HF II North Macedonia - Enhancing penitentiary system External Oversight Mechanism

As part of the co-operation framework co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, known as the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey, phase II (Horizontal Facility II), the Council of Europe implemented the Action “Enhancing the capacities of the penitentiary system and the External Oversight Mechanism in North Macedonia”, in close cooperation and partnership with the Ministry of Justice (Directorate for Execution of Sanctions), Ministry of Health, Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Ombudsman’s Office. The Action also involved a wide group of other national stakeholders, including prominent civil society organisations active in the area of protection and promotion of human rights.

The main aim of the Action was to contribute to a safer and more humane society that respects and protects the rights of detained and sentenced persons in line with the Council of Europe standards in the area of penitentiary and law enforcement.

The key Conventions for this Action were the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), as well as the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

The duration of the project was set at 36 months and it was completed by 31 December 2022, with an overall budget of 1,050,000 Euros.

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Useful information

PROJECT NEWS

Back Prison staff in North Macedonia trained on addressing radicalisation in prisons

@ Council of Europe

Selected prison staff from the three largest penitentiary institutions in North Macedonia enhanced their knowledge on addressing radicalisation in prisons by attending cascade training session from 1 to 3 December 2021.

In total 45 prison police officers and rehabilitation specialists coming from prison Skopje, prison Idrizovo and prison Shtip benefitted from the participation. The training focused on the application of the existing screening and risk and needs assessment tools, along with the role of the prison staff in identifying signs of radicalism.

The participants upgraded their skills and profited from the exchanges of experiences and discussions on specific case studies, highlighting the importance of sharing information through the multi-treatment teams. It is expected that these training sessions improve the established internal reporting lines within the penitentiary institutions and with the relevant external stakeholders.

This activity was organised under the Action “Enhancing the capacities of the penitentiary system and the external oversight mechanism in North Macedonia”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe within the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022” and implemented by the Council of Europe.

North Macedonia 7 December 2021