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.
European Prison Rules
