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 Last inter-agency forum in Pristina takes stock of achievements

@ Council of Europe

A total of 6 local inter-agency coordination forums on improving the management of violent extremist prisoners (VEPs) and supporting their reintegration back into the society took place in Kosovo* in the period from November 2021 to June 2022. They brought together some 140 representatives coming from different governmental levels, institutions and agencies, civil society organisations, prison and probation system, social welfare and municipalities.

These meetings provided the space for open discussion on practical challenges and opportunities to further enhance the multi-stakeholder approach in this area. The participants at the last forum agreed that further measures were needed to ensure sustainable and durable inter-agency coordination, thus providing for long-term multi-stakeholder support in managing VEPs during imprisonment and after their release.

Mr Blerim Sallahu, Deputy Minister of Justice of Kosovo, during his opening address expressed MoJ’s gratitude for the support and confirmed their readiness to continue the cooperation in the field of countering violent extremism and radicalisation in prisons.

Mr Frank Power, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Pristina, highlighted that the forums emphasized the specific role and tasks of each of the relevant actors and their responsibility to ensure pre-release plans and reintegration approaches are tailor-made to address individual’s specific risks and needs. Mr Sami Gashi, Acting Director General of the Kosovo Corrections Services, underlined the improvement in prison staff capacities thanks to the support from the international partners. He also stressed that until now a lot of focus has been placed on security, however enforced joint efforts are still needed with aim to improve rehabilitation and provide for better reintegration of this category of prisoners.

These forums were implemented under the Grant Agreement signed between the Kosovo Corrections Services and the Council of Europe under the auspices of 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".

* 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

Pristina, Kosovo* 13 June 2022