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Accommodation conditions in certain detention units do not comply with the applicable
standards.
Detainees spend the whole day locked up in their cells/dormitories, except during the walking
exercise hours. They are not allowed to spend the spare time during the day outside their cells,
in communal areas with other detainees, unless they have been segregated from them under
court orders. Detainees are in most cases not allowed to work or to participate in social and
cultural activities. They also lack sufficient opportunities for physical exercise, especially during
inclement weather.
Contrary to applicable standards, detainees are as a rule not allowed to spend the spare time
during the day outside their cells, in communal areas with other detainees, unless they have
been segregated from them under court orders.
Women in pre-trial detention are placed in the detention units of penal facilities; however, due
to their relatively low numbers per detention unit, some of them are in virtual solitary
confinement during their pre-trial detention. Thus, what is meant to be a disciplinary
punishment for incarcerated persons effectively becomes the only available arrangement for
women in detention. In addition, visits to the correctional facilities have revealed a problem with
inadequate sanitary packages for women, although this issue has been remedied following the
NPM’s recommendations.
Compared with the previous reporting period, there have been no major improvements with
regard to the conditions of detention and the enjoyment of all rights afforded to detainees,
although certain steps in the right direction have been observed. While the issue of assigning
detainees to dormitories according to the severity of the criminal offence for which they are
indicted is still not sufficiently taken into consideration, some penal and correctional facilities
have improved their practice in this regard in compliance with the recommendations made by
the Protector of Citizens (e.g. The Penal and Correctional Facility in Šabac). Furthermore, the
detention unit of the Penal and Correctional Facility in Šabac places non-smoking detainees in
rooms where they would not be exposed to tobacco smoke, if they so request upon their remand.
Most detention units allow detainees to spend minimum two hours a day outside in fresh air; all
detention units afford a minimum of one hour in fresh air to the detainees, which is fully
compliant with the applicable international standards in this respect100.
The Law on Enforcement of Penal Sanctions provides that incarcerated persons must be allowed to spend minimum
two hours of their spare time in fresh air, while the applicable international standards provide for minimum one
hour in fresh air.
100
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