Madagascar: Training of law practitioners on torture prevention

Monday, February 28, 2011

Following the recommendations of the 2009 seminar on the implementation of the national anti-torture law, the APT, jointly with the Ministry of Justice and in collaboration with ACAT - Madagascar, organised two training seminars addressing the issue of 'Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: Prohibition and Prevention of Torture'. These seminars took place in June and October 2010.

Date: 20 - 22 June 2010 and 19 - 20 October 2010
Place: Madagascar
Partners: Ministry of Justice
ACAT - Madagascar
Purpose:
  • to provide Madagascar with law practitioners skilled at implementing the national anti-torture law as well as international standard;
  • to provide Madagascar law practitioners with a manual on torture prevention and practical guide to facilitate the use and implementation of the anti-torture law;
  • to provide Madagascar training institutes for judges and lawyers with a specific module on prevention of torture to be incorporated in their training curricula;
  • to provide trainers from relevant training institutes with the skills necessary to deliver the module on prevention of torture.
Activities: Following the recommendations of the 2009 seminar on the implementation of the national anti-torture law, the APT, jointly with the Ministry of Justice and in collaboration with ACAT - Madagascar, organised two training seminars addressing the issue of 'Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: Prohibition and Prevention of Torture'. These seminars took place in June and October 2010. Over 80 law practitioners have been trained, including police and penitentiary officers, judges, prosecutors and lawyers. The seminars focused on the UNCAT and the national anti-torture law which was adopted on 25 June 2008 in order to familiarise these key actors with the instruments and to facilitate their use and implementation. While the June training session was facilitated by Mr. Daniel Debeer, Belgian lawyer, and Jean-Baptiste Niyizurugero, the APT Africa Programme Officer, the October session welcomed the contribution of the Legal Adviser to the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda, Mr. Koffi Afande. The training focused on the provisions of the UNCAT, including:
  • the definition of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments as well as criminalisation of torture;
  • the procedural safeguards;
  • the prosecution and different jurisdictions;
  • the challenges in the application of the anti-torture law.
Additionally, the APT and the Ministry of Justice coordinated meetings with relevant training schools for law practitioners in order to discuss the issue of incorporating a module on prohibition and prevention of torture in their training curricula.

Furthermore, in June, two local lawyers were hired to draft a practical manual on the implementation of the anti-torture legislation. A preliminary draft was discussed in October 2010.

As follow up steps, the different partners agreed that the APT will continue to support Madagascar by providing advice and technical assistance to the Ministry of Justice and ACAT-Madagascar and other relevant actors for the effective implementation of the anti-torture law, as well as recommendations issued by the seminar of the 29 September 2009 through the following activities:
  • Finalisation, publication and dissemination of the draft manual on torture prevention including a FAQ section on the anti-torture law in order to facilitate its understanding, use and implementation by lawyers, judges and other actors.
  • Drafting the module on torture prevention to be incorporated in the training curriculum of main training institutes for law enforcement officials.
  • Organising a training of trainers on torture prevention. The trained trainers will then be responsible for the delivering of the module to their usual students, and during seminars and other continuous training that may be organized by the Ministry of Justice or the National Training Institution for Magistrates and Judges.
  • Input for the CAT reporting process due to take place during the CAT 47th session (31 October – 25 November 2011)
  • An additional training session and a follow up evaluation seminar for the participants of the three trainings, aimed at analyzing and discussing the impact of the project’s activities.