Boris Budin Democratization Kyrgyzstan’s Judicial Training Centre requested support from the international community in 2007 to implement a law granting judges new powers. Together with other international partners, ODIHR contributed to a conference on “New Powers of Courts in the Kyrgyz Republic: Judicial Authorisation of Arrests and Other Criminal Procedural Measures”, which was held at Lake Issyk-Kul in June. The participants — leading judges from throughout Kyrgyzstan — discussed various aspects related to the implementation of the law and learned about the experiences of other participating States, including Russia, Germany, Kazakhstan, and the United States. ODIHR experts highlighted possible difficulties with implementation of the law and proposed solutions to overcome them. Prevention of torture Anti-torture work remains prominent on ODIHR’s agenda. Reports from OSCE field operations, as well as from governmental and non-governmental institutions, collected and analysed by ODIHR, indicate that torture and ill-treatment in custody continue to occur in a number of OSCE states. This underscores the need for comprehensive anti-torture strategies, as well as for clear political will on the part of these states to take measures to prevent, effectively investigate, and adequately punish torture and ill-treatment. In 2007, ODIHR developed a questionnaire on the causes and prevention of torture and ill-treatment in criminal-justice systems that was sent to all OSCE field operations to collect and document OSCE field experience in combating these phenomena, to identify systemic obstacles to torture prevention in criminal-justice systems, to pinpoint additional areas where ODIHR could support field operations in anti-torture activities, and to collect information on other initiatives and efforts in this field. ODIHR’s current anti-torture work emphasizes the promotion and implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT), and provides targeted support to strengthen domestic monitoring programmes and capacities. June marked the first anniversary of OPCAT’s entry into force. This provided a new impetus for the creation of national preventive mechanisms to monitor places of detention, as many states parties were obliged to create, or take some significant steps towards the creation of, such Alexander Rozentsvaig (left), member of the Almaty City Collegium of Advocates; Daniyar Kanafin (centre), member of the Almaty City Collegium of Advocates; and Associate Professor Richard Vogler of the University of Sussex take part in a panel discussion during the Summer School on Criminal Justice for Central Asia. Annual Report 2007 25