International cooperation On 14-15 December 2011, members of the NPM, in cooperation with the Council of Europe, organised a thematic workshop entitled “Roles and competencies of physicians participating in the project of cooperation between European National Preventive Mechanisms” in Warsaw. Its purpose was to create a forum for discussions between representatives of medical circles associated with IMAP and the teams of European national preventive mechanisms. On 6-7 December 2011, the third annual meeting of heads or contact persons of national preventive mechanisms was organised Ljubljana (Slovenia). The conference was also attended by representatives of the SPT, CPT, APT and the Council of Europe. On the first day, representatives of the Council of Europe declared that the duration of The European NPM Project18 was extended until June 2012. They went on to discuss the degree of its implementation. Representatives of the SPT and CPT expressed their intent to strengthen cooperation with national preventive mechanisms with a view to protecting prisoners against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Yet, no concrete rules of cooperation were adopted. They only adopted their proposals tabled by members of national mechanisms. On the second day of the conference, conclusions were presented as well as a brief evaluation of the “On-site visit and exchange of experiences”19, of training, thematic workshops20, and of the newsletter presenting topical issued connected with the activity of the mechanisms. Representatives of national preventive mechanisms presented their visions of a new project of active cooperation between the European national preventive mechanisms.21 The Human Rights Defender informed about the above cooperation, and updated international institutions, namely SPT, APT, and the representatives of the Council of Europe, on the problems with executing the mandate of the national preventive mechanism.  Project which entails active cooperation between European national preventive mechanisms sponsored by the Council of Europe and the European Union.  Project which entails active cooperation between European national preventive mechanisms co-financed by the Council of Europe and the European Union. The subject of the workshops is” “Organising, conducting and reporting on preventive visits to different types of detention places: Exchanging experience between the National Preventive Mechanism and experts from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), UN Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture (SPT) and the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT).” 20  In 2011, thematic workshops of national preventive mechanisms were organised in: Paris – 14-15 May 2011: “Security and dignity in places of detention”; in Tallinn – 14-16 June 2011: „Gathering and revising information collected during preventive visits”; and in Baku – 20-21 October “Protection of people from the so-called vulnerable groups in places of detention.” 21  Follow-up Project. 18 19 19