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 Procedures for forensic patients and persons with mental and physical disabilities in Kosovo*

@ Council of Europe

The first meeting of the working group (WG) on revising the working procedures of the Institute for Forensic Psychiatry of Kosovo (IFPK) and the Special Institute for Persons with Mental and Physical Disabilities (SIS) took place on 18-20 April 2023 in Istog/Istok in Kosovo. It followed the recommendations of an assessment mission carried out by the Council of Europe consultants in January 2022.

The WG focused on revising existing and developing new rehabilitation and reintegration tools and programmes for both institutions, including guidelines and manuals on psycho-social treatment, at the same time incorporating standards on strengthening the safeguards against ill treatment. Furthermore, the two institutions identified other pressing needs, such as the development of Standard Operating Procedures, which development shall be also addressed by this WG in the upcoming period.

The WG was attended by 40 participants coming from IFPK, SIS, the Prison Health Department (PHD), Kosovo Correctional Services (KCS), National Prevention Mechanism (NPM), Psychiatry Clinic of the University Clinic Centre, as well as the civil society. The participation of the Deputy Minister of Health, Head of the PHD, Acting Director General of the KCS, as well as the Head of the NPM, and the Director of the Psychiatry Clinic of the University Clinic Centre at the meeting confirmed the local authorities’ commitment to improving provision of the mental healthcare in Kosovo.

The activity was organized under the auspices of the Council of Europe project “Improvement of the treatment of persons deprived of liberty”.

* 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* 24 April 2023