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Cote d'Ivoire - OPCAT Workshop
2017/03/08 04:20:40 PM
AORC TRAINING AND RESEARCH IN COTE D’IVOIRE February-March 2017
A. Re OPCAT Training
18 countries (of which 11 were represented by Ombudsman and 7 by General Secretaries or Heads of Human Rights divisions) participated in a training workshop on the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture in Cote d’Ivoire February 27 – 1 March. The countries sponsored by AORC to attend were: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Tchad, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa (Military Ombudsman), Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
The training, conducted by the Geneva-based Association for the Prevention of Torture (which is the primary agency that conducts training on National Preventative Mechanisms), was sponsored by the International Ombudsman Institute. Overall satisfaction on a scale of 1 – 100 ranged from 85 to 95% regarding: technical content on OPCAT; relevance and responses to questions; opportunity to share existing situations and challenges; and consultation on developing strategies going forward.
In summary, the participants committed to four broad, escalating categories of actions (i.e. countries that committed to #3 would have necessarily also acted on #s 1 and 2):
- (8 countries) Inform:
1. governments, civil society and/or the public
2. through Annual reports, special publications, media and other means
3. several commitments to reach out to victim and other target audiences (such as the police)
- (13 countries) Convene meetings of and/or organize training for:
1. government, human rights and/or other actors specifically involved in monitoring torture (including mapping their comparative powers and activities to date)
2. other stakeholder, civil society and/or advocacy groups
3. police and other institutions in charge of places of detention
- (11 countries) Advocate for:
1. ratification of CAT and OPCAT by governments
2. establishment and/or strengthening of NPMs
3. other statutory amendments and/or institutional support as needed for effective anti-torture measures
- (4 countries) Work directly with victims by
1. education re rights
2. increased systemic visits to places of detention.
One Ombudsman, already functioning as a NPM, will assess own readiness and next steps to be designated. AORC will monitor and share the progress achieved by the participants.
B. IOI Africa Region research
AORC leverages gatherings of Ombudsman for training by simultaneously conducting research for its comprehensive all-Africa collaboration with the IOI. AORC launched the use of the IOI Survey Template in Cote d’Ivoire. Ten countries (Ombudsman and senior staff) participated enthusiastically (most interviews were more than two hours each).
AORC will leverage the 27-30 March IOI meeting /Strategic Planning training in Zambia to conduct more interviews. The goal is to complete the comprehensive interviews of all 44 Ombudsman throughout the Continent by the end of 2018 and work with the IOI to publics the final study during 2018.
C. Outputs of OPCAT Training
AORC
