The Council of Europe HELP course on Radicalisation Prevention was launched for a group of 39 prison and probation officers from Austria on 22 March 2021. The event, organised jointly with the Austrian Ministry of Justice, was part of the EU-CoE project HELP Radicalisation Prevention, Judicial Response to Terrorism & International Cooperation in Criminal Matters.

The launch, held in German, was opened by General Director Mag. Friedrich Koenig, of the Austrian Ministry of Justice, and Eva Pastrana (Head of the CoE HELP Unit). They thanked participants for their time and interest in applying European standards (EU & CoE standards) on this very relevant topic. Mr. Koening mentioned the impact of COVID-19 on the work of prison professionals and the need to further learn about European instruments and guidelines on radicalisation prevention. The Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP) has also seen an increase of Austrian users in its e-learning platform in one year, from some 180 in 2020 to more than 500 in March 2021.

Participants were given an overview of the project and course and had the opportunity to hear from the guest speaker, Mr Torben Adams - Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer in the Returning FTFs Detention Programme, UNODC. Mr Adams talked about UN instruments related to radicalisation prevention and provided comparative statistics on German prisons. He highlighted the need to improve certain aspects of prison procedures, including: the necessary differentiation of prisoners, the cooperation between investigative and judicial authorities, prison planning, the design of care and treatment services in prison, preparation for release and subject-specific education and training.

The launch session also offered an opportunity for participants to meet the course tutor, Martin Hoffmann and to receive all the practical information about how to follow and successfully complete the HELP course.

Although these national/multinational course versions target selected groups, the HELP course on Radicalisation Prevention is available in six languages (English, French, German, Greece, Italian and Spanish), on the HELP e-learning platform, together with other HELP courses related to the project, namely: International Cooperation in Criminal Matters, Gathering and Use of Evidence in Counter-terrorism cases and Managing Foreign National Prisoners.

Those completing the HELP courses on the HELP e-learning platform can obtain and print an electronic ‘statement of accomplishment’.