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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Useful information

PROJECT NEWS

Back HEALTHCARE AND CORRECTIONAL STAFF TRAINED ON THE UPDATED STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR PROVISION OF HEALTHCARE IN PRISONS

@ Council of Europe

The first of the two identical 3-day Training of Trainers (ToT) sessions for the Prison Healthcare Department (PHD) of the Ministry of Health on the updated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for provision of healthcare in prisons took place from 30 October – 1 November in Istog/Istok, Kosovo.* The ToT followed the finalization of the updated SOPs, also produced with the support of the Council of Europe.

The ToT, which was originally planned for PHD members only, was expanded to include also social workers from the Kosovo Correctional Services (KCS), thus helping to strengthen the cooperation between KCS and PHD in providing better quality healthcare services to prisoners. Ten members of the PHD and five members from the KCS improved their knowledge of the revised SOPs and enhanced their trainers’ skills. As a result, they are now better prepared to deliver peer-to-peer trainings and present information efficiently, respond to participant questions, and facilitate activities that reinforce learning.

The ToT was also attended by representatives of the National Prevention Mechanism of the Ombudsperson Institution, Prison Inspectorate, Kosovo Probation Services, civil society, and the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), who took the opportunity to refresh their knowledge about the SOPs in general, as well as learn of its novelties on mental health care, suicide prevention, and recording and reporting of injuries.

The ToT, which was facilitated by two international consultants and one local, was organized under the auspices of the Council of Europe project “Improvement of the treatment of persons deprived of liberty”.

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

Kosovo* 02 November 2023