The Council of Europe is supporting prison staff in Bosnia and Herzegovina to strengthen their capacities and protocols in managing and rehabilitating violent extremist prisoners (VEPs) and effectively reintegrating them into the society. One of the important aspects of this support is cooperation among different institutions.

For this reason, the local interagency coordination forums are currently being organised with the support of the local civil society organisation “Atlantska Inicijativa” which acts on the basis of a grant agreement signed with the Council of Europe. 

Up to date, three successful local forums were held in the period between 20 May and 11 June 2024 in Sarajevo, Zenica and Bihać. The forums gathered more than 50 practitioners – representatives from prisons, law enforcement agencies, social welfare services, mental health centres, the three Ministries of Justice, and academia.

Through case studies and sharing of experience the participants enhanced their understanding and knowledge on exchange of information on individual cases of VEPs and those exhibiting signs of radicalisation, and discussed issues related to their penal and post-penal treatment. Moreover, the participants got acquainted with the practical implementation of newly developed standard operational procedures and protocols related to admission of VEPs and their time in prison, as well as to their preparation for release. At the same time the forums enhance the links and coordination between the multi-disciplinary teams (MDT) in prison and the community-based MDTs.

Additional forums will be implemented in the upcoming period with the aim to establish a sustainable multi-agency mechanism for exchange of knowledge and information on VEPs.

This activity was organized within the framework of the project "Ensuring Sustainable Penitentiary Actions in managing rehabilitation of violent extremist prisoners in Bosnia and Herzegovina (ESPA-VEP)", funded under the Council of Europe Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2022-2025.