UNMIK/PR/1364
PRISTINA – Operational control of the Pristina/Prishtine and Gjilan/Gnjilane Detention Centres was handed over to Kosovo Prison Directors in a ceremony held at UNMIK Mission Headquarters in Pristina this morning. The DSRSG for the Police and Justice Pillar, Jean Dussourd, presided over the handover ceremony.
Prison Director Sokol Zogaj assumed charge of the Pristina Detention Centre, while the Gnjilane Detention Centre came under Prison Director Kujtim Zylfiu. Congratulating the two new Prison Directors and the entire Kosovo Correctional Service (KCS) staff on this accomplishment, DSRSG Dussourd said, “Today’s handover is a new recognition that the service has come a long way to achieving the required standards.”
Today’s handover follows the transfer February this year of responsibilities for the Prizren and Peja/Pec Detention Centres to KCS Prison Directors. The KCS Prison Directors will now be responsible for the complete management of four Detention Centres.
The DSRSG called on the KCS staff to make prisons institutions for adding values to people. Mr. Dussourd said, “The centrality of penal management to the establishment of an effective criminal justice system cannot be overstressed. As the final port of call in the course of justice – whereas the police apprehend and prosecute, and the judiciary adjudicates and punishes – the correctional system must assist in the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration as equal and responsible members of society.”
“In Kosovo, the penal management system had to be built virtually from scratch, both in terms of infrastructure and staffing. Substantial reforms were also required in the legal framework to make it consistent with international prison standards,” the DSRSG said, adding, “The Penal Management Division has been able to restore each detention centre to an operational level and has improved security standards.”
According to the transitional plan of the Penal Management Division, by the end of this year, all 7 detention facilities are scheduled for handover to the Kosovo Correctional Service. The KCS currently has 1649 staff including 297 females, 1402 Kosovo Albanians, 192 Kosovo Serbs and 55 from other ethnic groups. The staff strength is expected to reach 1875 by the end of the year.
Among those who attended today’s handover ceremony were the Director of Justice Mr. Thomas Monaghan, President of the Supreme Court of Kosovo Mr. Rexhep Haxhimusa and the Head of Penal Management Division Mr. William Irvine.