In a high-level meeting, senior officials working on prison reform discussed the way forward to address the key challenges stemming from the main findings of the European Committee against Torture (CPT) 2023 report on North Macedonia. The event was attended by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Dajancho Eftimov, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Bleta Rama, the Acting Director General responsible for prisons, Aleksandar Pandov, senior prison officials, representatives of the relevant line ministries, the Ombudsman’s office and the Public Prosecutors’ office, civil society organisations and international organisations working in the field. The Council of Europe was represented by the President of the CPT, Alan Mitchell, the Vice-Governor of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), Tomáš Boček, and the Co-operation in Police and Deprivation of Liberty Division (CPDL).
The meeting tackled the key aspects and related interventions to take place that stem from the main findings of the recent CPT visit report published on 15 May 2024, as well the response of the authorities published on 4 October 2024.
The report reiterated the longstanding structural deficiencies regarding Idrizovo prison, highlighting physical ill-treatment by staff and prolonged isolation of challenging prisoners, high levels of inter-prisoner violence, and unhygienic and unsafe conditions. A severe overcrowding in the closed regime sections exacerbates these problems. Moreover, the report notes that health care provision in prisons remains inadequate due to insufficient staffing, poor medical screening of newly admitted prisoners and improper management of inmates with substance use disorders, therefore the Ministry of Health needs to show greater leadership in addressing these deficiencies.
“Prisons are complex institutions which require professional managers and adequately trained staff in sufficient numbers to run them, and we hope that some improvements will be made in that regard” said the Executive Secretary of CPT, Hugh Chetwynd. He also stressed the need to improve the working conditions of the prison staff.
The President of the CPT, Alan Mitchell highlighted the importance of provision of effective healthcare in prisons and addressing the widespread corruption, as well as improving the material conditions. “In order to effectively prevent ill treatment, North Macedonia has a duty to ensure that all persons in prison are treated with dignity and provided with decent living conditions.”
CEB Vice-Governor Tomáš Boček brought up the effective implementation of the loan agreement between the CEB and the Government of North Macedonia for the rebuilding of the Idrizovo prison, including the construction of a pre-trial detention facility. “We encourage the authorities of North Macedonia to address the outstanding issues with respect to penitentiary institutions, particularly the Idrizovo Prison,” he said.
“The Council of Europe, supported by the European Union, has so far invested significant amount of resources and expertise in supporting the authorities on their prison reform path, and remains committed to devising and implementing further measures aimed at supporting the reintegration of prisoners into the community, while improving the overall effectiveness and humaneness of the prison systems,” said Donche Boshkovski, Head of Unit II of CPDL.
Certain positive measures, such as the functioning of the External Oversight Mechanism over the work of the police, including prison police, and improvements that have been made at Skopje, Štip and Prilep Prisons, notably in respect of ensuring a minimum level of hygiene and state of repair in cells, were noted in the CPT report and highlighted during the discussion.
The roundtable was an opportunity to have an open discussion, looking into comparative experiences on dealing with the above-mentioned issues, as well as into the specific actions that should be taken promptly by the authorities.
The round-table was conducted in the framework of the joint European Union and Council of Europe programme ”Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye ” and its action “Strengthening the capacities of the penitentiary system in North Macedonia”.
