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 36 months (October 2022 – September 2025), co-funded through voluntary contributions of Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Norway, and the Council of Europe. The Project has an overall budget of 850000 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

Project documentation

Useful information

PROJECT NEWS

Back Council of Europe has officially launched the new project “Improvement of the treatment of persons deprived of liberty”

@ Council of Europe

On 22 November 2022, a half-day conference held in Pristina marked the official launch of the Council of Europe’s project “Improvement of the treatment of persons deprived of liberty”. Over fifty representatives of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice, Prison Health Department, Kosovo Correctional Services, Prison Inspectorate, as well as the National Prevention Mechanism of the Ombudsperson Institution, Civil Society Organizations, academia, Embassy representatives and International Organizations present in Kosovo* attended the conference.

The event was opened by the Minister of Health ad interim, Ms Dafina Gexha-Bunjaku, who underlined that “the Ministry of Health is committed to improve the rights of all persons deprived of liberty regardless of their background and offence they committed”, at the same time expressing a hope that “the Project will help further enhance working procedures of prison health department and other closed institutions with regards to mental health care provision”. Mr Frank Power, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Pristina, stated that the Council of Europe has been working in Kosovo* for over two decades, assisting local authorities and institutions in building their capacity to meet Council of Europe standards in the field of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, highlighting that this project on advancing mental health was identified as one of the priorities. Furthermore, Mr Donche Boshkovski, Head of Section II, Co-operation in Police and Deprivation of Liberty (CPDL) Unit, Council of Europe, stressed that “the Council of Europe pays great attention to ensuring proper treatment of persons in detention, to ill-treatment safeguards being put in place and to adequate healthcare being provided to patients in prisons and other closed institutions”. He summarized the positive achievements of previous Council of Europe actions in Kosovo* and highlighted that we look forward to continuing with the same determination and enthusiasm expressed by the project partners.

The event raised participants’ awareness about the project’s aim, objectives and the relevant problems and shortcomings that it will be addressing in the upcoming 3 years period. The project beneficiaries and partners did not hesitate to show their appreciation for the initiation of this project and, at the same time, reaffirm their commitment towards the achievement of the set objectives. Similarly, the presentations and discussions during the panel session were very well received by the participants, which could be witnessed by very interesting questions and remarks, as well as words of praise and high expectations of the project objectives and deliverables.

Subsequently to the launching event, the first project’s Steering Committee meeting took place. As a result, the overall work plan and more specific 6-month activity plan covering the period December 2022 – May 2023 were discussed and approved by the SC members.

This activity was organized within the auspices of the project “Improvement of the treatment of persons deprived of liberty”, implemented by the Council of Europe and co-funded by Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Norway, and the Council of Europe.

*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

Kosovo* 25 November 2022