5 A conclusion that can be drawn after years of monitoring the treatment of persons deprived of liberty is that torture does not exist in Serbia as a measure organised and supported by public authorities. However, during numerous visits to institutions where persons deprived of liberty are or can be placed, numerous instances of unlawful or inappropriate treatment of such persons were identified. If they are persistent, such shortcomings can constitute inhuman or degrading treatment or even torture. This is largely a result of shortcomings in the system, which is designed in a way that does not effectively prevent such instances, coupled with the lack of a mechanism that would detect such instances and provide for effective investigation, and the lack of a system for detection of such cases, carrying out of effective investigations, identification of persons responsible for the omissions, prosecution of perpetrators and proper recourse to persons whose rights were violated. An illustrative example of this is a case of torture identified in early 2012 in a recommendation by the Protector of Citizens2, which was confirmed in mid-2013 by a judgement of the Constitutional Court.3 The prison administration has still not found the direct perpetrators and the responsible officers who should have taken take necessary measures to prevent or to timely identify and investigate the mistreatment, but failed to do so. What is worrying is that the prosecutors’ office has suspended the investigation and that no judicial proceedings have been initiated, which resulted in a failure to apportion criminal liability in the case where two public authorities previously found that a person deprived of liberty was subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It is obvious that the competent public authorities should step up their fight against impunity for torture. In this context, in addition to prosecutor’s offices and courts, internal control mechanisms of public authorities should have an important role in terms of increasing their efficiency. In Conclusions 73. of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia of 23 October 2014 states that “With regard to the assessment of the Protector of Citizens that the competent public authorities fail to comply with their duties in the fight against impunity for torture, that they do not always conduct timely and detailed procedures to determine whether the rights of persons deprived of liberty were violated, that individual responsibility for violation of these rights and responsibility for omissions in the work and organisation of work was apportioned to responsible persons only in few cases, as well as that few persons responsible for violation of these rights were punished, and particularly having in mind that the Protector of Citizens and the Constitutional Court identified certain cases of abuse, the National Assembly orders the competent public authorities to fully comply with their duties in the fight against impunity for torture, to take all necessary measures and activities to prevent abuse and, in accordance with the law, to conduct timely and detailed procedures to investigate all substantiated allegations of abuse and apportion subjective and objective responsibility and to punish those responsible.” With the aim of ensuring efficient fight against impunity for torture, in addition to prosecutor’s offices and courts, internal control mechanisms of public authorities should have an important role in terms of increasing their efficiency. In Conclusions 73. of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia of 23 October 2014 states the following: “With the aim of ensuring more efficient and comprehensive control over the work of the Administration for the Enforcement of Penal Sanctions, the National Assembly advises the Ministry of Justice to consider the recommendations of the Protector of Citizens on activities that should be undertaken to separate the supervision unit from the Administration for the Enforcement of Penal Sanctions, so that the work of institutions and the Administration is overseen by the supervision unit as a separate organisational unit of the Ministry of Justice, and also to propose appropriate amendments to laws and other regulations in that regard.” 2 3 Case No. 12-3630/12. Decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia No. Už-4100/2011.