27 The NPM had established an extensive cooperation with UNHCR offices and associations such as Belgrade Centre for Human Rights and Group 484, aiming to improve the treatment of asylum seekers. Their joint indication of a number of flaws in the conduct of the competent authorities and protection of the rights of asylum seekers resulted in formation of the Project Group of the Ministry of Interior for improving the treatment of asylum seekers, or drafting the new Law on Asylum. 5.8. Promotion of the NPM and prevention of torture With the aim to promote and protect the rights of persons deprived of their liberty and to prevent torture, representatives of the NPM participated in numerous conferences, round tables and workshops in the course of 2013. Representatives of the NPM also gave a number of interviews and statements through media pertaining to the occurrence of abuse in the Republic of Serbia and to the actual necessity of prevention on this subject. A public hearing was held on the UN International Day in support of victims of torture, on 26 June at the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia at which the Annual report on the NPM performance of duties for 2012 was presented. In December 2013 and in cooperation with the OSCE Mission to Serbia, the NPM organized a round-table on “Prevention and punishment for torture”, which was attended by representatives of the expert community. The round-table was focused on the challenges and issues that the Republic of Serbia faces in the prevention of torture and punishment for a criminal offense of ill-treatment. The report on visit to the Penal-correctional Institution in Sremska Mitrovica84 was published and the same was sent to the institutions for execution of criminal sanctions and other relevant institutions. The NPM website (http://npm.rs) in Serbian and English are regularly updated with news, reports on visits and responses from authorities on the treatment recommendations, as well as other activities of the NPM in Serbia. In order to promote the prevention of torture, representatives of the NPM had held several lectures to students of the Law Faculty, the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation, as well as lecturing at the Doctors Chamber Kragujevac. 5.9. Cooperation with the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture During 2013, the NPM Serbia realized cooperation with the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture85. Member of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, Mari Amos, as a guest of the NPM Serbia, participated in a meeting in Belgrade in which the NPM network of the South Eastern Europe countries was established. In September 2013, the NPM provided the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture with the Report on the NPM performance of duties for 2012 in the English language. The NPM also provided detailed answers to the questions the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture referred to in the letter sent in December 2013. 84 The NPM report on the visit to Penal Correctional Institution Sremska Mitrovica, No. 71-161/12. 85 The Subcommittee for Prevention of Torture Guidelines, items 39 and 40, on the Subcommittee website http://www2.ohchr.org/english/ bodies/cat/opcat/docs/SPT_Guidelines_NPM_en.doc.