On 16-19 May, the Council of Europe organised a training for trainers on the prevention of ill treatment of prisoners in Podgorica, Montenegro. The training helped to upgrade the knowledge of ten selected prison staff members on modern prison management approaches and practical application of European human rights standards as well as to enhance their presentation skills.

The 4-day programme was designed to cover the training needs of the prison system in Montenegro, as assessed in a Council of Europe expert mission in February 2017. It encompasses various topics such as improving prison staff’s interpersonal communication skills, managing difficult prisoners, understanding and application of dynamic security and pro-social modeling, use of force and other means of restraint, recording use of force and preventing violence between prisoners.

As a result of the training, the participants are equipped with the necessary skills to disseminate their knowledge to their peers through future training session, contributing to enhanced respect of prisoners’ rights and reduced incidents of ill-treatment in Montenegro.

The Action, that is co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe, started on 1 October 2016 and will finish on 30 September 2017, with overall budget of 300.000 €.