Co-partnership in projects funded by EuropeAid

Article 5 Initiative

Together with our partners the University of Cape Town; the Community Law Centre of the University of the Western Cape; and the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum, the HRIC secured funding of nearly 1.2 million Euros from the European Commission for a three year collaborative project to assist African institutions working for the prevention of torture. The aim of the project is to support efforts by African institutions to improve the level of compliance by African States with their international and regional obligations to prohibit and prevent torture and other ill-treatment. A package of tools will be developed specifically for the Special Mechanisms of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and national actors involved with the prevention of torture. Pilot projects using these tools will be conducted in Burundi, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda, in order to develop context-specific recommendations to prevent torture in these countries. The project will conclude in 2014. 

Together with our partners Penal Reform International and the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, the HRIC secured funding of nearly 1.2 million Euros from the European Commission for a three year collaborative project (this funding represented 80% of the total costs). The aim of the project was to strengthen, support and assist with developing torture prevention mechanisms in 9 countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The project focused on a whole variety of preventive mechanisms, such as National Preventive Mechanisms established in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture; national human rights institutions; statutory oversight bodies; and also civil society initiatives. In addition to strengthening the capacity of these assorted bodies through various training workshops and conferences, a set of country specific assessment tools were developed aimed at the evaluation of the torture prevention approaches adopted by these bodies, as well as targeting recommendations to the national Governments and bodies in question.  The project focused on advocating for holistic and comprehensive programmes of rehabilitation for torture survivors based on existing models of international good practice.The project is due to end at the end of 2013.

November 2010

Professor Rachel Murray attended and presented a paper on 'Independence of the Mechanism: Critical success factors beyond the Paris principles', to the Work Forum for the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Belgian presidency of the EU, with the European Commission, 18-19 November 2010.