On 29 and 30 November 2022, representatives of the Ministries of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska (RS) and prison practitioners from prison establishments under their respective jurisdictions (BiH delegation) paid a visit to the Unit for combating violent radicalisation of the French Department of Prison Administration.

The participants increased their understanding of the legal and institutional framework of the French prison system, with focus on training of prison staff on radicalisation and rehabilitation programmes for violent extremist prisoners (VEPs). They also benefited by learning from the French experience in prison intelligence and the inter-agency coordination and cooperation with the local communities and civil society.

The BiH delegation also visited the Disengagement Prison Unit in Nancy, where the scope of the visit was focused on the organisational set-up and the functioning of the facility for purposes of accommodation and management of VEPs. This visit also provided the BiH delegation with an insight into good practices and lessons learnt with regards to rehabilitation interventions in prisons, pre-release plans and post-penal reintegration programmes. The BiH delegation also met with the representatives of the Disengagement Prison Unit of Rennes, which has rich experience in gender-based management of the female VEPs population.

The study visit was organised within the project "Ensuring Sustainable Penitentiary Actions in managing rehabilitation of violent extremist prisoners in Bosnia and Herzegovina (ESPA-VEP)", which is funded under the Council of Europe Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2022-2025.