INSTITUTION OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only country that is not a member of the Network of National
Preventive Mechanisms of the countries of South-East Europe 243, but its representatives are
regularly invited to the meetings of this Network 244 in order for the Institution to prepare to assume
this mandate once the amendments to the Law on Human Rights Ombudsman are adopted.
7.2. Monitoring of the rights of persons deprived from liberty
Within the Institution, operates its Department for Monitoring the Exercise of the Rights of Persons
Deprived of Liberty, which processes complaints and acts ex officio initiating investigations in all
cases related to possible violation of the rights of persons deprived of liberty, irrespective of
whether those persons were in a penitentiary institution (prison or detention facility), or in another
institution where the freedom of movement is restricted (police stations, educational or
disciplinary centers for minors, immigration centers, nursing homes, centers for asylum seekers,
psychiatric institutions, etc.).
In the reporting period, this Department received 129 complaints, which is a decrease of 10.42%
compared to 2018. 110 complaints were received at the Regional Office in Sarajevo, and 18
complaints at the Central Office of the Institution in Banja Luka. Analyzing the structure of the
submitted complaints, it is evident that the largest number refers to dissatisfaction with the quality
of health care provided in these institutions, denial of out-of-prison benefits, transfer to another
institution, use of parole, unsatisfactory conditions of accommodation and treatment in institutions.
misconduct by staff or violence by other prisoners, visits by family members, resolution of status
issues, etc. A number of complaints also related to the review of court proceedings and final court
decisions, but the Ombudsmen in this case inform complainants that in such cases they cannot act
because, according to the law, they cannot interfere with or influence court decisions. 245
In 2019 in the framework of processing complaints and also on its own initiative, representatives
of the Ombudsman visited the following penitentiary institutions: Foča Prison 246, Trebinje
243
Because the National Preventive Mechanism/ Preventive mechanism has not been established yet
The meeting of the representatives of the NPM network of Southeast European countries held in Skopje on 11 and
12 June 2019, on the topic "NPM policy on reprisals", was attended by the head of the Department for Exercise of the
Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty Vedrana Pavlović and Expert Advisor Vanja Dandić Burić. In addition to
representatives of the NPM network, representatives of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (CPT) were
present; Meeting of the representatives of the NPM network of Southeast European countries in Skopje, 2-3 October
2019 on the topic "Specific needs of minors in detention", was attended by the Head of the Department for the Exercise
of the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty Vedrana Pavlović
245
Law on Human Rights Ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 19/2002, 35/2004
and 32/2006), Article 4 paragraph 2) reads: „ An Ombudsman shall not interfere with the adjudicative functions of a
court..“
246
Ombudsperson Ljubinko Mitrović and Head of the Department for the Exercise of the Rights of Persons Deprived
of Liberty Vedrana Pavlović visited the Foča Prison on 06 March 2019
244
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