OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine supports conference on national preventive mechanisms against torture

The Forth East European Conference on National Preventive Mechanisms started on 15 November 2012 in Odessa with support from the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU).

Participants of the two-day event co-organized with the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and the Kharkiv Institute for Social Research will discuss challenges and practical aspects of implementing the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT) in Eastern Europe and the OSCE region as a whole. The protocol calls for the creation of national mechanisms to prevent torture in custody.

The Ombudsman of Ukraine, Ukrainian government officials, experts from the OSCE and relevant actors involved in the implementation of OPCAT will take part in the event, which will also focus on the development of the national preventive mechanism in Ukraine and on the role of civil society in the implementation process. The PCU will share its six-year experience in working together with Ukrainian authorities on establishing a system of civil monitoring in custodial settings across the country. Participants from Serbia, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia with present their countries’ experiences with establishing national preventive mechanisms.

The meeting is part of a PCU project aimed at fostering the development of a national preventive mechanism against torture and ill-treatment in Ukraine, as well as supporting its sustainability and legal framework.