• October 2012

Professor Rachel Murray participated in a Roundtable on Support for NHRIs in the OSCE Region in Warsaw, Poland, organised by ODIHR.

• July 2011

Professor  Rachel Murray attended the OSCE Conference for National Human Rights Institutions, (ombuds institutions, human rights commissions, institutes and other mechanisms) in the OSCE area, from 13 - 14 July 2011, in Vilnius, Lithuania. Professor Murray presented a paper and moderated the session on 'The relationship of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) with the executive branch – mutual responsibilities, expectations and results'.

• October 2010

The Human Rights Implementation Centre, together with its partners, Penal Reform International (PRI) and the Office for Human Rights and Democratic Institutions (ODIHR) of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), hosted a side event during the OSCE Review Conference, Warsaw Part entitled 'Why are we still talking about torture?  For further information, see the Background Paper (Office document, 330kB). 

• December 2009

Dr Elina Steinerte was approached by the OSCE spill-over monitor mission in Skopje (Macedonia) to participate in the delivery of training Workshop 'Human Rights Reporting Training for the Ombudsman Office of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia' which took place on 16-17 December 2009 in Mavrovo, Macedonia.

• October 2009

Dr Elina Steinerte was approached by the OSCE spill-over monitor mission in Skopje (Macedonia) to participate and provide exert advice in the two-day Workshop 'Role of the National Preventive Mechanism- preventive monitoring of the prisons/police stations' which took place on 21-22 October 2009 in Skopje, Macedonia.'

• September 2009

Professor Malcolm Evans and Dr Elina Steinerte of the Human Rights Implementation Centre together with Ms Mary Murphy and Ms Saule Mektepbayeva of Penal Reform International hosted a side event during the Human Dimension meeting organized by OSCE-ODIHR on 29 September 2009 in Warsaw, Poland. The presentation, 'National Human Rights Institutions in the OSCE area and the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture'  is available here in English (PDF, 340kB)  and Russian (PDF, 470kB). The event was well attended by the representatives of governments, national human rights institutions, national preventive mechanisms, NGOs as well as OSCE field missions.

• July 2009

The OPCAT Research Team at Bristol University was asked by the Office on Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE to give a presentation during a side event of the Human Dimension meeting organized by OSCE-ODIHR on 14 May 2009 in Warsaw, Poland. The presentation (PDF, 473kB)  by Prof. R. Murray and Dr. Elina Steinerte provided an overview of some of the preliminary research results of the OPCAT research project carried out by the OPCAT Research Team.

• November 2008

A major international conference on the prevention of torture, co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the University of Bristol, was held in Prague from 25th – 26th November 2008, entitled ‘OPCAT in the OSCE region: What it means and how to make it work?'. The event brought together high-profile experts and representatives of governments, civil society, the OSCE, the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture. A number of Ombudspersons from various countries across the region also attended the event. The conference examined the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT) and its implementation in the target countries. Members of the international and national monitoring bodies as well as academics and representatives of various national and international human rights organisations attended the conference, which served as a platform to debate various issues surrounding the establishment and operation of these visiting bodies. Delegates from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Slovenia, Sweden, the UK and Ukraine as well as many local representatives from the Czech Republic were among the participants. The Summary and Recommendations of the event are available in English (PDF, 236kB) and Russian (PDF, 327kB).