Who are we?
NPM Obs
NPM Obs is an international NGO registered in France.
The setting-up of NPM Obs took place under the auspices of the Directorate-General Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe.
The Council of Europe financially supported the setting up as well as many of the initial activities of NPM Obs.
The statutes of NPM Obs were adopted on 22 June 2016, the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the OPCAT, by practitioners of torture prevention from various backgrounds and different countries. Silvia Casale (former chair of the CPT and of the SPT) was elected president of the Observatory.
Initially, the purpose of NPM Obs was to respond to a call by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe for a "watchdog" of NPMs. His call was motivated by the fear that some NPMs would not fulfil their mandates with the independence and the effectiveness that are required to carry out their functions.
The aim was to enhance the effectiveness of NPMs through in-depth observation and analysis of their working methods and constructive criticism.
The approach relied on four elements:
- invitations from NPMs to assess their effectiveness,
- extensive on-site observation of the volunteering NPMs and of its institutional, legal and political environment,
- acceptance by the NPMs of the good-will and professional qualities of the peers who make up NPM Obs,
- strict confidentiality of the assessments by NPM Obs, with a possibility of publication at the request of the NPM concerned.
NPM Obs formulated the set of criteria it would use for assessing NPM effectiveness, taking inspiration from criteria developed namely by the CPT and the SPT.
To date, several NPMs have invited NPM Obs to carry out an assessment of their effectiveness. None has requested the publication of the assessment report.
CLICK TO REACH EFFECTIVENESS CRITERIA FOR NPMs
Today, NPM Obs has widened its approach. Under its modified statutes, the purpose of the association is more generally to support NPMs to fulfil effectively their mandate pursuant to the OPCAT. This includes effectiveness assessments but is not limited to those.
In line with its extended mission, NPM Obs has provided analysis and advice to Governments that contemplate the setting up of NPMs, to NGOs and to international organisations, on various NPM related issues. None of these reports has been published.