HF III - Strengthening the capacities of the penitentiary system in North Macedonia

Building upon the results achieved from the implementation of the first and the second phase of the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”, a joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe, the Action “Strengthening the capacities of the penitentiary system in North Macedonia” assists the authorities in progressing further with the country’s prison reform agenda and enhancing the protection of the human rights of prisoners and detained persons. It is implemented 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, as well as other national stakeholders, including prominent civil society organisations active in the area of protection and promotion of human rights.
The Action will focus on accomplishing the following outcomes:

• The provision of healthcare to sentenced persons, including mental healthcare, is strengthened in line with Council of Europe standards and best practices;
• Prison managers and staff provide better support to inmates’ rehabilitation and reintegration, through systematic application in their daily work of the newly developed procedures and gained knowledge and skills;
• External oversight and internal monitoring over the police and the penitentiary system are further enhanced, by applying Council of Europe standards and best practices.

The key Conventions for this Action are 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 findings and 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 is set at 48 months, and it is expected to be completed by 31 December 2026, with an overall budget of 950,000 Euros.

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PROJECT NEWS

Back North Macedonia’s External Oversight Mechanism stakeholders trained on effective investigations and reviewed their performance, five years after establishment

Nino LAPACHI

Modified 2 Years ago.

Council of Europe

A total of 22 participants from the Basic Public Prosecutor’s Office for Prosecuting Organized Crime and Corruption, the Unit for Internal Control, Criminalistic Investigations and Professional Standards of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ombudsman’s Office, and three civil society organizations (the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, the Macedonian Young Lawyers’ Association and Eurothink Centre for European Strategies), attended an advanced training for the External Oversight Mechanism (EOM) stakeholders, which took place on 15-16 February 2024 in Skopje.

As a result, the participants expanded their knowledge on the applicable international standards and practices and further improved their skills in carrying out effective investigations into ill-treatment. The Government Agent to the European Court of Human Rights presented specific cases and detailed statistics with regard to Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, following which the stakeholders focused on the procedures in place and the provision of necessary statistical data.

Several cases from the EOM practice were discussed, allowing the participants to assess its performance up to date, at the same time identifying potential for further improvement of proceedings and cooperation. Considering the recent appointment of representatives of the civil society to the EOM, a separate session was organized for them focusing on applying the Guidebook for Effective Investigations.

In place since 2018, the Mechanism was established with the support of the European Union and the Council of Europe, to address cases where persons with police authority, while being on or off duty, use force, coercion or serious threats, leading to death, bodily injury, unlawful arrest, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

This training was conducted in the framework of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”, and its action “Strengthening the capacities of the penitentiary system in North Macedonia”.

Skopje, North Macedonia 15-16 February 2024