internal investigation functions. However, ensuring the culture of accountability through other areas of the Mission’s involvement remained an important task, as accountability enhances transparency and builds public confidence and trust in the police. On 18 February, the Mission, in co-operation with the MoI’s Internal Affairs Division and the Uniformed Police Directorate, organized the official launch of the Instructions on Handling of Persons in Police Custody and Detainees. The event gathered representatives of the Police Service, the Ombudsman’s Office, civil society, the international community and the media. The State Secretary of the MoI and the Deputy Head of the Mission addressed participants at the opening of the event. The custody instructions manual was developed in co-operation with the MoI, outlining the policies and procedures for the safe handling and custody of pretrial detainees, thus contributing to the protection of human rights and a safer environment for officers assigned to this duty. It was the first manual of this kind in the region. The Mission funded the printing of 4,000 copies of the document in both English and Serbian (Latin and Cyrillic alphabet) which were distributed to participants and to police officers throughout Serbia. It was foreseen that the Mission would print the manual also in minority languages and monitor its implementation. From 15-17 October, the Mission supported the organization of a ToT workshop on “Custody Management” to promote the use of the Instructions on Handling of Persons in Police Custody and Detainees by police officers across Serbia. The workshop was held in Sremska Kamenica for a group of 12 senior officers who would, at a later stage, train a wider group of trainers - about 200 in total - across the police service. Expertise of two custody experts from Slovenia was used during the workshop, at the request of the Serbian side, because the trainers needed a perspective on custody procedures applied in a country from the region that has undergone European integration process. Furthermore, the Mission facilitated a presentation of the Serbian Deputy Ombudsman on the role and work of the Ombudsman’s Office with regard to handling of persons in police custody. Workshop participants found his insights particularly beneficial. The presentation was followed by a fruitful discussion on the challenges police custody officers face in Serbia due to yet unaligned legal regulations and the application of the recently adopted Instructions manual. They also discussed possible solutions to overcome this identified gap. The Mission planned to continue supporting the Serbian police to develop their capacities in this regard. From 13-20 November, the Mission supported the continuation of cascading of the ToT courses for police custody officers. Two new groups of trainers representing seven regional police districts were trained in Belgrade. There were 36 trainees in total. They were going to be responsible for training other colleagues in their uniform police departments who deal with detainees in their daily work. The last ToT courses for police custody officers took place from 2-4 and 5-7 December in Mitrovo Polje. Since 2010, the Mission has been actively assisting the MoI in developing a handbook on police ethics and to incorporate ethics training into the MoI’s in-service training programme. On 12 March, the Mission supported the MoI in organizing the first mock training on “Police Ethics”. The event gathered seven participants who delivered lessons and presented lesson plans to test the practicality and relevance of the content of the ethics handbook. Once the feedback was collected and the draft finalized, the handbook was approved by the Minister of Interior in September. On 18 November, the MoI with the Mission’s support officially presented the handbook Police Ethics – for preserving personal and professional integrity in Belgrade. The event gathered police managers from the 27 police districts, managers from the Ministry’s headquarters and media representatives in order to promote and announce the ethics handbook as a key tool that was going to be used in ethics training from 2014 onwards. The event was used to stress the importance of internal organizational support and commitment to upholding high ethical standards across the police service. 86