Four treatment and security officers from various prisons in Bosnia and Herzegovina completed the training programme on protocols for multidisciplinary cooperation of agencies in custodial environment on 23-24 March 2022 in Sarajevo. This capacity building activity was delivered against the background of the resource manual Protocols for multidisciplinary treatment of offenders in custodial environment, prepared earlier as part of the peer training scheme under the joint European Union and Council of Europe action.

The Protocols enable human rights-based and coordinated approach to daily management of persons deprived of liberty starting with their apprehension by the law enforcement officers, through imprisonment and teatment in prisons, to support provided in the pre-release process and reintegration in the community after release assisted by the social welfare authorities. The prison trainers will also introduce delivery of probation tasks in prisons to their peers through the interactive methods of this training.

A prison human rights trainer from Orašje prison believes that ''the delivery of the training usually runs more smoothly than all the activities of the preparation phase. It all sounds a lot more complicated before it actually starts''. Her colleague from Bijeljina prison adds that ''the peer training is as much a venue for self-improvement, as much as it is a venue for developing skills and knowledge of the colleagues on the prison team''.

This activity, as well as peer training among law enforcement, forensic and prison staff in human rights modules continues throughout this year with the support of the action ‘’Strengthening human rights treatment of detained persons based on European standards and best practices in Bosnia and Herzegovina’’ , which is a part of the joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022”, implemented by the Council of Europe.