MONITORING PLACES OF DETENTION : A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR NGOS 6 should not be a substitute for the obligation of the state to engage in official oversight of places of custody to ensure compliance with human rights standards. Civil society monitoring has developed in a wide range of countries throughout the past ten years. In particular, in Central and Eastern Europe the introduction of monitoring boards alongside the traditional state institutions has contributed considerably to the demilitarisation of penal and pre- trial detention systems as well as to raising public awareness of the importance of a torture-free and accountable prison regime for successful democratisation. The ODIHR commends the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) for is developing and publishing this invaluable Guide. The ODIHR and the APT work together with the goal of fully eradicating torture. The two organizations share the commitment to encourage the involvement of civil society in the monitoring of prisons and places of detention as it is our strong belief that only through the involvement of civil society this goal can be attained. By enabling civil society monitors to further develop their methodology, we hope that this Guide will ultimately contribute to the improvement of conditions in prisons and places of detention. Warsaw, November 2002 AMBASSADOR GÉRARD STOUDMANN Director of the ODIHR