UNMIK/PR/1659 - UNMIK Countdown #16
PRISTINA – Since its establishment in 1999, the Kosovo Correctional Service (KCS) has been transformed from an internationally run service with severely damaged facilities to one administered entirely by Kosovo staff that is capable of incarcerating prisoners in accordance with international standards. UNMIK officers retain oversight over a small number of functions.
The KCS inherited the bomb damaged prison at Dubrava and dilapidated facilities in Dubrava, Peja, Prizren, Pristina, Mitrovica, Gjilan and Lipjan. Implemented in 2000, an aggressive refurbishment plan has restored and modernized all prison facilities.
Considering the lack of professional prison managers in Kosovo in 1999, the greatest success of the UNMIK Penal Management Division (PMD) transition plan has been the development of KCS personnel. With aggressive recruitment and training supported by various governmental institutions and non-governmental agencies, the KCS now boasts a staff of 1,591, comprised of 1,230 correctional staff and 361 civilians, and has only 19 vacancies.
The transition plan also targeted all communities for inclusion in the Correctional Service. Today 14 per cent of the ethnically integrated staff is made up of minorities and over 17 per cent of the staff is female. The number of international staff has been reduced to 13 from a peak of 75 in 2003. There are 1,381 prisoners/detainees, including 36 adult females; 34 male juveniles and 1 female juvenile.
The Correctional Service has also initiated many modern features. A mother-and-baby-care unit at Lipjan Correctional Centre permits female prisoners to stay with their babies for a period of up to 12 months following the birth of the child. A Conditional Release Commission, established in October 2002, has received 814 applications of which 326 were successful and 79 are currently under consideration.
In December 2003, PMD initiated the Probation and Parole Service of Kosovo, which was the first of its kind in the Balkans and is now considered a model of excellence for other Balkan countries. The Probation Service of Kosovo provides a service that permits courts to deal with some offenders by offering alternative sanctions rather than sending them to prison. PMD also initiated a Vocational Training Scheme at Dubrava Prison and Lipjan Correctional Centre in newly built workshops. Education opportunities were introduced for prisoners at both facilities. PMD also developed and oversaw a Prisoners Home Leave system.
The KCS medical services, which currently has 19 doctors and 72 nurses, provides 24-hour medical coverage. Dubrava Prison has a fully equipped hospital with Kosovo doctors and nurses who are advised and monitored by an international doctor and an international psychiatrist.
In March 2002, the PMD successfully transferred a total of 157 Kosovo Albanian prisoners from Serbian prisons to Kosovo. The transfer was hailed as a major breakthrough in relations between UNMIK and Serbian authorities.
The functions still overseen by international staff are the conditional release systems, the classification and locations of high-risk prisoners and detainees, and the Prisoners Private Cash/Prison Canteen system. PMD also retains an intervention role in the event of a major incident at Dubrava Prison, the largest prison facility in Kosovo.
