Empowering NGO's to prevent torture in South-Eastern Europe

Abstract

This article sets forth the papers which were presented during the fourth workshop organised by the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), jointly with the Greek Medical Rehabilitation Centre for Torture Victims, and held in Athens in October 1999. The workshop was entitled : "NGO empowerment in preventing torture in SouthEastern Europe." It addressed more particularly the following themes: visiting places of detention, NGOs and international monitoring mechanisms, bringing cases to court and redressing victims of torture. In the Balkan region the Albanian Helsinki Committee, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, the Moldavian Helsinki Committee, the Greek Research and Support Centre for victims of maltreatment and social exclusion, and the Romanian Helsinki Committee already have access to places of detention ; as they have negotiated a monitoring programme with the public authorities. The papers presented were prepared by the NGOs in view of the Athens workshop. The papers describe the monitoring efforts of these NGOs, the way these NGOs carry out visits to places of detention, the obstacles encountered in this task, as well as the possibilities of coordination with other national or international monitoring institutions, such as the Council of Europe, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the UN Human Rights Committee.