news

Back Strengthening prison staff capacities in prevention of prison radicalisation and management of violent extremist prisoners in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Strengthening prison staff capacities in prevention of prison radicalisation and management of violent extremist prisoners in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Council of Europe continues to support the penitentiary institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) by enhancing prison staff capacities related to preventing prison radicalisation and management of violent and extremist prisoners (VEPs).

On 24 and 25 March 2022, a 2-day advanced Training of Trainers session for 15 prison practitioners coming from 10 BiH entity penitentiary institutions was held at Igman. The training focused on the application of the VEP-specific screening tool, risk and needs assessment instrument and the rehabilitation programme, which resulted in increased self-confidence of the trainees, better understanding of the concepts and improved knowledge and skills relevant to their daily work with the VEPs.

The peer-to-peer training was organised in close cooperation with the three Ministries of Justice in BiH and delivered by certified local trainers coming from within the system.

This activity is part of the project "Support to the Penitentiary System Towards Sustainable Rehabilitation of Violent Extremist Prisoners (VEPs) in Bosnia and Herzegovina", funded by the Council of Europe.

Igman 24-25 March 2022
  • Diminuer la taille du texte
  • Augmenter la taille du texte
  • Imprimer la page
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)