On 30 September in Bucharest, the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Health of Romania, together with the Council of Europe, held a high-level meeting with representatives of diplomatic missions to Romania. Their Excellences and other representatives from the diplomatic missions from Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, contributing members to the Council of Europe Human Rights Trust Fund (HRTF) as well as from Estonia, France, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden took part in this event. Mr Radu Marinescu, Minister of Justice, Ms Stela Firu, State Secretary of Ministry of Health, Ms Ioana Morar, Deputy of the National Administration of Penitentiaries and Mr Gabriel Diaconu, honorary adviser to the Minister of Health hosted the event.
Since 2022, with the support of the Council of Europe Human Rights Trust Fund, the organisation, through its Cooperation in Police and Deprivation of Liberty Division, has been working closely with Romanian authorities on projects designed to improve conditions and uphold human rights standards in closed institutions. These efforts respond to the decisions of the Committee of Ministers, findings of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as well as recommendations of the Council of Europe consultants.
Representatives of diplomatic missions expressed strong interest in the Romania’s progress in tackling key human rights challenges within closed institutions, particularly the penitentiary system and psychiatric care and raised forward-looking questions regarding future plans to sustain progress in these areas.
The National Administration of Penitentiaries, Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Health took this opportunity and shared concrete results achieved in recent years, especially in the context of reform efforts aimed at implementing key judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and how the Council of Europe’s assistance contributed to the execution of these judgments. Topics addressed included access to healthcare, including mental health care, prison overcrowding, and broader systemic improvements. Strategic documents developed with Council of Europe assistance were underlined as key milestones - such as a strategy and action plan on attracting more medical staff in the prison system, as well as the strategy on mental health care. Future needs for completing the prison reform were also presented by the authorities.
The meeting confirmed continued international support for Romania’s reform agenda and the shared commitment to improving the protection of human rights in places of detention.