The first cooperation meeting between Ministry of Interior (MoI) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), was held on 2 September 2022, in Belgrade. During the meeting, opportunities for cooperation were identified and participants engaged in dialogue on current issues of protection of human rights of detained and arrested persons and prevention of ill-treatment. Representatives of the MoI Committee for Enforcement of Standards in Police Conduct, Ministry for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, CSO Belgrade Centre for Human rights and CSO Lawyer Committee for Human Rights, agreed to dedicate their time and efforts to work together in the future on enhancing their cooperation.

President of the MoI’s Committee for Enforcement of Standards of Police Conduct underlined the importance of the CPT recommendations to Serbian police after the last visit in March 2021, such as combating and preventing the ill-treatment by police.

As a final result of the meeting, CSO representatives will provide further suggestions for cooperation to the Committee in writing and the Committee agreed to engage, with due diligence, in considering them until the next meeting will take place.

The support in organising and facilitating the meeting was provided in the framework of the Project “Enhancing Human Rights Protection for Detained and Sentenced Persons in Serbia”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe within the framework of Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey II.