Impact case study database

The tools and resources detailed above have enabled torture prevention bodies at the global, international and national levels to enhance their monitoring and safeguarding practice in prisons and other places of detention, contributing to better regulation and additional protection for people at risk of torture and ill-treatment.

Global Impact: enhancing the work of the UN Subcommittee for Prevention of Torture (SPT)

The UN SPT visits places of detention in 90 states worldwide and advises torture prevention bodies in more than 70 of these jurisdictions. Dymond provided a ‘train-the-trainers’ event for 25 SPT members during their June 2018 Committee meeting. For the Chair of the SPT, these ‘practical tools underpinned by high-quality academic work … brought to light something so important and really got us all to think about it in ways in which we never had before. If this is not impact, what is!’ [5.1] Consequently, SPT members report greater confidence in asking questions, following up on concerns, and establishing whether international standards are being respected [5.1] on their in-country visits.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Professor Nils Melzer, also welcomed these documents. The Special Rapporteur has a mandate to conduct fact-finding country visits and monitoring trips to places of detention worldwide, conducting visits to countries including Venezuela, Serbia, Argentina and Ukraine in 2019 alone. The Rapporteur noted that the ‘excellent’ practical guide and pocket book provided him and his team with a ‘handy checklist of questions to focus on when examining the use of weapons and restraints during monitoring visits’ [5.2]. The reach of the work is considered particularly important given the global market in, and trade of, less lethal weapons worldwide.

Impact in Europe and Central Asia: the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Dymond and Rappert’s impact with the OSCE was threefold. First, Dymond’s research assisted the OSCE’s Adviser on Torture Prevention, to ‘develop understanding and practice in this area’. The adviser noted that, prior to this research, she had not been working on the use of weapons and restraints and that ‘this issue received little attention compared to other aspects of torture prevention’. As a ‘direct result’ of the research and resources, she is ‘now better equipped to provide advice and training to participating States, national human rights institutions and civil society organisations in the 57 countries in Europe, Central Asia and North America that participate in the OSCE on the use and misuse of less lethal weapons and restraints, as well as to advise senior OSCE officials, country staff and field operations’ [5.3].

Second, the research helped develop guidance on international norms and standards via the publication of the OSCE and Penal Reform International’s Guidance Document on the Nelson Mandela Rules. The Nelson Mandela Rules, are new United Nations standards setting out minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners. The Guidance Document is designed to provide expert practical advice for prison managers, staff, governments, detention monitors and others involved in prison work, on how to operationalise the Rules, and to assist their impleme5.7,ntation on the ground. Following Dymond’s feedback, the Practical Guide was cited extensively in the Guidance Document. The section on ‘Prohibited Means of Restraint’ was taken directly from the Practical Guide [5.4], adding detail and helping prison staff and monitors, both in the OSCE region and more broadly recognise appropriate and inappropriate weapons, equipment and uses. For the OSCE Lead, ‘the section Dr Dymond drafted on restraints assists prison administrations, penitentiary staff, monitoring bodies and policymakers in effectively implementing standards for the treatment of prisoners, preventing torture and other ill-treatment and ensuring human dignity for all. This section will help them to use restraints in a human rights-compliant manner’ [5.3].

Third, Dymond worked with the OSCE Advisor on Torture Prevention, the OSCE Office in Uzbekistan, the UN Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Regional Office for Central Asia and the Omega Research Foundation to plan and personally deliver training across OSCE participating States, including in Poland [5.5], Slovenia [5.3], and Uzbekistan [5.6] (discussed in more detail in the next section). The OSCE Advisor on Torture Prevention further noted that the work played an important part in the OSCE’s ‘continuous work on preventing torture and strengthening the independent monitoring of places of detention in the OSCE region’ [5.5].

Nation State Impact: Improved monitoring and safeguarding practices

In addition to improving monitoring and safeguarding practice at the global and European level, Dymond and Rappert’s work contributed to improved practices and safeguarding in multiple States worldwide. In Norway, the detention monitor the Norwegian Parliamentary Ombudsman and National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) ‘found [the research and resources] really valuable…especially given the scant research available’ [5.7]. They used the Practical Guide to help inform their engagement with the Directorate of the Police over proposals to use pepper spray in police custody suites. The Guide also informed their response to draft police guidelines on pepper spray inside cells and helped them to express ‘misgivings’ highlighting the lack of ‘proper safeguards’ in the proposed guidance. As a direct result of the NPM’s input, ‘the authorities introduced stricter safeguards and safety requirements when using [the spray] in confined spaces’ [5.8].

In Jamaica, meanwhile, the Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) used the research as a ‘benchmark’ for policies and practices of the Jamaican police and prison service on batons and pepper spray. INDECOM received 208 complaints on the use of these weapons between January 2016 and October 2018. Using and frequently referring to the guide, alongside other resources, INDECOM assessed existing training and guidance, as well as exploring technical features of the weapons. They subsequently issued nine new recommendations to improve the use and accountability of ‘less lethal’ force, the first instance of specific public recommendations for the Jamaican police and prison service in this area [5.9].

The Training Pack on the Practical Guide that Dymond developed was used in training courses with torture prevention and detention monitors in five countries worldwide between 2018 - 2019. In Poland [5.5], Uzbekistan [5.6] and Slovenia [5.3] Dymond personally delivered the training, working with the partner organisations discussed above. The Training Pack was also used by the Omega Research Foundation, independent of Dymond, in trainings they provided in Brazil and Indonesia, with additional requests received from monitoring bodies in Austria, Kosovo and Portugal.

Taken together, these trainings reached over 130 participants, predominantly detention monitors, across the five countries between 2018 – 2019. Participants reported enhanced monitoring skills and a better understanding of the area as a direct result of the training [5.5]. In Slovenia, monitors will further analyse the trainings provided to police officers, internal police rules and regulations and elaborate on policy recommendations on the use of electric-shock weapons and other equipment to the Slovene authorities following on from the training [5.3]. In Poland, the Head of the National Preventive Mechanism noted that ‘monitoring weapons… is a crucial part of our mandate. Until very recently there was little guidance for monitors, and this training… enhanced our monitoring skills in this area’ [5.5]. The information and techniques discussed on the workshop are being utilised by the Polish National Preventive Mechanism in their day-to-day preventive work and included in their monitoring methodology and practices [5.3].

In addition, Dymond was invited to speak at a webinar convened as an emergency response to a new law, purportedly concerned with COVID-19, but which authorised the use of electric-shock weapons, such as Taser, in Polish prisons. The event was organised by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights, with support from Omega Research Foundation and the University of Exeter. 40 participants, predominantly from the Polish Ombuds Institution and the National Preventive Mechanism were helped to formulate recommendations to the Polish authorities to address the potential human rights implications of the use of electric discharge weapons in prisons [5.10].