2.3 Training human rights defenders on monitoring use of force in order to prevent torture Torture and other extreme forms of illtreatment remain a major challenge in the OSCE region, despite the commitment by all participating States to eradicate and prevent them. In 2019, ODIHR had specific projects on the humane treatment of people deprived of liberty and on the independent monitoring of all places of detention in the OSCE region. The Office organized a series of peer-exchange events for all 39 national torture prevention mechanisms, as well as civil society organizations active in the prevention of torture. ODIHR also added a new focus to its activities fighting for a world without torture through its work on the human rights-compliant use of restraints and projectile electric shock weapons by law enforcement officials. States must equip law enforcement officials with a range of means to appropriately respond to situations, but the use and misuse of weapons, including TASER-style weapons, must be carefully monitored and controlled to prevent torture or excessive use of force by police and prison officials. ODIHR received requests for capacity building on this topic from national torture prevention offices, national human rights institutions, and civil society organizations, which lack the knowledge and methodology to monitor and document the use of law enforcement equipment and the connected human rights violations. No other human rights institution in the OSCE region provides such training and ODIHR is therefore 32 DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE closing an important gap. Its activities in this area put the Office at the forefront of broader political momentum, highlighted by a 28 June UN resolution, “Towards torture-free trade: examining the feasibility, scope and parameters for possible common international standards”. Likewise, other organizations such as the EU and OSCE PA have drawn attention to the importance of combatting the trade in torture technologies and controlling the use of legitimate law-enforcement tools. The Office partnered with leading experts bridging the law enforcement and human rights sectors to develop cutting-edge strategies for monitoring and documenting the use and misuse of other weapons and restraints in accordance with international human rights standards. ODIHR carried out in-depth, region-wide needs assessments and collected input from participants prior to each training event in order to tailor the course content to specific national contexts and the needs of participants. The Office has provided this training in both Poland and Slovenia, with interactive workshops including sessions on different types of law enforcement equipment, the related medical and human rights risks and international human rights standards on the use of force and the prevention of torture, as well as sessions on methods of documentation. As well as enabling participants to improve their skills in monitoring and documenting the use of weapons, the training resulted in detailed recommendations for