Activities
Establishment and support for NPM Obs
In 2016 the Secretary General of the Council of Europe called upon international experts in the field of torture prevention to sign
his
call
for independent observation of the work of NPMs. The call was
published in
October 2016.
From conception NPM Observatory has been and continues to be supported significantly by the Council of Europe and is a designated project under the voluntary contributions scheme.
Seed funding from the French Ministry of Justice provided in 2016 made an important contribution to its foundation and the development of its initial work programme.
In 2019 NPM Obs was very fortunate to be granted charitable funding for three years from Albourne Partners Limited.
NPM Observatory is also supported by members’ annual subscriptions and by donations from individuals and benefits from work generously volunteered by members and associated experts.
NPM Observatory is also supported by members’ annual subscriptions and by donations from individuals and benefits from work generously volunteered by members and associated experts.
Development of observation tools
Following the creation of the association, the founding members of NPM Obs were joined by new members and worked on developing the observation tools (visit process, criteria grid and indicators, etc…) during several meetings at the Paris offices of the Council of Europe.
Consultation on observation tools
On 13-14 February 2017 in Paris, members of
NPM Obs met with representatives of eight NPMs (Albania, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Serbia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom). This consultation reflects the empirical approach of
NPM Obs. The consultations resulted in a number of comments and suggestions from NPMs concerning the criteria and indicators upon which
NPM Obs intends to build. On 1 June 2017, as part of a meeting organised by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, a general discussion on the approach taken by
NPM Obs was held in the presence of 37 European NPMs, the SPT, the CPT, and also OSCE / ODIHR, ENNHRI, GANHRI and IOI.
Pilot visits
Visit to the NPM of Serbia
Visit to the NPM of Italy
NPM Obs carried out an exploratory visit to the Italian NPM at the NPM’s request in November 2017. The main visit took place in July 2018.
Visit to the NPM of Albania
NPM Obs
carried out an exploratory visit to the Albanian NPM at the NPM’s request in November 2018. The main visit took place in May 2019.
NPM Obs is extremely grateful to all the NPMs who agreed to participate in our pilot visits. We hope the process was mutually beneficial. For its part NPM Obs adapted its methodology in the light of experience and the feedback from the NPMs concerned. The style and format of the reports has developed accordingly. Following this pilot phase, NPM Obs is reviewing its working methods and hopes to continue this process of feedback and consultation at a meeting with NPMs in Strasbourg in November 2019.
Visits
Under construction
International meetings
NPM Obs
has participated in several international meetings.
1 June 2021 (online) – Inaugural Conference on the Consultation of NPMs of Council of Europe Member States
and International Stakeholders concerning the Creation of an International Training Center for Visits to Places of Deprivation of Liberty.
12-13 March 2018 (Trier), European NPM Forum, « Monitoring care homes for the elderly ».
27-28 March 2018 (Vienna), EU FRA & COE, « Monitoring knowledge base – standards for detention conditions ».
20-21 April 2018 (Ljubljana), European NPM Forum, Slovenian NPM anniversary, « NPM Impact Assessment ».
28-29 November 2018 (Yerevan), International Conference dedicated to the 10th Anniversary of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia as the NPM.
Events Calendar
Under contruction