Security and treatment staff from 14 prisons and officers from 20 court police units in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) were trained in two parallel peer training sessions on 6-7 February 2019 in Mostar to ensure human rights safeguards and purposeful regime in closed environment.

These peer training sessions were delivered by local prisons and law enforcement professionals that were accredited as trainers within the framework of the Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey (HF) Action - "Enhancing human rights protection for detained and sentenced persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina", co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe.

As a result, 49 court police and prison security officers gained skills to better apply human rights standards in the existing procedures for deprivation of liberty and treatment of apprehended persons. Also, 10 prison treatment officers are better skilled at implementing tailor made programmes to change offending behaviour of prisoners.

The law enforcement officers, both prison and police, were “grateful for this opportunity to learn from highly skilled and knowledgeable practitioners who are also experienced trainers and understand local practices. Of particular importance is that they can help us interpret CoE standards with respect to local circumstances’’.

The overall training programme was delivered based on the Guidelines for dealing with persons deprived of liberty and the Handbook on prisoner management, published earlier under the HF Action.

The emphasis in this comprehensive training programme is on the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) to BiH authorities.