A total of 106 Civil Monitoring Board (CMB) members from 62 separate CMBs throughout Türkiye have benefitted from four cascade training sessions on prison monitoring, following the Training of Trainers that was organised in Istanbul earlier this year.
All phases of preparing and conducting effective prison monitoring in line with international standards were covered during the cascade sessions. The common feedback of the participants after this interactive training programme was that their monitoring capacities have strengthened, specifically in relation to disciplinary procedures and healthcare provision in prisons. They also highlighted the importance of enhancing their communication skills and interview techniques. As a result, the CMBs are better equipped to liaise 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.
Training participant testimonials:
“Before the training, the monitoring visits focused mainly on implementation of provisions of the national legislation. After the training, the set of standards have broadened and now we can examine the prison practice through the lenses of international and European standards.”
“Although we are volunteers in monitoring the penitentiary system, the training has taught us that the prison monitoring should be carried out in a professional manner.”
The first cascade training was held between 3-6 September 2022 in Özyeğin University, the second one was organised between 26-28 September in Gaziantep University, the third one took place between 27-29 September in Kocaeli University, while the last one was organised between 1-3 November 2022 in the Ankara Judge House in cooperation with TOBB and Hacı Bayram Veli Universities. The training sessions were organised in close cooperation with the above-mentions universities, with which in 2021 the Directorate General on Prisons and Detention Houses has signed Memorandum of Understanding on setting up regional training capacities as part of the project activities, thus putting in place the preconditions for sustainable training provision for the CMB members.
The pilot cascade sessions were implemented in the scope of 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 Türkiye, the Human Rights Trust Fund and Canada.
