Newsroom
OSCE Mission pledges to support Serbian Government's efforts to improve prison standards
BELGRADE 8 May 2003
BELGRADE, 8 May 2003 - The OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro pledged today to support the Serbian Government in its efforts to improve standards in prisons.
This pledge came in response to the recent delivery of a preliminary report to the Serbian Ministry of Justice, outlining recommendations drawn up after a two-day expert monitoring exercise on 14 and 15 April at Belgrade Central Police Station, Belgrade Central Prison and the city's Prison Hospital.
"The goal of the recommendations is to help the government and specifically the Serbian Ministry of Justice implement prison reform objectives in order to tackle the structural problems within prisons, in addition to specific problems that arose due to the state of emergency", said Ambassador Maurizio Massari, Head of the OSCE Mission.
"The OSCE Mission expects that the Ministry of Justice will be pro-active and consistent in implementation of the recommendations. For our part, the OSCE Mission certainly stands ready to assist the government implement the recommendations", Ambassador Massari added.
The monitoring exercise was conducted by the OSCE Mission and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, following an invitation by the Serbian government to the international community to monitor the situation in Serbian prisons under the state of emergency.
The OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro, through its prison reform unit, works in close co-operation with the government and the Serbian Ministry of Justice to ensure that standards in Serbian prisons live up to international standards. To this end, the OSCE Mission, with support from the Serbian Ministry of Justice, has worked in the past two years on a number of prison reform projects, including human rights training for prison guards, study visits abroad, prison accountability and oversight projects and expert workshops.
This pledge came in response to the recent delivery of a preliminary report to the Serbian Ministry of Justice, outlining recommendations drawn up after a two-day expert monitoring exercise on 14 and 15 April at Belgrade Central Police Station, Belgrade Central Prison and the city's Prison Hospital.
"The goal of the recommendations is to help the government and specifically the Serbian Ministry of Justice implement prison reform objectives in order to tackle the structural problems within prisons, in addition to specific problems that arose due to the state of emergency", said Ambassador Maurizio Massari, Head of the OSCE Mission.
"The OSCE Mission expects that the Ministry of Justice will be pro-active and consistent in implementation of the recommendations. For our part, the OSCE Mission certainly stands ready to assist the government implement the recommendations", Ambassador Massari added.
The monitoring exercise was conducted by the OSCE Mission and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, following an invitation by the Serbian government to the international community to monitor the situation in Serbian prisons under the state of emergency.
The OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro, through its prison reform unit, works in close co-operation with the government and the Serbian Ministry of Justice to ensure that standards in Serbian prisons live up to international standards. To this end, the OSCE Mission, with support from the Serbian Ministry of Justice, has worked in the past two years on a number of prison reform projects, including human rights training for prison guards, study visits abroad, prison accountability and oversight projects and expert workshops.