The Conference entitled "Prison management in BiH, the way ahead", organised by the European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (CoE) was held in Sarajevo on 21.09.10. This event marked the successful implementation of the joint EU and CoE programme in reform of prison system in BiH worth 788,000 EUR of which 600,000 was financed by the EU.

Boris Iarochevitch, Charge D Affaires of Delegation of the European Union to BiH stated in his address at the conference: "One of fundamental principles of the EU is the respect for human rights, regardless of citizens social or legal status or physical predicament. In providing training on human rights, this joint programme has sought to enhance both the awareness of the responsible officials of the obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina as signatory of international agreements in this area, but also of the importance of proper day to day treatment of prisoners and detainees, including  vulnerable categories. Efficient prison management also plays an important role in the correct and complete execution of criminal law, not only for current member states of the European Union, but also for countries which wish to join. Therefore, I cannot stress enough the importance of continuous and direct reform of prison systems and their management in BiH, and the need for political will and consistent leadership in this area."

The six different objectives that were undertaken during the joint programme were presented at the conference. The objective to increase the use of alternative sanctions resulted in the strategic document "Framework directions for possible introduction of sanctions and measures in the BiH". Regarding the objective to improve capacities on human rights, over 225 prison staff were trained and a training manual was finalised.

Another objective of the programme was the improvement of situation for vulnerable and high risk categories of prison population for which a working group was established and guidelines for the treatment of female prisonerss, drug misusers, sex offenders and high risk prisoners produced. Furthermore, training on treatment of such vulnerable categories was also provided to 63 prison staff, including managers, security and treatment staff.

The project team, CoE and working group for legal issues adopted a proposal of changes and amendments of Law on protection of persons with mental impairments in the Federation of BiH, and the Law on the protection of persons with mental disabilities in Republika Srpska. Regarding the objective to Integral information system is now available in all prisons throughout BiH as well as basic guidelines for improvement of independent prison inspection.

Overall, 420 prison managers and related staff were trained under the joint programme.

Asked by the reporters to compare the situation in BiH prisons now, after the implementation of this project, in relation to European standards, Caroline Ravaud, Special Representative of Secretary General, answered: "the situation in BiH still has to make progress. Some prisons in this country are very dangerous not only for prisoners but for the staff working in them. Of course a lot of work needs to be done on the issues of overcrowded prison population, juvenile delinquents prisons and persons with mental and other special needs. This project is at least a few steps ahead". 

The results achieved within the Joint programme of "Efficient prisons management" enabled domestic policy creators, primarily Ministries of Justice at all levels to further improve prison systems thus helping Bosnia and Herzegovina to fulfil some of the obligations undertaken in international Agreements.

"Persons with up to one year prison sentence providing that they have court agreement can purchase their prison sentence by paying 100 KM instead of serving for one day and they are free to go. Unfortunately that is the fault of the Law", says Romeo Zelenika, Director of Mostar prison. "Federation has increased its prison capacities which still is not enough. We feel that the improvement will occur with the implementation of so called Electronic prison rather GPS bracelets for monitoring of prisoners", Zelenika adds. 

Participants of the conference claim that when it comes to Law on Gender Equality and respect of female prisoners rights, one thing is certain, so far the only female prison for entire BiH is in Tuzla and all conditions in it are according to European standards.

Bosko Djukic, Assistant to RS Minister of Justice, stated among other things that he is pleased with this 18 month project and that he believes that its implementation will be sustainable since participation of international expert consultants was accompanied by BiH prison experts and other domestic professionals. This further strengthens the BiH capacities in the rule of law area that is of the crucial importance for integration of our country into the European Union. Project directly influences the implementation of aspects of Strategy for reform of justice sector in BiH.