42 held on 14th of December 2015, it was found that 538 beneficiaries were placed in the Home, out of which 49 were minors. Likewise, paralyzed beneficiaries had been transferred from the upper floors to the ground floor of the pavilion “B”, and the rooms for “intensified supervision” in the pavilions “A2” and “A1” were renovated in line with the NPM recommendations. Regarding the recommendations that are focused on ensuring the sufficient number of staff working in the Home “Veternik”, the Ministry stated that as long as the Decree on the Prohibition of Employment in the Public Sector was in force, they would not have any possibility to increase the number of the staff working in the Home. In the course of 2015, the NPM conducted visit to the Gerontological Centre “Jelnovac” in Aleksinac – Working unit for placement of adult persons and seniors with intellectual and mental disorders in Tešinci102 and to the Centre for placement and day stay for disabled children and youth – Infirmary for autism in Belgrade.103 The NPM sent recommendation to the visited institutions through the NPM report on the visits, and they relate to provision of cabinets where personal things may be placed in the institutions for social protection, ensuring the privacy of beneficiaries, as well as to organizing training sessions for the professional staff in order to improve the provision of rehabilitation services. The institutions complied with all these recommendations. In the Report on the visit to the Gerontological centre in Šabac104, the NPM recommended that one room may house at the most four beneficiaries, to paint certain rooms in the Centre and to improve their hygiene, as well as to ensure nurse alert system for all rooms for urgent situations (SOS Mechanism for nurse calling). In order to protect and preserve privacy of beneficiaries, it was recommended to partition showering space and to put in use the current folding screens. In order to improve the number of thematic activities, it is recommended to undertake adequate rehabilitation activities adapted to the dependant beneficiaries. Further on, it is recommended to set the records on submitted applications, complaints and claims. When presenting its explanations, the Centre has recently stated that all recommendations were accepted and complied with. In the course of the reporting period, the NPM did not find any improvements in the area of accommodation for persons placed in the social welfare homes, nor were significant steps made in terms of deinstitutionalization. Large social protection institutions still house a large number of beneficiaries particularly due to the reasons that there are not conditions for their accommodation in a community and due to the fact that they are deprived of work capacity. Families and guardians of these beneficiaries usually do not enjoy any support in providing for them. Beneficiaries in the social protection institutions still have restricted movement outside the institution, despite the fact that there are no legal grounds or procedures to regulate their detention in the institution. In regards to restriction of movement of beneficiaries placed in institution of social protection NPM sent recommendation to the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs so as to undertake measures falling under their competence and thereby regulate this issue. However, the Ministry failed to act in line with the proposed procedure. The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities made reference in its Concluding observations due to the Report of the Republic of Serbia on the implementation of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities referring to the recommendations of the NPM and urged the State to prohibit all state authorities to use all forms of coercive treatments against adults and children with disabilities, including physical and chemical restraints, excessive antipsychotic therapy and isolation, which are considered to be cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. The Committee also urged the State party to adopt a comprehensive strategy and measures for effective deinstitutionalization so that all persons with disabilities be Report, answers of the authority and competent Ministry are available at: http://www.zastitnik.rs/index.php/lang-sr/izvestaji/posebnii-izvestaji/4368-2015-10-14-09-13-19 103 Report on the visit no. 71–81/15 104 71-81/14 102

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