HELP online course on European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) standards, launched at NIJ

23. 02. 2022

In order to prevent ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty, the National Institute of Justice launched a new distance learning course today, 23 February 2022 – “Standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment” (CPT) -, developed by the European Council's Program of Human Rights Education (HELP) of the Council of Europe (CoE), in cooperation with the CPT Secretariat.

The launch event moderated by Anastasiia Saliuk, CoE project manager, was attended by William Massolin, Head of the CoE Office in Chisinau; Ecaterina Popa, Interim Director NIJ; Ana Medarska-Lazova, Deputy Head of HELP Unit, CoE; Petr Hnatik, Country Representative for Moldova of the CPT Secretariat; course authors - James McManus and Michael Kellett, CoE experts; HELP national tutors - Inga Furtună, prosecutor, and Petru Balan, lawyer; as well as judges, prosecutors and lawyers providing state-guaranteed assistance.

During the launch, the NIJ beneficiaries were informed about the recent developments in the HELP Program, about the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – monitoring body tasked with visiting places of detention and assessing how persons deprived of their liberty are treated, in order to strengthen their protection from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment about the direct development of the training program, etc.

The course is active between March 1 to April 30, 2022, contains six modules and it is intended to develop the participants` knowledge related to essential standards of the CPT on the most important places on detention: police stations, penitentiaries, detention centers for immigrants, psychiatric units and social assistance centers. Topics are explored in a practical way, using presentations, interactive screens, knowledge tests and case studies.

The event was organized by the National Institute of Justice and the Council of Europe within the project “Strengthening the Human Rights Compliant Criminal Justice System in the Republic of Moldova”.