THE NATIONAL AGENCY IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT those who took part in the event said they felt that it had been extremely valuable and beneficial, which is why regular meetings are planned for the future. A first follow-on meeting is to take place in Vienna in 2015. eration in Europe (OSCE). The conference provided the opportunity to share experience of various models adopted by national preventive mechanisms, working with volunteers and working in conflict areas. The National Agency gave a presentation describing its structure and working method. Presentations were also given by representatives of the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), the Network of People Living with HIV and the national preventive mechanisms of the United Kingdom, Poland, Kazakhstan and Kirgizstan. “Protection of Human Rights Through Monitoring of the Police” was the topic of a three-day study visit which members of the Ministry of the Interior of Turkey paid to the National Agency from 25 to 27 November 2014 as part of an EU programme. Turkey ratified the OPCAT in 2011 and in January 2014 designated the newly established National Human Rights Institution of Turkey as its national preventive mechanism. Turkey has a number of institutions which have, amongst other things, supervisory powers in regard to places of detention. So far the various mechanisms have been operating independently of one another. Turkey’s national preventive mechanism is still in the early phase of being set up. The study visit thus served to draw on Germany’s experience of creating a new monitoring institution under the OPCAT and to learn about the National Agency’s organisational structure and working method. On the first day of the study visit representatives of the National Agency explained the facility’s structure and the challenges faced when implementing the OPCAT in a federal state. Another focus of the visit was on monitoring police stations and human rights issues arising in a police custody setting. On the second day of its visit the delegation accompanied the Joint Commission to Frankfurt am Main Police Headquarters. Issues addressed on the last day of the visit included cooperation with supervisory authorities, other monitoring mechanisms and nongovernmental organisations. In this context a representative of the Federal Police based at Frankfurt am Main Airport reported about his experience of implementing the National Agency’s recommendations. 3.2 – INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS BEHIND BARS A conference on “Human Rights Behind Bars” organised jointly by the Centre for Criminology and the National Agency was held in Wiesbaden on 16/17 October 2014. The conference dealt with important issues relating to the human rights of prisoners, for example the role criminology can play in this context. The requirements made of prison systems under international law and international visiting mechanisms were presented, as well as the work of national preventive mechanisms in other European countries, along with the associated challenges. The second day of the conference revolved around the CPT’s long-standing experience and its significance for the German prison system. The conference was rounded off with an open discussion of effective ways of preventing human rights violations behind bars. The conference was attended by representatives of the federal and Land ministries, international monitoring mechanisms, the relevant institutions and civil 3 society representatives. 3.3 – OTHER INTERNATIONAL EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights in Vienna held a workshop on “Strengthening the Effective Implementation and Follow-up of Recommendations by Torture Monitoring Bodies” on 6/7 October 2014. The National Agency attended the event, which was directed at European national preventive mechanisms and international human rights experts. The aim of the workshop was to discuss and further develop the national preventive mechanisms’ follow-up procedures. There are plans to hold the event again in 2015 as well as to publish a book containing insights gained from several such workshops. The National Agency took part in the Fifth East European Conference on National Preventive Mechanisms, which was held on 13/14 November 2014 and was organised by the Ukrainian national preventive mechanism, the Kharkiv Institute for Social Researches and the Organisation for Security and Coop- 3 The Centre for Criminology will be publishing the conference papers in a separate volume in its publication series. 13