German judge Christof Rennig (left) and Prof. Stephen Thaman, author of an analysis of the Kazakh draft laws on introducing jury trials, shared their experiences with jury trials at an OSCE/ODIHR conference in Astana. The ODIHR also promotes other structural reforms that can help improve human-rights conditions in prisons. For example, reforms in a number of countries have led to the transfer of prison facilities from the jurisdiction of interior ministries to justice ministries. This transfer helps in demilitarizing the prison administration and thereby improving conditions for inmates. Another step that can be taken is the creation of mechanisms for public monitoring of places of detention, since making prisons more transparent can be an effective tool in the prevention of torture. training needs of penitentiary officers who deal with non-custodial measures. A prison-service training programme was conducted to assist governments in Central Asia and the Caucasus to improve the functioning of their prison systems with a view to compliance with international standards. This involved the training of prison-service employees in human-rights standards and taking steps to improve security and the treatment of prisoners. The ODIHR sponsored a series of conflictprevention training courses with the Penitentiary Committee of the Ministry of Justice in Kazakhstan to train prison guards in non-violent conflict-resolution skills. In Georgia, the ODIHR provided assistance in training in managing prisons, with a special focus on security issues. In Armenia, the ODIHR continued to provide capacity-building assistance to the prison-training centre in Yerevan. Through these programmes, the Office also encourages greater contacts between prison officials within the region. In addition, the ODIHR has also been an advocate for reform at the political level. To develop longer-term reform in criminal-justice systems, the ODIHR conducted a number of activities in 2004 in the area of penal-policy reform, including in pre-trial detention, reform of penitentiary institutions, and alternative sentencing. In Kazakhstan, the ODIHR sponsored a conference on public monitoring of prison facilities in June and participated throughout the year in the working group charged with writing a law on public monitoring, which was adopted in November. In Armenia, the ODIHR supported a newly created Civil Society Monitoring Board on Places of Detention, providing training for board members and assisting with the start-up of this new institution. In Kyrgyzstan, the ODIHR sponsored a conference on public monitoring in June. And in Tajikistan, the ODIHR supported efforts to give public access to prisons by organizing a conference and workshop on NGO activities in places of detention. The Office continued its street-law (legal literacy) programme at the Pavlodar Prison Staff College in Kazakhstan, which teaches the cadets basic human rights. The cadets also conduct legal-literacy classes for inmates at the nearby prison. The ODIHR continued to work with authorities in Belarus, Central Asia, and the Caucasus on the demilitarization of prisons, calling for prisons to be transferred from the authority of interior ministries to justice ministries. This transfer has been achieved, at least partially, in most countries in the region. In Belarus, one country where the transfer has not been effected, the The ODIHR also rendered assistance in capacity-building for prison staff, paying particular attention to the 24