All three countries have also ratified OPCAT and are at various stages in the process of designating or creating NPMs. The OSCE has been involved in these developments to a varying degree in each of these countries. In Armenia and Georgia, both ODIHR and the OSCE field operations have for a number of years been assisting in the creation and development of independent public-controlled monitoring bodies for places of deprivation of liberty. Subsequent activities connected to the implementation of OPCAT and the NPMs are thus a natural continuation of this earlier work. In one country, Armenia, the OSCE field operation has assisted in establishing public boards for police and prison monitoring and organized training on human rights standards and report writing for board members, police and penitentiary staff. The field operation has sought to promote the use of these boards’ capacity, in addition to the Office of the Ombudsman and civil society, in any NPM. In 2008, amendments to the country’s law related to the office of Ombudsman were adopted and the Office was designated as the NPM. Discussions on the mode of operation of the NPM, involving non-government, state and international actors, are ongoing. The OSCE field operation also supported the holding of conferences and meetings to provide expert advice on best practices for the implementation of OPCAT and the functioning of the NPM. In Georgia, an inter-agency council was created by the President and tasked with identifying a draft model NPM. The OSCE mission was represented on the council, along with other international organizations and NGOs. Different strategies in torture prevention included the creation in Georgia of a governmental National Action Plan against Torture, the elaboration and implementation of which the field office there supported. This was described by the operation as a good catalyst for the ratification of OPCAT. In the view of the field operation, support for anti-torture activities carried out within the framework of this plan has helped generate progress in combating torture at police stations and improving conditions of detention in police cells. In another country, Armenia, hotlines were created for the public to seek advice in pursuing claims of torture. Azerbaijan, meanwhile, ratified OPCAT in January 2009 and designated its Commissioner for Human Rights, an Ombudsman institution, as the NPM. The field office reported that some detention monitoring is already being carried out at the national level, although it is neither comprehensive nor adequately funded. A public committee exists, encompassing NGOs that have a mandate to visit any penitentiary institution under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, including remand facilities. As this body was created under the Ministry of Justice, its remit does not include other places of deprivation of liberty, such as those under the Interior Ministry or others. Over the past three years, however, a number of national NGOs managed to visit places of deprivation of liberty under the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of National Security. In the context of advising the Government on the implementation of OPCAT and the creation of an NPM, and its legislative basis in particular, the field operation outlined the need for a monitoring body with a mandate to visit all places of deprivation of liberty, incorporating civil society expertise and fulfilling other OPCAT criteria. The 19