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 Practitioners from the Western Balkans continue to share experiences in preventing radicalisation and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) in prisons

@ Council of Europe

A regional conference on the topic “Towards improved practices in preventing radicalisation and countering violent extremism in prisons and staff training in the Western Balkans” took place in Budva, Montenegro, on 17–18 May 2022. It provided prison, probation, P/CVE coordinators, civil society members, academics and other practitioners with a forum to reflect on the findings and recommendations resulting from the six regional sessions on screening, risk and needs assessment and empowering and building capacities of staff on the related topic. It also marked the progress made in the penitentiary systems in all 6 Western Balkans (WB) Beneficiaries in the context of application of these recommendations in practice.

Upcoming challenges in the context of repatriation of foreign terrorist fighters and their families, ongoing efforts at policy and operational levels, improving allocation practices and management of violent extremist prisoners and strengthening the preconditions for provision of continuous and sustainable training of practitioners were also discussed. The conference participants concluded, among other things, that the regional cooperation and information-knowledge sharing is to be further enhanced and built upon. Namely, only strong coordination and cooperation will ensure long-term impact and contribute towards the overall security and stability in the WB region.

More than 50 participants from the region took part at this event implemented under the umbrella of the regional action “Enhancing penitentiary capacities in addressing radicalisation in prisons in the Western Balkan”, part of the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019–2022, funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe, implemented by the Council of Europe.

Budva, Montenegro 19 May 2022