OSCE trains Tajik police, prosecutors and judges on Istanbul Protocol

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe in co-operation with the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Ministry of Interior, the Supreme Court and other State agencies, organized a series of training courses on the Istanbul Protocol, which concluded on 13 July in Sarob, near Dushanbe.

Some 150 judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officials of Tajikistan participated in the courses. Experienced forensic and medical experts delivered the training courses and familiarized the participants with the aspects of forensic medical examination of victims of torture, its identification for effective medical documentation, as well as techniques to interview victims of torture.

This training initiative is in line with Tajikistan’s National Action Plan to implement the recommendations of the UN Committee against Torture for the years 2019-2022. The Istanbul Protocol serves as an international standard in the medical and psychological examination of the alleged victims of torture.

Thanking the counterparts for their good co-operation, Robert Heuer, Head of the Human Dimension Department at the OSCE Programme Office, said: “The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe stands ready to continue its support to the Government, the judiciary, as well as civil society actors, regarding implementation of the National Action Plan.”