The city of Toulouse, France, hosted a multilateral conference on the importance of training for prison staff on the phenomenon of radicalisation and violent extremism.
The conference was held in Toulouse on 16-17 October 2018 and it was organised by the Council of Europe with a generous contribution from the French Government.
The event brought together representatives of prison authorities and prison professionals, as well as prison staff trainers from about 20 Member States of the Council of Europe. Pedro das Neves, CEO of IPS Innovative Prison Systems, was present on behalf of the company.
Everyone agreed on the need to further develop training for prison officers on radicalisation, specifically on the identification of and dealing with of radicalised prisoners, and ensuring appropriate exit strategies.
The conference was based on the Council of Europe Guidance and Manual for prison and probation services dealing with radicalisation and violent extremism.
The meeting served as an excellent forum for the exchange of good practices on the topic, and the participants agreed on the need for tailor-made training for prison staff, based on the specific needs of their respective services, respecting the detainees’ human rights as well as the security standards in prisons.
The conclusions of the conference were adopted on the second day and they represent an important input for the future work of the Council of Europe on the training of prison staff.