Back North Macedonia’s senior prison management discusses the necessary interventions following the latest report of the Council of Europe Committee against torture

North Macedonia’s senior prison management discusses the necessary interventions following the latest report of the Council of Europe Committee against torture

Prison governors and the management of the Directorate for the Execution of Sanctions (DES) of the Ministry of Justice, alongside with senior officials of the Ministry of Health and the Ombudsman’s Office, met on 12 July 2021 in Skopje, to discuss the upcoming steps in addressing the key challenges of the country’s penitentiary system.

 

In May, the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) published the report on its 5th periodic visit to North Macedonia. Highlighting the longstanding structural deficiencies, the report took note of certain positive measures, but overall remains critical of the persistent failure of the authorities in addressing certain fundamental shortcomings of the prison system.

 

Addressing the CPT recommendations is seen by all stakeholders as matter of priority and there is a wide consensus on the planned interventions, both at central and prison level. The roundtable was an opportunity to have an open discussion, looking into comparative experiences in prison managers’ role in addressing prisons’ shortcomings, as well as into the specific actions that shall be taken under the National Strategy on the Development of the Penitentiary System (2021-2025), which is expected to be adopted by the Government in the upcoming weeks.

 

This hybrid activity was organised under the Action “Enhancing the capacities of the penitentiary system and the external oversight mechanism in North Macedonia”, co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe within the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022” and implemented by the Council of Europe.

North Macedonia 13 July
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