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

Project documentation

Useful information

PROJECT NEWS

Back Kosovo* authorities support the planned enhancement in provision of mental healthcare in prisons and other closed institutions

@ Council of Europe

On 25April 2023, a high-level roundtable took place in Pristina, at which the findings and recommendations of the Council of Europe assessment missions on the legal statuses and regulatory frameworks of the Institute of Forensic Psychiatry of Kosovo (IFPK), the Special Institute for Persons with Mental and Physical Disabilities (SIS), and the Prison Health Department (PHD) of the Ministry of Health were presented. The two assessment missions were carried out by the Council of Europe consultants in December 2022, and January 2023 respectively.

The event raised the awareness of the main decision-makers on the need to further improve and strengthen the institutional frameworks on the provision of mental healthcare by the above-mentioned institutions. Furthermore, it secured authorities’ support and commitment to the process, which covers legislative changes and amendments, including drafting the statutes for the IFPK and SIS, enabling for their greater independence and more efficient operation.

In addition to the heads of these three institutions, the roundtable was also attended by the Minister of Health, Mr. Arben Vitia, the Minister of Justice, Ms Albulena Haxhiu, the Prime Minister’s advisor on mental health, a Member of the Parliamentary Commission for Health and Social Welfare, the Head of the National Prevention Mechanism, as well as by the Kosovo Correctional Services, the Prison Inspectorate and the Kosovo Probation Services.

The activity 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* 27 April 2023