The Council of Europe continues to play a proactive role in promoting its values and standards and ensuring adherence to, and protection of, human rights of prisoners and persons in closed institutions at the highest level.

It is in this context that, on 23 February 2024, the Special Institution for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Persons with Mental and Physical Disabilities in Shtime/Stimlje (SIS), and the Institute of Forensic Psychiatry of Kosovo (IFPK) received the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) developed under the auspices of the “Improvement of the treatment of persons deprived of liberty” Project. The SOPs in question follow in the steps of similar achievements realized recently with the Prison Health Department of the Ministry of Health of Kosovo, in the development of their updated SOPs. 

The new SOPs were developed in a very inclusive and transparent manner, facilitated by Council of Europe subject matter experts, over a period of several months, a process in which other experts and monitors from different agencies and organizations also actively participated.

The SIS and IFPK now have key documents that will not only guide them in their daily work, but at the same time will help ensure consistency, safety, efficiency and quality in the provision of crucial services to some of the most vulnerable populations of the society.

The Council of Europe is committed to supporting the Kosovo* authorities in strengthening the protection of rights of convicted persons, with a specific focus on the provision of healthcare in prisons, as well as the rights of patients subject to mandatory psychiatric hospitalisation, and persons with mental disabilities placed in special social welfare institutions, in line with its standards and European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) requirements.

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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.