On 13 March 2020, the Working Group (WG) tasked with drafting the Strategic Policy Guidelines for Treatment of Violent and Extremist Prisoners (VEPs) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) for the period 2020–2025 held its Second Coordination Meeting at which it informed the wider professional community on the purpose of this policy document, its main goal and specific objectives.

The Strategic Policy document will further enhance the capacity of the prison service to provide a safe, humane and secure custody that guarantees protection of the human rights of VEPs and supports their rehabilitation. In order to facilitate its implementation, the Strategy will be accompanied by an Action Plan and a joint mechanism for monitoring will be established. The participants welcomed the introduction of such a document and highlighted that that efficient multiagency cooperation is a key precondition for VEPs’ successful reintegration back into the community.

representatives of Ministries of Justice of BiH, Federation of BiH and Republika Srpska in charge of execution of criminal sanctions, prison governors, representatives of law enforcement agencies, as well as chairs and deputy chairs of the BiH State, Federation BiH, Republika Srpska and Brcko District Coordination Bodies for monitoring of implementation of the Strategy for Prevention and Combating Terrorism (2015-2020) attended the meeting.

This activity has been organised as part of the project ''Structured Sentence Management for Violent and Extremist Prisoners in Bosnia and Herzegovina'', funded thanks to the generous contribution of the British Government and the USAID office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and implemented by the Council of Europe.