International cooperation Representatives from 17 different organisations attended the summer school, including two employees from the NPM. Head of the NPM Helga Fastrup Ervik was one of the speakers at the summer school. Seminars and conferences The NPM’s staff have also attended seminars and conferences abroad in 2017, including a conference on the use of isolation as a form of disciplinary punishment, organised by the Danish Institute Against Torture (Dignity). Helga Fastrup Ervik attended a seminar in Dublin marking the tenth anniversary of Ireland signing the OPCAT, and gave a talk on the experience gained from establishing the NPM in Norway. International visits to the Ombudsman The Ombudsman received visiting delegations from Tajikistan, Nepal, Russia and Estonia, among others, in 2017. They wished to learn about how the NPM is organised in Norway and the work methods it employs. On 25 October, the day before the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s annual human rights seminar, a meeting was held at the Ombudsman’s office with international expert Dr Jörg Pont on the role of health personnel in relation to people deprived of their liberty. Representatives of the Ombudsmen in Iceland and Sweden also attended the meeting. European cooperation In 2017, the NPM has regularly provided input to the European newsletter for national preventive mechanisms, which is published by the Council of Europe. The NPM also attended a conference organised by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in April 2017, where establishing a network of national preventive mechanisms in Europe was discussed. In addition to discussing this initiative, the participants shared their experience of reporting, recommendations and follow-up of relevant parties. 1 See: https://www.sivilombudsmannen.no/en/visit-reports/. 65 On 30 May 2017, a number of Europe’s national preventive mechanisms sent a joint letter to the EU, the OSCE and the Council of Europe. In the letter, they emphasised the importance of the national preventive mechanisms playing a leading role in determining how they are organised in in networks, share information and cooperate. They expressed concern that meetings and projects were being planned for the implementation of OPCAT, without the national preventive mechanisms being consulted or actively involved. It was also emphasised that support from international organisations in connection with prevention work would be more effective if it was given through networks led by the national preventive mechanisms themselves. Parliamentary Ombudsman Aage Thor Falkanger was one of the Ombudsmen who signed the letter, together with the ombudsmen of Denmark, Sweden, Georgia, Malta, Hungary, France, the UK and Poland, among others. Reports in English In order to be able to share experience and information with international parties in the prevention field, summaries and recommendations from the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s visit reports are translated into English and published on the Ombudsman’s English website.1