Jean-Sébastien Blanc

Jean-Sébastien Blanc has been working since May 2020 at the Swiss Expertise Center in Prison and Probation, as scientific advisor and lecturer. He is also a researcher at the University of Geneva, where he is writing a PhD on the impact of incarceration on gender representations and sexualities. Until 2020, he worked for the Association for the Prevention of Torture, a Swiss-based international NGO, as detention advisor and subsequently as director of thematic programmes, developing guidance and training material on torture prevention and supporting partners working on detention, in particular monitoring bodies. He has published handbooks and articles on various topics, including the role of oversight bodies, situations of vulnerability in detention, police custody, LGBTIQ+ persons deprived of liberty and foreign nationals in prison. Prior to joining the APT, Jean-Sébastien Blanc worked as a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the South Caucasus, as well as for various NGOs. Since 2020, he is also a member of the observers' team of the Swiss National Commission for the prevention of torture - the National Preventive Mechanism established under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. As such, his task is to monitor how deportation flights are carried out. Jean-Sébastien holds a Master’s degree in Russian Literature and History from the University of Lausanne (Switzerland), as well as a Master's degree in International Relations and International Law from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina).