OSCE meeting in Istanbul ends with call for effective human rights education for law enforcement officials | WPN World People News

Police agencies should do more to provide systemic and effective human rights education for its personnel, said participants at a meeting held in Istanbul by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Strategic Police Matters Unit (SPMU) of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, with the support of the Turkish National Police, on 10 and 11 December 2012.

All 57 OSCE participating States have committed themselves to effective human rights education training for their law enforcement officials.

More than 40 police officers and representatives from police academies, civil society and international organizations across the OSCE region shared good practices in human-rights education for law enforcement officials, and highlighted different ways to improve teaching approaches, methodologies and course evaluation, as well as other aspects of the curriculum.

“Human rights should be perceived as a motivation for, and not an obstacle to, effective policing,” said Pavel Chacuk, ODIHR Human Rights Adviser. “It is education that helps the police understand human rights and integrate them into their daily operational work.”

During the meeting, ODIHR presented its Guidelines on Human Rights Education for Law Enforcement Officials and discussed how these can serve as a useful tool for those conducting human rights training for police, including police academies. All 57 OSCE participating States have committed themselves to effective human rights education training for their law enforcement officials.

"Mainstreaming human rights into day-to-day policing is a key component of an effective police service, and the OSCE continues to work with police training institutions in participating States to help them introduce this into their curricula,” said Murat Yildiz, SPMU Training Adviser. “The event was timed to coincide with International Human Rights Day, marked on 10 December, which commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe