1. Introduction 1.1. General assessment of the adherence to the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment in the Republic of Serbia After many years of realization of the mandate of National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), the Protector of Citizens confirms that during the reporting period in the Republic of Serbia the trend of the improvement of the protection of rights of persons deprived of their liberty, the application of police authorizations as well as the prevention of torture and other forms of abuse was continued. Based on many visits to places where persons deprived of their liberty are located or may be located, the NPM concludes that there is no torture as a phenomenon organized or encouraged by state authorities in the Republic of Serbia What is encouraging is the fact that in a few recent years, the awareness of public officials who treat persons deprived of their liberty and their superiors that torture is prohibited activity became predominant. In this respect, there are numerous testimonies of randomly interviewed persons deprived of their liberty, especially in prisons that they were not victims of torture. Nevertheless, this does not mean that there is no torture or other form of abuse in the Republic of Serbia. Individual cases of torture or abuse are always possible and expected to be occurring and they will. The torture, as any other form of abuse, is of a situation-related and the persons deprived of their liberty are therefore exposed to a higher risk for a continuing period. Apart from that, material conditions and individual activities of competent bodies toward persons deprived of their liberty which are the result of the shortcomings in the system and represent a poor practice so far which is not in compliance with valid standards1, taking into account their intensity and duration, may grow into, and in certain cases they do, into humiliating and inhuman treatment and even torture. 1 E.g. inappropriate accommodation; lack of existence or implementation of prescribed procedures; shortcomings of the corresponding psycho-social treatment; inadequate health protection; lack of functionality of internal control mechanisms; as well as the lack of employees. 9