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Back Council of Europe continues to support penitentiary authorities in BiH in managed VEPs

The first Steering Committee (SC) meeting of the project “Support to the penitentiary system towards sustainable rehabilitation of violent extremist prisoners (VEPs) in Bosnia and Herzegovina” was held on 07 June 2021 in an online format, with the participation of representatives of the Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the Federation of BiH (FBiH) and Republika Srpska (RS) Ministries of Justice. 

The SC members reflected on the progress made under the previous project and welcomed the acceptance of the Strategic Guidelines for Management of VEPs in BiH and its Action Plan 2020–2025 by the BiH and RS Ministries of Justice and have further encouraged the FBiH Ministry of Justice in their efforts to ensure acceptance of this vitally important strategic document. The SC further noted the positive developments made by the BiH Ministry of Justice, which incorporated the VEP-specific rehabilitation tools and programmes, as developed under the previous project, into the legislative framework, thus making it a mandatory procedure in VEPs’ management in the State Prison.  

The participants were informed about the scope of the on-going project initiative, its objectives, main components, and approved its Work Plan until 31 December 2021. The SC members expressed satisfaction with the continuation of the CoE engagement in addressing prison radicalisation prevention and rehabilitation of VEPs, extending unequivocal support and commitment to the future plans in that regards.  

The project is funded under the Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2018 – 2021.

Bosnia and Herzegovina 7 June 2021
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project brief

On 01 May 2021 the Council of Europe initiated the implementation of an 8-months project entitled “Support to penitentiary system towards sustainable rehabilitation of violent extremist prisoners in Bosnia and Herzegovina”. The project is implemented in close cooperation with the three Ministries of Justice (Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federation of BiH, and Republika Srpska), and their respective partners from the entity and state penitentiary institutions.

The overall purpose of the project is to provide continued support to the authorities in BiH in their efforts to further build the capacities of the prison system and strengthen their skills with respect to managing violent extremist prisoners (VEPs). It will also ensure sustainability of the actions undertaken towards efficient reintegration of VEPs back in the community.

The previous Council of Europe projects[1] set the foundations and preconditions for structured case management of VEPs and inter-agency cooperation. The future key actions, supported under this proposal, will be focused on enhancement of the prison staff skills related to the multi-disciplinary approach in ensuring VEPs rehabilitation and preparation for release. This project will also aim to establish virtual education and training proficiency center, which will bring together the existing expertise and resources in order to sustain knowledge and skills attained in management of VEPs.

The main expected results of the project are:

  1. Enhancement of the unified application of the VEP-specific tools throughout the penitentiary systems in BiH, and
  2. Establishment of the BiH Penitentiary virtual Center of Excellence for preventing and countering violent extremism in prisons in a form of collaboration platform 

The project has an overall budget of 200,000 EUR and is financed under the Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2018–2021. 

 

[1] Voluntary contribution "Structured sentence management for violent and extremist prisoners", funded by UK Embassy and USAID (2018-2021) and “Supporting reintegration of violent and extremist prisoners in Bosnia and Herzegovina” , and voluntary contribution of the Government of the United Kingdom through the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2017-2018)