HF II Regional - Enhancing penitentiary capacities in addressing radicalisation in prisons

As part of the second phase of the European Union and the Council of Europe co-funded cooperation framework “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey” (Horizontal Facility II), the Council of Europe implemented a Regional Action on “Enhancing penitentiaries capacities in addressing radicalization in prisons in Western Balkans”. The Action was implemented in close cooperation with the Ministries of Justice and the P/CVE coordination bodies of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Republic of Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia…. The Action included a wide spectrum of other national stakeholders and civil society organizations active in the penitentiary field and countering violent extremism and radicalisation in prisons.

The main aim of the Action was to enhance regional security by improving the inter-institutional exchange of knowledge and good practices in the region in respect of radicalization in prisons, with a view on providing penitentiary system staff with necessary standards, tools and instruments needed to respond appropriately. Another important goal was to empower in-county multi-agency coordination to counter radicalization in prison and to provide adequate post-penal support to released violent extremist offenders.

The Action also assisted the national authorities to ensure that the application of the tools and mechanisms on national level with regards to addressing radicalisation in prisons further strengthens in light of the identified good practices in the region.

The Action’s duration was set at 36 months and it iwas completed by 31 December 2022, with an overall budget of 2,000,000.000 Euros.

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

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Back Cooperation of all actors in society indispensable for successful reintegration of radicalised inmates and violent extremism prisoners (VEPs)

@ Council of Europe

Over the last 6 months a total of 19 local inter-agency coordination forums on improving VEP’s management and supporting their reintegration back into the society took place in the Western Balkans region. They brought together some 480 representatives coming from different governmental levels, institutions and agencies, P/CVE coordination bodies, civil society organisations, prison and probation systems, social welfare, mental health protection and employment services.

The forums raised the awareness on the need to put unified efforts to support reintegration of released VEPs and actively involve different actors in entire society in prevention and combatting of violent extremism and radicalisation. Multisectoral approach, continuous information exchange, carrying out a comprehensive individualised assessment of risks and needs of VEPs and the involvement of the local stakeholders in the development of the VEPs’ release plans, were only some of the major recommendations coming out from discussions along with those specific for each beneficiary.

The implementation of the local coordination forums will continue in 2022 with aim to ensure ownership of the established forums by the authorities and the key players, with a view on setting sustainable and long-term support to this category of prisoners after their release.

These local-coordination forums are being implemented under the Grant Agreements signed between five Beneficiaries in the Western Balkans and the regional action “Enhancing penitentiary capacities in addressing radicalisation in prisons in the Western Balkans”, implemented within the joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022".

14 December 2021