Report on the Performance of Activities of the National Preventive Mechanism for 2015 something to be considered as degrading treatment it is sufficient for the victim to feel humiliated and that any unjustified use of force represents degrading treatment, regardless whether the physical force was of lesser intensity than the force that would have left permanent consequences. Following a visit to the Republic of Croatia in 2007, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter: CPT) recommended that the police officers use force strictly to the extent necessary for persons acting violently or agitatedly to be brought under control. However, the conducted investigative procedures indicate that this recommendation is sometimes not respected. 2.3. When persons are made to lie with their face down on the ground, in front of a group of observing citizens or journalists, and when video recordings of such treatment are posted on the website of the Ministry of the Interior without protecting the identity of the person in the video, this can certainly represent degrading treatment. Complaints filed by persons with mental disorders In 2015, persons with mental disorders or members of their families mostly complained about involuntary hospitalization, conducting of certain medical procedures without prior freely given consent and violation of certain rights of persons with mental disorders under the Act on Protection of Persons with Mental Disorders (hereinafter: APPMD). In recent years there has been a noticeable increase in the complaints filed by persons with mental disorders and members of their families, due to their being better informed about our competence and due to our more frequent visits to psychiatric institutions. Considering that the Ombudswoman is not competent for diagnosing a mental disorder or for evaluation whether it was medically justified to involuntarily detain and place somebody in a psychiatric institution (and the complainants very often have precisely such expectations), we have provided them with information about who to appeal to. In a small number of cases it was found that the complainant’s constitutional and legal rights had been violated. One such example is a complaint about a hospital’s failure to grant a patient access to medical records in 2014, where the hospital explained that access could only be granted upon request of the court. However, pursuant to Art. 23 of the Act on Protection of Patients’ Rights and Art. 23 of the Act on Medical Practice, the hospital was obligated to show the patient her medical records and to have them copied at her expense, considering the fact that the APPMD that was in effect at the time neither prescribed the patient’s right to access medical documents nor did it prohibit or limit that right. 3. NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM In the fourth year of operation of the NPM, we had 72 visits, which was 227% more when compared to the previous year. The visits included the prison system, the police system, locations affected by the refugee crisis and homes for the elderly and the disabled. 6