Improvement of the treatment of persons deprived of liberty in Kosovo*

The Council of Europe is implementing a Project on the “Improvement of the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty” with a duration of 48 months (October 2022 – September 2026), co-funded through voluntary contributions of Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Norway, and the Council of Europe. The Project has an overall budget of 1.150.000 EUR.

The Project will focus on supporting reform initiatives to consolidate the already achieved results within the framework of the 2016-2018 Horizontal Facility action “Enhancing the protection of human rights of prisoners in Kosovo*”, and expand the work to enable favorable conditions for treatment and healthcare provided to persons deprived of liberty compliant with the Council of Europe standards.

The Project’s target groups are healthcare professionals and other categories of staff in prisons and other closed institutions, whilst the end beneficiaries are prisoners in need of medical attention, forensic institute patients, and persons with mental and physical disabilities accommodated in special social welfare institutions.

The Project aim will be accomplished through the following measures:

strengthening co-operation and increasing consistency and co-ordination of approaches of all relevant stakeholders so as to improve the health care provided to all persons who are de facto, and de jure deprived of their liberty, including convicted persons, patients involuntarily committed to psychiatric hospitalization and persons with mental disabilities placed in social welfare institutions;
further enhancing the professional performance of the Prison Healthcare Department within the Ministry of Health through capacity-building measures, by establishing relevant protocols and strengthening safeguards against ill-treatment;
reviewing legislation and policies regulating involuntary psychiatric hospitalization in light of Council of Europe standards and assessing and revising procedures and information provided to patients on their rights; and,
strengthening the protection of the human rights of detained patients with mental disabilities and facilitating their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.

By achieving the above-mentioned objectives, the project will further enhance the knowledge and skills of medical and non-medical staff in prisons, other closed institutions, and relevant stakeholders, to strengthen the safeguards against ill-treatment in line with Council of Europe standards and the CPT recommendations. It will develop an efficient working methodology and encourage sustainable co-operation, with an overall aim to ensure the protection of the human rights of persons deprived of their liberty, with focus on convicted persons and patients with mental disabilities.

* All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo

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Back Comprehensive assessment of mental health care provision in prisons and other closed institutions conducted

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Comprehensive assessment of mental health care provision in prisons and other closed institutions conducted

Two assessment missions, led by Council of Europe consultants, took place on 19-22 December 2022 and 17-20 January 2023 in Kosovo*. They allowed the consultants to gather relevant information and get a clear picture on mental health care provision in prisons and other closed institutions during their meetings and discussions with project beneficiaries and partners.

The missions focused on assessing the mental health protocols of the Prison Health Department, together with its Standard Operating Procedures. They also looked into the legal and institutional frameworks of the Institute of Forensic Psychiatry of Kosovo and the Special Institute in Shtime/Stimlje for chronic psychiatric patients with mental or physical disabilities, including their existing rehabilitation and reintegration tools and programmes. The findings of the assessment missions will play a crucial role in the identification of shortcomings and gaps in the provision of mental health care and will help the Project and the partners to accordingly plan necessary actions to address them.

The assessment missions were organized within the framework of the project ‘Improvement of the treatment of persons deprived of liberty’, which is the first local project exclusively focused on mental healthcare in prisons and other closed institutions. Through this project, the Council of Europe continues to show its dedication towards strengthening the protection of the rights of convicted persons, with specific focus on the provision of healthcare in prison, as well as the rights of patients under involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation, and persons with mental disabilities placed in special social welfare institutions.