On 2 May 2017, the APT hosted a training session on torture prevention for representatives of 15 National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) from around the world. The training day focused on the ways in which NHRIs can engage both internationally and domestically at each of the different levels of the “house of prevention” – including the legal framework and its implementation; practices and procedures; and monitoring and oversight of places of deprivation of liberty.
Hailing from all five regions in which APT is engaged, the participants represented both NHRIs with a mandate as national preventive mechanism (NPM) under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), as well as institutions involved in UNCAT and OPCAT ratification efforts and other torture prevention activities.
At the end of the day, participants each took home a “brick” from the house, representing a specific action they commit to taking on torture prevention once they return to their home institutions.
APT’s workshop was part of a wider training course, co-organised by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) with the support of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), which aimed at increasing NHRIs’ engagement with the UN human rights mechanisms.
