Enhancing the human rights protection for detained and sentenced persons in Serbia
The action “Enhancing the human rights protection for detained and sentenced persons in Serbia” assists authorities to further enhance protection of human rights of all persons deprived of liberty and implement recommendations of the Committee for Prevention of Torture (CPT). It works in the areas of police, prisons, mental health care institutions, and social care institutions.
This action is implemented within the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye" running from 2023 until 2026.
What are the goals and objectives of the action?
- better protection of human rights in police custody through improvement of operating procedures related to police custody and enhancing capacity of staff in charge of custody processes
- greater reintegration of offenders into society by strengthening capacities of Prison Administration staff to deliver specialised treatment and reintegration programmes
- improved treatment and protection of human rights of persons placed in psychiatric and residential social care institutions through capacity building of staff and proper implementation of deinstitutionalisation strategies
- better monitoring of protection of human rights of persons deprived of liberty by improving capacities of internal oversight and complaint bodies
Who benefits from the action?
- Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice - Department for Execution of Criminal Sanctions; Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs; Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, and Social Dialogue; Ombudsperson office/ National Preventive Mechanism
- persons deprived of liberty
How does the action work?
- through the interventions tailor-made to address national priorities and real needs as defined by beneficiaries
- the action builds on the best practices and results of co-operation under previous two phases of the programme: action “Enhancing human rights protection for detained and sentenced persons in Serbia” (2016 – 2019) and “Enhancing the human rights protection for detained and sentenced persons in Serbia – phase II” (2019 – 2022)
- by enabling the action partners to have active role in devising the action and its activities, as well as throughout the implementation process
What do we expect to achieve?
- better protection of human rights in police custody
- greater reintegration of offenders into society
- improved treatment and protection of human rights of persons placed in psychiatric and residential social care institutions
- better monitoring of protection of human rights of persons deprived of liberty
What is the budget of the action?
The total budget of the action is 1 000 000 EUR.
The budget allocated to the overall Horizontal Facility programme amounts to ca. 41 million EUR (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe).
How to get more information?
- Council of Europe: Co-operation in police and deprivation of liberty
- Horizontal Facility website and e-mail address
About Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye
The “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” is a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe that enables the Western Balkans Beneficiaries and Türkiye to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.
