-12
to emphasise that the goal is not to make visits and produce reports
but to prevent torture, improve treatment of persons deprived of their
liberty and create a more human rights abiding culture in detention. In
pursuing this goal, NPMs should be systematically impact-oriented. This
can begin by developing “concrete long- and short-term strategies in order to
achieve the maximum impact on problems and challenges”, as suggested by the
SPT.12 For that purpose NPMs need to make their strategic goals explicit,
develop pathways on how to reach them (“pathways/theories of change”),13
including indicators, and regularly evaluate their work, drawing lessons on
how to be more effective. The principle is particularly crucial in the process
of drafting recommendations that, by definition, need to be goal-oriented.
We would, however, argue that it can and should be applied throughout all
stages of NPM work as illustrated by the following questions.
Questions for monitors
•
• Do monitors have a clear image of what their work should achieve in
response to the (most) needed changes, e.g. in prisons? How would
the achieved change concretely look like?
• How does the preparation of the monitoring visit ensure that all
members of the team are clear about the specific objectives of a visit?
• Have indicators14 been developed to measure whether the goal has
been achieved?
• How do monitors actively keep in mind the concrete goal when they
do fact-finding?
• How much time do monitors dedicate to drafting recommendations
in line with the double-SMART model?15
• Have monitors developed a strategy/’pathway of change’ and how
does it look like? How much is the strategy used in the daily work and
how is it evaluated?
• How strategically minded and impact-oriented are monitors when
12. Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT), ‘Analytical Assessment Tool for National Preventive Mechanisms’ (2016) CAT/OP/1/Rev.1,
para. 18 [hereinafter: CAT/OP/1/Rev.1].
13. See Building Block 7 of an effective NPM follow-up strategy, in BIM/HRIC, 105.
14. See United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) ‘Human Rights
Indicators – A Guide to Measurement and Implementation’ (OHCHR 2012).
15. APT, ‘Making Effective Recommendations: Briefing Paper’ (APT 2008) <https://www.apt.ch/en/resources/publications/making-effective-recommendations-briefing-paper-2008>.
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