8 Detention facilities in the police stations are generally in poor conditions, in relation to which the NPM in recent years has sent recommendations to discontinue police custody in more than 10 police stations. It is of great concern that upon verifying several cases of torture during police custody, as a part of the Ombudsman’s reactive work on complaints, the Department of Internal Control did not recognise these cases, nor did conduct an investigation, or when implemented were unproductive. Despite the recommendations of the NPM, the existing document Guidelines of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the treatment of detained persons has not yet been improved, so that according to its terms, which are not compatible with current standards, police officers usually attend the medical examination of detained persons and generally handcuff detainees during their transport. Judiciary reforms that have so far taken place in the Republic of Serbia did not lead to more efficient performance of duties within the courts in relation to the detention matters. In addition, it seems that the detention measures are often easily pronounced, with inappropriately prolonged period of time, and that courts rarely define measures such as guarantees, which are effective alternatives to detention. Circumstances around the execution of the measures of detention, violation of the presumption of innocence of detainees, as well as requirements for the execution of these measures, in many cases, represent a kind of punishment prior to conviction.4 Detention units are generally overcrowded, so that some detainees are not allowed space in the dormitories for at least eight cubic yards and four square meters. Some individuals were found sleeping on the triple bunk beds5, which undermines the idea of ​​having a separate bed. Certain units for detention are in extremely poor condition, rundown and dirty. Inadequate supply of fresh air especially aggravates the position of non-smokers placed in the same areas with smokers. Some areas receive almost no natural light whereas artificial lighting is reduced to a minimum. The efforts aimed at improving accommodation capacities for detainees are encouraging given that in the course of 2013 numerous adaptations and reconstructions of accommodation facilities did take place. The problem of the system for enforcement of detention measures in Serbia is that detainees are mostly locked in a cell / dormitory the whole day. As a rule, the detainees are not given time during the day to spend outside the cell or in the common areas with other detainees to whom they are not prohibited to be in contact with by a court decision. In most cases, detainees are not allowed to be engaged in prison labor, or involved in social and cultural activities. Also, there are no conditions for physical activity, especially during inclement weather. It is noted that when accommodating detainees who have not been previously convicted, they tend to be placed in the same dormitory with detainees convicted more than once and also not enough attention is paid to the deployment of detainees depending on the type of the offense with which they were charged.6 Women who have been ordered custody are placed in detention units in prisons throughout Serbia. A relatively small number of all women placed in a detention unit were practically in isolation during the execution of the detention measures, often and unacceptably for a prolonged period of time. While in the system for enforcement of criminal sanctions, segregation / solitary confinement represents a special or a disciplinary measure, which is strictly limited in the current practice, it is for certain female detainees a regular manner of execution of the detention measure, which speaks volumes about the negative aspect of the system for detention of women. It is promising that after numerous complaints of detainees in the District Prison in Belgrade, special areas were set up for conjugal visits, children and other close relatives. In addition, by a decision of a competent court, a detainee, serving custodial sentence for more than five years, was granted conjugal visits, without the presence of staff or other prisoners. 4 5 6 See more in the publication Detention – Ultima ratio?, Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, Belgrade 2014. NPM Report on the visit to District Prison Kragujevac, No. 71-3/13. NPM report on the visit to District Prison Kragujevac, no. 71-3/13; NPM report on the follow-up visit to Penal-Correctional Facility Sremska Mitrovica, No. 71-48 / 13.