Monitoring the use of force and law enforcement equipment in the criminal justice system
When
Where
Organized by
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) will hold the fifth Regional Meeting on Torture Prevention for National Preventive Mechanisms (NPM) and Civil Society Organizations (CSO) on 24 and 25 August 2022 in Warsaw. The meeting will focus on monitoring the use of force and law enforcement equipment in the criminal justice system.
Programme
Building on experiences and expertise from NPMs and CSOs in the OSCE region, the meeting will help identify and share good practices on how to monitor the use of force and equipment in custodial settings for torture prevention.
The specific objectives of the meeting are:
- Identify ways to better protect people deprived of their liberty from possible abuses, torture and ill-treatment, including when committed through the inappropriate use of force in custodial settings;
- Provide guidance on monitoring the issue, including through methodology and good practices;
- Allocate space to NPMs for self-led exchanges.
Background
While torture continues to occur worldwide for numerous and often intertwining reasons, certain practices and behaviour incentivize and facilitate its use. The use of weapons and tools that have no purpose other than torture and other ill-treatment, as well as the misuse of equipment that may have a legitimate purpose, continue to cause severe injuries or even deaths in places of deprivation of liberty. In this regard, monitoring the use of force and law enforcement equipment used by officials is essential to efficiently prevent torture and other ill-treatment in custodial settings.
NPMs and CSOs play a crucial and complementary role in monitoring the excessive use of force and equipment at disposal and contribute to a better implementation of the Convention Against Torture and other international standards, in particular the Nelson Mandela Rules, at the national level.
This meeting is part of ODIHR’s ongoing work to assist participating States in the fight against torture.
Participation
Participation in the meeting is by invitation only.
If you have any questions, please contact Laura Jaffrey, ODIHR Adviser on Torture Prevention, at laura.jaffrey@odihr.pl.