The Head of the Council of Europe Office (CoE) in Ukraine and Acting Director of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) met today at SBI central office to discuss cooperation achievements, deliberate on further partnership plans and complete equipment handover from CoE to SBI through signing of the appropriate agreement.

The handover of equipment is a part of the support by the CoE within the project: “Supporting Institutions to Combat Ill-Treatment in Ukraine” (Project). The equipment is part of the Project’s component that is designed to help SBI set up its staff training system in line with best European standards.

The following joint achievements in the implementation of the Project were highlighted during the meeting:

• development of “Standards of SBI Staff Initial and In-Service Training”
• set up and filling with content of online training platform for SBI staff
• training for some more than 200 SBI investigators on ill-treatment investigation, human rights protection, and non-discrimination

“Standards-driven initial and in-service staff training is a key to successful implementation of the very important mission that lies with the State Bureau of Investigation. Such training implies a unified approach to conducting the SBI’s investigative functions based on best European standards in the field, including appropriate human rights standards. The CoE welcomes SBI’s willingness to cooperate and desire to develop in this direction. Today we hand over IT equipment that will support the process of SBI staff training – be it online or face-to-face. The CoE Office also stands ready to further support SBI as our strategic partner in assisting Ukraine combat ill-treatment by law-enforcers and other state agents as a systemic problem”, said Steen Nørlov, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine

“We value our fruitful cooperation and support from the CoE that is very sustainable, targeted and responsive to real needs of our institution. All of it is evidence based, driven by needs assessments and expert analyses. That is why we have always so far achieved what was planned within our partnership. We are grateful for the equipment that will duly complement quality expertise provided by the CoE on regular basis”, said Oleksiy Sukhachov, Acting Director of the SBI.

Further steps till the end of 2021 under respective thematic framework of the Project imply development of training courses for SBI staff, with subsequent training of trainers and course piloting. The CoE will continue to support functioning and development of SBI online training platform.