Results of the human rights-based training programme on the overall treatment of persons deprived of liberty and provision of health care in closed environment received full endorsement by the senior policy makers at the 5th Steering Committee meeting of the Action ‘’Enhancing human rights for detained and sentenced persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina’’ under the EU/CoE Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey.

Assistant Ministers of Justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Assistant Ombudsman  for detainees’ rights welcomed the reported level of success with the improvement of knowledge and skills among the law enforcement staff attending training at their meeting on 30 January in Banja Luka. Evidence of the inclusion of the key documents produced under the Action in the annual training programme of the police agencies in BiH were particularly praised, demonstrating the local ownership and sustainability of the Action’s proceedings.

The Steering Committee instructed the project team to start implementation of the component on the training of staff in the Forensic Psychiatry Institution Sokolac, which accommodates offenders with diminished mental capacity. Activities aimed at assessing conditions for the introduction of information technologies in prisons foreseen under the extension of the Action were also discussed in broad terms, in light of their implementation planned in the near future.

The Action’s implementing partners agreed to adjust a few activities to better meet the needs of the beneficiaries, pertaining mostly to the on-going train the trainers initiative, planned study to a more developed European jurisdiction to exchange experiences on the provision of health care in custody, etc.

Members of the Steering Committee received thank-you certificates to mark their highly appreciated commitment and support in the implementation of the Action. The next meeting is scheduled to take place in late March 2018.