The thematic report titled “The Current State of Human Rights of Perpetrators of Offences with an
Emphasis on the Resocialization of Prisoners” is the result of research which the Human Rights House
Zagreb undertook in terms of the project “Moto#R – Motivation and Empowerment for Resocialization”
in the period from July – December 2020. The aim of the thematic research is to facilitate a better
understanding of resocialization and the effects of resocialization on preparing prisoners for freedom
after prison, not just at a normative level but also in practice, as well as addressing challenges and
obstacles that prisoners and relevant state bodies encounter in implementing resocialization. The
research also endeavored to identify good practices in implementing resocialization of prisoners with
the aim of conducting an analysis and drafting recommendations for improving existing practices.
To get an overall insight into the current state of human rights of perpetrators of offenses with an
emphasis on their resocialization, the research was conducted in three phases. The first phase of the
research covered an overview and analysis of the existing legal framework relating to resocialization
of prisoners, their rights, obligations and opportunities within the prison system. The second phase
of the research involved developing interview protocols, mapping relevant stakeholders involved in
implementing the resocialization of prisoners. The third phase required conducting 18 semi-structured
interviews with seven bodies of the criminal justice system, four public authorities (Ministry of Justice
and Public Administration as well as social welfare centers), two independent institutions and five civil
society organizations working on facilitating the resocialization of prisoners and their families.
