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was addressed a recommendation to, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, within
their legal competences, ensure the funds and required technical equipment for audio and
visual recording of hearing processes. However, this recommendation has still not been
acted upon.
The position of detainees remained almost unchanged compared to the previous period.
There is still a public perception of having the detention measure easily pursued and often
accompanied with the violating the principle of the presumption of innocence, that in certain
cases the detention represents a punishment before judgement. Despite of NPM’s recommendations to the institutions to ensure living room space for detainees and find a way to engage
them in work, they continue to spend the most of the day locked in their dormitories, without
any purposeful activities organized.
NPM, the same as in previous reports, points to the issue of having the detained women kept
in solitary confinement for an unacceptably long period due to a relatively small number of
women in one detention unit. Although the system for the execution of criminal sanctions
perceives the isolation /solitary confinement as special and/or disciplinary measure strictly
limited in time, in practice, for certain female detainees this is the regular measure taken
against them, which indicates the negative aspect of women detention system.
During the reporting period, the material conditions have been improved in certain institutions for the enforcement of criminal sanctions. However, three institutions were found to be
completely unusable and their refurbishment in accordance with the standards impracticable
and therefore, recommendations were addressed to close them and/or to have them moved
elsewhere (the district courts in Smederevo and Subotica and Vršac Section of the District
Prison in Pančevo).
According to the recommendations of NPM to ensure the prevention of abuse, following the
coercive measures against prisoners, the prison doctors enter in their reports on completed
checkups, specifying the statements of persons about the manner in which the injuries were
inflicted and their opinion about the connection between the coercive measures applied and
the injuries, as their legal obligation. In addition to the afore mentioned, acting in line with
the recommendations, the institutions have established the Record of Injuries of persons
deprived of their liberty, including the practice of making photographs of injuries, while the
non-medical staff ceased to attend the medical checkups of the prisoners.
Providing of medical care in institutions is still under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice – Administration for Enforcement of Criminal Sanctions. This is not in accordance with the
international best practice and deprives the doctors of their independence, first of all in creating assumptions for determining the cases of torture.
In the reporting period, acting upon recommendations of NPM, the Ministry of Health
initiated the regular professional oversight over the work of health services within the
institutions.
The shortcoming pointed to by the NPM that is still present, was that the principle of common
enforcement of sanction is not achieved. Specifically, during the day, a large number of convicts do not spend time with other convicts in common occupancies, but instead, they are
isolated in the cells all the time (either alone or in small groups).