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Evaluation Report Krassimir Kanev Evaluation report Of the project of the Penal Reform International “Strengthening institutions and building civil society capacity to combat torture in nine CIS countries” Contents Executive summary 1. Introduction 2. Methodology 2.1. Analysis of documents 2.2. Interviews 2.3. Focus groups 3. PRI’s theory of change and its sharing by the implementing partners 4. Main findings on political and legal developments related to detention monitoring and the role of PRI in them 4.1. Georgia 4.2. Russia 4.3. Kazakhstan 5. PRI activities related to detention monitoring 6. Analysis of target outcomes 6.1. Acknowledgment of the existence of torture and ill‐treatment 6.2. Establishment of independent monitoring mechanisms 6.3. Reporting, publications and advocacy 7. Effectiveness 8. Conclusions and recommendations 8.1. General recommendations 8.2. Country‐specific recommendations Annex ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Executive summary The project “Strengthening institutions and building civil society capacity to combat torture in nine CIS countries” was implemented by the Penal Reform International in partnership with several other organisations. It aimed at strengthening and developing a range of mechanisms to combat torture; strengthening the capacity of the civil society to monitor places of detention and advocating for holistic rehabilitation programs. The project was implemented through the PRI offices in Tbilisi (Georgia), Moscow (Russia) and Astana (Kazakhstan). The present evaluation focuses on the effective preventive monitoring in three target countries – Georgia, Russia and Kazakhstan. In view of the big number of project activities and the fact that the project outcomes became targets of activities of many other actors, the approach of the evaluation is to place 1 the PRI contribution in the general context of political and legislative developments in preventive monitoring in the three target countries. The evaluation methodology includes analysis of documents, focus group discussions and interviews with key stakeholders during my visits to Tbilisi, Moscow and Astana in September‐October 2013. PRI’s theory of change presupposes government acknowledgement of the existence of torture and other ill‐treatment and taking adequate measures to combat it through criminalization, preventive monitoring and rehabilitation of victims. The project also aims at increasing the capacity of the civil society to take part in this process. In Georgia PRI’s major contribution to the prevention of torture through the project was in its advocacy for the reestablishment of the civil society monitoring of places of detention, which was abolished under the Saakashvili government in 2007. While at present the Georgian government still does not allow NGO monitoring, PRI continues to pressure at both national and international levels and has some prospects for success. PRI also contributed to the expansion of the possibilities for civil society representatives to participate in the work of the national preventive mechanism, the only independent structure involved in detention monitoring. In the spring of 2013 the Georgian NPM underwent important reforms, which included, among other things, also a substantial increase of the number of experts, which the Ombudsman’s office may involve during the NPM monitoring visits to paces of detention. PRI played an important role in mobilizing civil society in advocating for the reopening of places of detention and in allowing NGOs to reestablish their presence in them for other type of work, such as the rehabilitation of victims of torture. Activities implemented in the framework of the project at the national and at the regional level – round tables, conferences, consultations and trainings, provided important forums to discuss prevention of torture by all stakeholders. The office in Tbilisi was intensively involved in lobbying different governmental institutions and international organisations and contributed to their understanding of the major faults of the Georgian torture prevention system. The publications, which PRI produced in the framework of the project, served as important capacity‐building resources and were very much appreciated by both governmental and non‐governmental stakeholders. In Russia PRI worked in difficult conditions created after the promulgation of the July 2012 amendments of the Non‐Profit Organisations Act. According to these, all NGOs which are involved in “political activity” and get funding from foreign donors have to register as “foreign agents”. The term “political activity” is broadly defined in law as any attempt to influence government policies or public opinion. Thus, it became impossible for human rights NGOs to engage in any advocacy with funds from foreign donors. Although the amendments did not affect PRI directly, they undermined the possibilities of many of the organisation’s NGO stakeholders to engage in effective advocacy. In Russia there are no plans at the official level to ratify OPCAT and to establish a National Preventive Mechanism in compliance with international standards. It is not likely to see positive developments in 2 that regard in the near future. In these circumstances the PRI office in Moscow focused its work on strengthening the capacity of the civic oversight commissions (COC), the only independent detention monitoring bodies established with the 2008 act on public control for protection of human rights in places of detention. PRI trained members of COC and other stakeholders. Its trainings contributed, albeit not substantially, to the effective civil society monitoring of places of detention. With regard to expanding the scope of the civil society monitoring, PRI advocacy activities had a limited scope, could not reach out to political levels with effective decision‐making power and thus made no significant difference. In Kazakhstan PRI’s work related to the establishment of independent monitoring mechanisms in the framework of the project was very successful. It was well targeted, consistent and focused on both governmental and non‐governmental monitoring mechanisms. It involved successfully key decision‐makers at the governmental level, as well as all relevant civil society actors. PRI’s work in Kazakhstan was appreciated specifically because of its contribution to the adoption of the legislation establishing the country’s National Preventive Mechanism. Top government officials and non‐government actors, which strongly opposed government human rights policies, were unanimous that PRI played a key role in this process. At the same time, PRI was active in supporting Kazakhstan’s COCs, the only available non‐governmental monitoring mechanism established by a governmental decree in 2004. It opposed attempts at their removal at the initial stage of the discussions around the establishment of the NPM and supported the publication of their reports. It continues to endorse their role as a civil society monitoring body and to oppose the continuing challenges to their existence. All PRI offices in the target countries made serious efforts to increase the level of interaction between government and civil society on torture prevention. This was done through the roundtables, annual regional forums, international advocacy trips and the cross‐regional conference in Tbilisi in June 2012. In Georgia and in Kazakhstan PRI activities were the only forums where government agencies and civil society organisations involved in torture prevention could meet and hold discussions. PRI’s mediation between government and civil society was particularly successful in Kazakhstan. One of the deficiencies of the project was the lack of a cross‐regional perspective. The only forum where government stakeholders and civil society activists from all target countries met in the framework of the project was the June 2012 conference in Tbilisi. Almost everybody who took part or was familiar in any other way with this event expressed strong appreciation for it, as well as regret that it was the only one of its type. The conference served as a forum for the exchange of experience and learning in a new and rapidly developing sphere of standard‐setting and practice, something unprecedented in the history of the region. 3 Many stakeholders in Tbilisi, Moscow and Astana appreciated very much some of the publications produced by PRI in the framework of the project. This was particularly the case with the training manuals and the tools/standards related to detention monitoring and rehabilitation of victims of torture. To a lesser extent this has also been the case with the baseline studies. The most important publication in the framework of the project was the bilingual electronic newsletter “Together against Torture”. It became a hub, which gave publicity to all anti‐torture activities in the nine target countries. The newsletter received a warm welcome among everybody involved in project activities and with torture prevention in general. It is certainly an outcome which is worth maintaining in the future. My general recommendations focus on the need for PRI to continue to call for the acknowledgement by the target governments of the problem of torture; to design and implement intervention strategies on how to achieve progress in the realm of detention monitoring; to make civil society monitoring of places of detention a specific focus of its work in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union; to pay specific attention to and implement activities which focus on the exchange of country
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