New online course to build skills in torture prevention

An innovative online training program coordinated by the APF aims to equip staff of national human rights institutions with valuable skills in monitoring places of detention and preventing torture.

The course, to be run in partnership with the Geneva-based Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), will involve up to 25 participants from the national human rights institutions of South East Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Timor Leste.

Starting in late October, the five-week program will explore and discuss:

• the concept of torture prevention, including international and regional instruments on torture and other forms of ill-treatment
• investigating allegations of torture
• monitoring places of detention and interviewing detainees
• cooperating with the international human rights system
• promoting public awareness and conducting public inquiries.

“Preventing torture, not just in prisons but in all places of detention, should be a top priority for all national human rights institutions,” said Kieren Fitzpatrick, Director of the APF Secretariat.

“However, to do this work effectively, NHRI staff need to develop practical skills and have a solid methodology for undertaking preventive visits to detention facilities, interviewing detainees and responding to allegations of torture,” he said.

The course will involve a number of set readings, online discussions and regular assignments, facilitated by experienced trainers from the APF, the APT and other leading organisations, including the International Detention Coalition, REDRESS and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Course materials will also draw heavily on a newly-published training manual and CD-Rom resource – Preventing Torture: An Operational Guide for National Human Rights Institutions – which has been jointly prepared by the APF, the APT and the OHCHR.

Following the online training sessions, a four-day workshop in Kuala Lumpur, from 6 – 9 December 2010, will provide participants with an opportunity to discuss torture prevention strategies and issues in greater detail.

The workshop, to be organised jointly with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), will also include a visit to a local detention facility.

On 10 December – Human Rights Day – participants will take part in a public forum hosted by the SUHAKAM to raise awareness about international torture prevention standards.

Blended learning

According to Mr Fitzpatrick, this “blended learning” approach to training – combining online training courses with face-to-face workshops – will inform the delivery of many of the APF’s core capacity building programs.

“Providing courses online allows participants to build their understanding of complex human rights concepts over an extended period of time, and this also increases the benefits they can draw from the face-to-face workshops that follow the online training,” he said.

“We also hope that this process will also help foster a community of skilled NHRI staff members who can share their knowledge and expertise with colleagues in their own institution or partner organisations.”

A recent training needs assessment, conducted on behalf of the APF and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, has helped identify a number of key areas to support and strengthen the capacity of national human rights institutions in the Asia Pacific region.