows to switch the attention of the participants from one tone of voice to another, participants more easily perceive what is said in this situation, and it is also easier for the coaches to take a little break and sort out where to go in their further explanations. Seminar participants are expected to get a good theoretical knowledge and practical experience of training that will help them in the further work in their own regions.

The working meeting of the PMC Project Team will be held in the new Moscow office of Council of Europe: Moscow, 9, Leontievskii Per., Bld.3. Members of the Supervisory Board, Strasbourg Project Team and representatives of the Ombudsman Office will join the meeting of the Russian Project Team. Participants will discuss a lot of different problems: primarily, the main objectives and guidelines of the PMC activities in the Russian Federation in 2014, all the proposals of the regional PMC will be taken into consideration; secondarily, will discuss the topics and formats of future seminars and trainings, then possible publications for 2014 year and the re-designing of the project web site. The work plan for 2014 must be approved after discussing.

Another very important topic of this working meeting will be work on the project "Monitoring of medical care in places of detention", funded by the European Commission.

The Regional Resource Center of the Russian PMC Project will hold a workshop in the end of December in Perm. Objectives of the workshop are to discuss and bring out the main problems associated with the implementation of labor rights of convicts. The program of the workshop will be a visual observation of the labor process in one of the penitentiary institutions of Perm Region with further discussion of labor rights practices, violations of these rights, the display of ideas about current issues of the labor rights in the penitentiaries and proposals for the deeper participation of the PMC in the monitoring process.

It is supposed to visit the IR-32 - a correctional institution for women serving a sentence for the first time. In this penitentiary institution the participants will learn about the working conditions of convicts in a sewing factory, about the institution system of work organization, including the elements of work safety, time tracking and working standards, regulations and quotas, conditions of life. The participants will visit the places of serving disciplinary punishment and also listen to the report of the chief of the IR-32 Mr Tereshchenko. As a follow-up to the visit a round table is planned (with the participation of more than 30 people, including representatives of 5 regional PMCs and Perm Regional Human Rights Center, several project experts and officers of GUFSIN and of the Prosecutor’s Office in Perm Region).

One of the workshop outcomes will be identifying of main problems in the respect of labor rights in the penitentiary institutions and elaboration of recommendations on topical issues.

Seminar is planned with the direct involvement of experienced trainers from the human rights organization "Man and Law" (Irina Protasova, Sergei Poduzov, Nicholas Gusakov). This training of future trainers will affect three aspects: the conceptual understanding of human rights; the main guidelines for working with the workshop participants (development of coaching skills); the development of a practical program of basic seminar for new PMC members.

During this training it is planned to use lectures and workshops, as well as different methods of discussion and brainstorming. For practical training a group of participants will be divided into several sub-working groups to work out in details a visit of the different places of detention. Thus, the theoretical, practical and psychological components of the workshop will be combined into one logical researched process.

Seminar participants are expected to get a good theoretical knowledge and practical experience of training that will help them in the initial phase to work in their own regions in the field of legal education. Training of trainers capable of conducting training for new PMC members cannot be limited to one or two seminars and requires a natural continuation.

The conference will be conducted under the aegis of Human Rights Commissioner of Russia, Council of Europe Directorate of Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination, within the framework of Russian PMC Project. It is organised with the help of Regional Non-governmental Charitable Foundation “Social Partnership” and Moscow Helsinki Group.

The presence of Human Rights Commissioner of Russia, representatives of Civil Society Institutions, Presidential Council on Human Rights, Civic Chamber, high-ranking law enforcement officials, regional PMC members, Russian and international NGO members, Council of Europe and European Commission experts, representatives of the European Community countries embassies is expected at the conference.

During the five-year existence of the law on Public Monitoring Commissions in Russian Federation a number of technical, organisational and juridical problems were accumulated. This conference aims to improve the effectiveness of newly created Public Monitoring System of Human Rights observance in detention facilities and to give all needed support.

Representatives of the Russian PMC team and some Russian experts will visit Armenia to become acquainted with the National Preventive Mechanism.

Armenia ratified OPCAT in 2006, in 2008 amended the Human rights Commissioner act. Human Rights Commissioner was authorised for functions of monitoring of the detainee rights (within a framework of the National Preventive Mechanism).

It is expected that delegation will visit police station, detention facility, penal colony, female penal colony, orphanage, youth custody centre and mental health facility. These visits will be done jointly with the representatives of the Armenian NPM, who will share their working methods.

It should be noted, that Armenian human rights defender considers any institution which restraints movements as detention facility.

Panel discussion “Monitoring of human rights in detention” will be carried out in Pyatigosk with the help of Regional PMC resource centre. PMCs Members from the North Caucasian Federal District, Russian and international experts, representatives from the Civic Chamber, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Office of the Prosecutor General and FSIN were invited to participate in discussion.

Panel discussion “Monitoring of human rights in detention” will be carried out in Pyatigosk with the help of Regional PMC resource centre. PMCs Members from the North Caucasian Federal District, Russian and international experts, representatives from the Civic Chamber, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Office of the Prosecutor General and FSIN were invited to participate in discussion.

Arman Tatoyan, Council of Europe expert, as well as Andrey Babushkin, member of the Presidential Council for human rights and development of the civil society will share their experiences. Khalid Sulumov, representative of Chechen Republic human rights defender, will report about cooperation with penitentiary authorities.

The seminar will be organised by the local PMC with the support of the PMC Project Team. The PMC members from several nearby districts will be present.

Prominent human rights defenders such as A. Babushkin will make their tribute to the upcoming seminar. The chairperson of the Orel PMC will share the experience of cooperation with Public Prosecution Service.

The day before the beginning of the seminar PMC members will visit Penal Colony № 1. Kostroma FSIN Local Office is reported to be one of the best in Russia. Places of deprivation contain 5.200 detainees, which is below normal of 6.000. Local Federal Penitentiary Service Hospital includes hospice, which is the only prison hospice in Russia.

On 9 August 2013, a Public Monitoring Commission was formed in Magadan.

The working seminar will help PMC members to acquire methods and technologies of public control and arrange PMC cooperation with the Federal Penitentiary Service in Magadan Oblast and Magadan Regional Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

It will be organized by the Project Coordinator in the Far East Federal District, Vladimir Naydin and his team with the support of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, FSIN department in Magadan Oblast and other stakeholders.

On 9 August 2013, a Public Monitoring Commission was formed in Magadan.

The working seminar will help PMC members to acquire methods and technologies of public control and arrange PMC cooperation with the Federal Penitentiary Service in Magadan Oblast and Magadan Regional Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation.

It will be organized by the Project Coordinator in the Far East Federal District, Vladimir Naydin and his team with the support of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, FSIN department in Magadan Oblast and other stakeholders.

NGOs members and human rights activists from 8 Siberian regions will take part in the 2-days seminar. The PMC candidates will receive the most relevant information on Russian and international legislation, will make a study visit to detention facilities (a police station, a penitentiary colony and a medical unit).

Mr A. Babushkin - a member of the Presidential Council on Human rights and development of the Civil Society, Mr B. Larin – Ombudsman of the Altaj Kraï, Mr V. Usachev – Head of the FSIN of the Alraj Kraï and Mr S. Malyhin – member of the Civic Chamber opened the seminar.

Mr Goncharenko, PMC Project Regional Coordinator and Altaj Kraï PMC President thinks that it is the first real public control of the places of detention and it is very important for PMC members to have necessary theoretical and practical knowledge to realise it. In the end of 2013 8 new commissions will be created in the Siberian Federal District. This seminar will be a preparatory phases for it.

During the first day participants of the Round table will discuss the problems of obtaining of Russian passport and citizenship by persons in detention (with Russian and foreign citizenship as well as without any citizenship) and their re-socialisation. They will develop proposals of improvement of the situation which will be sent to the concerned authorities. Participants of this working day are representatives of the PMCs of the South Federal District, Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, Presidential Council for human rights and development of the civil society, Russian and Council of Europe experts, Federal Penitentiary Service, Federal Migration Service, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Labor and some NGOs.

During the second day the PMC members will work with Russian and international experts on the problems met in the South Federal District, share their experiences since 5 years and discuss the preparation of the PMC next shift – challenges and strategies.

Video of the meeting

A joint working meeting of the PMC Project Team and Supervisory Board will take place in the premises of the Russian Human Rights Commissioner. The participants will discuss the results of the first six months of 2013, evaluate the organized activities and approve the working plan for the second half of the year. An NPM expert, Mr Arman Tatoyan will join the project as a consultant and will actively contribute to its implementation.

The Russian PMC Project will organise a training thematic seminar for PMC members, regional ombudsmen’s staff members and representatives of the Federal Penitentiary Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs from Far Eastern Federal District, first and foremost from Primorie and Khabarovsk territories and other regions.

The participants will discuss the situation with the medical care and insurance in places of deprivation of liberty in light of the international standards and with a focus on the regional particularities. The visit to Khabarovsk investigative ward and temporary detention facility is planned. During the visit the participants will have the opportunity to discuss the above mentioned issues and methods of detecting violations of prisoners’ rights to medical care and insurance. By the end of the seminar it is planned to elaborate the recommendations on improving the situation.

The training seminar will be conducted by the PMC Project jointly with the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service of Krasnoyarsk territory and the “Public Verdict” Fund. PMC members of Krasnoyarsk territory and neighboring regions, staff members of the regional ombudsmen’s office and representatives of Assistants for Human Rights of the Federal Penitentiary Service will take part in the activity.

The participants will analyze the situation with the medical care in prisons in light of European standards and European Court of Human Rights’ decisions, as well as they will discuss the national particularities of the issue and the ways of finding out the violations of right to medical care and insurance in places of detention by means of public monitoring. At the end of the seminar it is planned to elaborate the recommendations on improving the situation.

“I welcome the decision of the Russian Government to request the publication of this report as a sign of openness which I trust will continue in the future,” said Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland.

“ I am confident that this is the beginning of a new policy of the Russian Federation which will increase the impact of the Committee’s work in Russia, to everyone’s benefit,” added CPT President Lətif Hüseynov.

In a report published today, the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) expressed serious concerns about the treatment of persons held by law enforcement agencies in the North Caucasian region of the Russian Federation and the effectiveness of the action taken by the investigative authorities concerning possible ill-treatment.

The CPT makes a series of recommendations aimed at combating torture and other forms of ill-treatment. In particular, it proposes measures to ensure better accountability of law enforcement agencies, reinforce fundamental safeguards against ill-treatment and improve conditions of detention in law enforcement and pre-trial establishments.

In their response, the Russian authorities provide information on steps taken or envisaged to implement the CPT’s recommendations, including as regards investigations into specific cases of possible ill-treatment raised by the Committee and improvements to conditions of detention in the establishments visited.

Until recently, the Russian Federation had represented an exception to the well-established trend towards States lifting the veil of confidentiality and publishing CPT visit reports. The issue of publication of visit reports and Government responses has been raised on several occasions, including during high-level talks in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg in May and June 2012.

The report covers the most recent visit to the North Caucasian region, in April/May 2011. The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by law enforcement agencies in the Chechen Republic, the Republic of Dagestan and the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania.

The report and the response are available on the CPT’s website: www.cpt.coe.int.

Denmark makes a voluntary contribution of 3 000 000 DKK (approximately 400 000 €) to the Council of Europe towards the Russian Public Monitoring Committees (PMC) Project for 2013-2014. The Project consists of providing technical assistance to Russian citizens, organized in PMCs, who under a law of 2008 are entitled to visit places of detention in order to prevent ill-treatment there.

The agreement was signed today by Ambassador Claus von Barnekow, Permanent Representative of Denmark to the Council of Europe, and Ms Gabriella Battaini - Dragoni, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Ms Maria Ochoa-Llido a.i. Director of Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination, was representing the Directorate General of Democracy, which implements the Project.

Denmark has already supported the preparatory phase of the Project which has also received funding, in 2012, from the Human Rights Trust Fund, the Human Rights Commissioner of the Russian Federation and a private Russian bank. For more information please refer to http://www.coe.int/t/democracy/migration/russian-pmc_en.asp (in English) and www.antipytki.ru (in Russian).

The PMC Project Team will meet the Supervisory Board in the premises of the Russian Human Rights Commissioner. They will discuss the results of the first year of the PMC Project and will plan the activities for 2013. All the regional and thematic coordinators of the PMC Project will present a brief report on their activity and propose the seminars and trainings that they would like to hold in their regions in the coming year. The Supervisory Board is co-chaired by Vladimir Lukin, Human Rights Commissioner in the Russian Federation, and Markus Jaeger, Head of Migration Coordination Division, Directorate of Human Rights and Anti-discrimination of the Directorate General of Democracy of the Council of Europe.

This is the second in a series of training seminars for the most experienced PMC members. The participants will discuss difficulties in the protection of rights of persons with disabilities and mental disorders in places of detention. Such problems as providing medical care, exemption from the punishment and prevention of suicide risk for the vulnerable groups of prisoners will be analyzed during the seminar. Two international experts will take part: Ms Monica Platek, Professor, Head of Criminology Department, Law Faculty, Warsaw University, will talk about the protection of rights of prisoners with disabilities and Ms Irena Kriznik, former prison psychologist, former prison director from Slovenia, will speak on observance of human rights of prisoners with mental disorders. They will share their own experiences and will inform the participants about the international standards and foreign countries' experience. A number of eminent Russian experts will participate in the activity as well.

The some 30 participants for this training seminar were chosen based on a competition, which helped identify the most experienced and competent PMC members, who, after having had their qualifications even further enhanced through the training, will subsequently lead training workshops for less experienced PMC members in the regions.

The training in Moscow will be attended by international and Russian experts, among the latter Mr. Alexander Nazarov, Mr. Andrey Babushkin, Mr. Andrey Yurov, Mr. Sergey Shimovolos and others.

The training seminar will address the topic of how to avoid excessive use of disciplinary punishments and related special tools in prisons and other places of deprivation of liberty in the Russian Federation. The topic is linked to prisoners’ right to good health and health care, but also to common consequences of excessive punishments, namely protest actions and other forms of unrest in prisons. In addition to the PMC members of Volga federal district the event will also be attended by inter alia the following persons, representing relevant stakeholders and partners: Mr. Vasily Olnev, Commissioner on human rights of the Nizhny Novgorod region, Ms Maria Kannabikh, member of the Civic Chamber and of the PMC Project Supervisory Board and finally Mr. Sergey Potapov, Deputy Governor.

The seminar includes a training visit to the penal colony 11 of Nizhny Novgorod FSIN. The participants will have a possibility to visit different premises of the colony, to examine documents and to interview prisoners.

A seminar entitled “Successful Practices of the Ural Federal District PMC”, will be held under the auspices of the Russian PMC Project. The PMC representatives and staff members of Regional Human Rights Commissioners’ offices from Kurgansk, Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, Tumen, Khanty-Mansiysk, Yamalo-Nenetsk and Perm regions will participate in the seminar.

The participants will share their successful experiences and will discuss possibilities to improve the public control over places of detention. The moderator of the activity will be Sergey Isaev, chairman of the Perm PMC and Russian PMC Project regional co-ordinator.

At this PMC Project seminar the participants, i.e. PMC members, representatives of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) and the Regional Ombudsman for the North-Western Federal District of the Russian Federation, as well as other relevant stakeholders, will join together to discuss how probation and conditional release, as well as alternative sanctions, could be used to avoid overcrowding in places of detention. Overcrowding is a main reason for inadequate conditions in prisons, which may at worse in themselves constitute an infringement of prisoners’ human rights. Among the speakers to share their knowledge and experience at this event one may mention regional ombudsman Alexander Shishlov, as well as other experts such as Mr. Ernest Mezak and Mr. Andrey Babushkin.

The Russian website for the PMC Project (www.antipytki.ru) will be one of the tools for the PMC Project’s implementation.

The site will provide information about the Project: its funding, duration, aims, team etc. In addition, it will be possible to read about events which will take place in the regions of the Russian Federation as regards public monitoring of places of detention. On this website it will also be possible to find legislation and regulations which are relevant to PMCs and their associated partners. Moreover, pertinent international agreements and conventions, as well as international news, will be published in the International Experience section of the website.

Furthermore, “the Handbook of the Public Monitor”, which was prepared by the PMC Project team, will be published on the site. In the Handbook there will be information about PMC members, contacts details for PMC chairmen, and information about regional ombudsmen, commissioners on children rights, regional departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Federal Penitentiary Service and prosecutor’s offices etc.

Finally, in the “Methodologies and guides” section of the website, there will be recommendations of Russian and foreign NGOs in the sphere of public monitoring of places of detention. There will also be a section on experiences from the founding and development of NPMs abroad.

In late August the PMC resource centre of the North-Caucasus Federal District (NCFD) will be opened as part of the Russian PMC Project. It will be situated in the city of Karabulak, in the Republic of Ingushetia. The resource centre will provide support to the public monitoring committees of NCFD in a range of different ways.

Among other, the resource centre will offer help line services, accessible by phone or e-mail. It will also monitor information coming from other sources than PMCs (media, NGOs etc) as regards the situation in places of detention in the NCFD and it will publish the results of PMCs work on the Russian language PMC Project Web site “Russia Without Torture”.

Other important functions of this resource centre are the distribution of educational materials and literature to the PMCs in its area and the organization of regional thematic PMC Project seminars, in order to train current PMC members. At the same time, a lasting training capacity to be used for training future PMC members in methodology for carrying out monitoring visits to places of detention is established. The resource centre will also strive to improve the conditions for interaction between PMCs and between PMCs and regional ombudsmen, regional divisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Penitentiary Service respectively.

An interregional round table discussion entitled “Topical Problems of Observance of Human Rights in Places of Detention in Siberian Federal District” will be held in Barnaul under the auspices of the Russian PMC Project.

This PMC Project round table in Barnaul will take place in co-operation with the Altai regional public organization “Protection and Promotion of Human Rights and Civil Initiatives".

Members of public monitoring committees from six Siberian regions(Republic of Khakassia, Altai Krai, Transbaikal Krai, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Novosibirsk and Tomsk regions) will participate in the round table, as well as members of the public councils of law-enforcement agencies, experts, lawyers, representatives of FSIN, of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, of the Migratory Agency of Altai Krai, of the regional Prosecutor’s Office, of the Civic Chamber of Altai Krai and of NGOs.

Members of Altai Krai, Transbaikal Krai, Novosibirsk and Tomsk regions’ PMCs in particular will report on their activities. Alexander Goncharenko, Altai Krai PMC chairman, PMC Project Regional Coordinator, will host the activity.

The first in a series of discussion/training seminars aimed at the most experienced PMC members will take place from 27 to 28 June 2012 in Moscow. The precise topic of the seminar is the often difficult question of how to balance justified security concerns with the essential goal of avoiding any unnecessary use of force or offence to the dignity of people deprived of their liberty in prisons or other comparable places of detention. Experiences in some Council of Europe member states have shown that a lot can be done in every day prison routines to improve the treatment of inmates without jeopardising security – while opting for a more respectful approach usually in itself improves co-operation with the incarnated and thereby increases security. Three international experts have been chosen to share their experiences and knowledge in this matter, namely Mr. Milos Jankovich, Deputy Ombudsman of Serbia and Mr Jim McManus, Professor of Criminal Justice of the Glasgow Caledonian University and former Chairman of the Parole Board of Scotland. The third expert is Ms Francesca Gordon, Project Manager for the Council of Europe European National Prevention Mechanism Network who will explain about relevant working methods of National Prevention Mechanisms. Finally, a broad range of pertinent Russian experts will be speaking at the seminar.

On 17 May 2012 PMC Project Team Russia will hold a meeting with the regional ombudsmen of the Russian Federation in the Sakharov House of Russian Emigration. The purpose is to discuss co-operation and co-ordination between PMCs and the regional ombudsmen. This foreseen co-operation and co-ordination between PMCs and regional ombudsmen is also expected to be mutually helpful for the Regional Co-ordinators of the PMC Project and the regional ombudsmen vis-à-vis their respective contacts with FSIN and Ministry of Internal Affairs’ staff members. The next day, on 18 May 2012, a publication on the results and discussions of the four PMC Pre Project conferences held in 2011 will be presented to the regional ombudsmen, as well as to media.

A meeting of the entire PMC Project Team Russia, i.e. of regional and thematic co-ordinators, the Special Project Advisor and the Project Management Team will be held on 20 April 2012 at the office of Mr Vladimir Lukin, Commissioner on Human Rights of the Russian Federation. Following the kick-off meeting for the Russian PMC Project, held in Moscow on 16 February 2012, at which the overall Work Plan of the PMC Project was adopted, the participants of the 20 April meeting will discuss and approve three core elements of the PMC Project’s implementation. These are, firstly, the plan, content and schedule for training sessions for trainers, secondly the main elements and outline of the PMC Project website to be put online in the near future, and thirdly the PMC Project work plans for each of the eight Federal Regions. Extensive preparatory work has been performed for all three elements during the winter. Moreover, a new PMC Project regional co-ordinator for the Southern Federal District of the Russian Federation will be nominated and appointed at the meeting which will be chaired by the Federal Human Rights Commissioner, who is the Project Supervisor together with Markus Jaeger of the Council of Europe Human Rights and Antidiscriminiation Directorate.

One of the first activities under the Russian PMC Project will be the launch of a PMC Resource Centre in the Siberian Federal District (SFD) of the Russian Federation. The Resource Centre will be inaugurated and launch its activities on 26 March 2012 in the city of Barnaul by means of a first event - a round table on “ Human Rights in Places of Detention in the Altai Region: Results of PMC work in 2011”. The Resource Centre in the SFD will be the first of eight Resource Centers, the creation of which is planned within the PMC Project.

This Resource Center will be established with the aim of developing effective public monitoring in places of detention in the SFD of the Russian Federation. The Siberian Resource Center will perform a number of important tasks, such as providing information and guidance to PMCs in the SFD, monitor human rights violations in places of detention; provide operative consultations on human rights violations in places of detention in the format of a helpline; organize trainings for PMC members etc. The head of the Resource Centre will be the PMC Project Regional Co-ordinator of the SFD, the Chairman of the Altai Krai PMC, Mr. Alexander Goncharenko.

The formal kick-off meeting of the Russian Public Monitoring Committee (PMC) Project will be held in Moscow on 16 February 2012, attended by its Project Team and Supervisory Board.

The PMC Project was preceded in 2011 by a eight-months preparatory phase called the Pre Project, which unambiguously established the necessity and feasibility of the PMC Project. Its Implementation will include various capacity building actions for the benefit of the PMCs, such as in-depth analysis of their legal mandate and training in methodology for visiting places of deprivation of liberty. The training will among other take the form of internal and international exchanges of experience, as well as various co-operation modes with other promoters of human rights, such as regional ombudsmen and human rights NGOs. The Project also entails extensive co-operation with relevant officials such as those of the Service for the Execution of Punishment, prison officials etc. Necessary facilitating structures such as the creation of a high quality interactive and constantly updated PMC network website will accompany the other actions of the PMC Project. Apart from disseminating and using Russian domestic know-how as extensively as possible, the PMC Project will also benefit from international expertise, originating in e.g. the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the CPT) and the European National Prevention Mechanism (NPM) Network.

The main aim of the kick-off meeting in Moscow is to establish a work programme and schedule for the implementation of the PMC Project which will run until the end of 2014.