monitoring group of the NPM includes the places to serve the punishment of deprivation of liberty with the Ministry of Justice, detention centres at the Ministry of the Interior structures, special homes for temporary accommodation of foreigners with the Migration Directorate and registration and reception centres of the State Agency for Refugees at the Council of Ministers, residential social care for children and adults, state psychiatric hospitals. For some of the said groups of persons affected, the monitoring performed by the Ombudsman is the only form of independent control of the observance of their rights. In 2020, a total of 3,848 persons received protection from the NPM. Throughout the period of state of emergency and emergency epidemic situation, the Ombudsman ensured immediate public access to the cell phones of the NPM experts to provide effective protection of the rights of all citizens residing in closed institutions. The Ombudsman has always expressed concern for the respect for the rights of people at closed institutions but the protection of these rights proved to be a grave challenge in the COVID-19 pandemic situation because this affects seriously vulnerable persons given the nature of the restrictions imposed on them and the difficulties to ensure adequate protection and anti-epidemic measures at accommodation places. It is important to note that international law envisages restrictions of almost all fundamental human rights if certain statutory conditions are in place and the interference in these fundamental rights is carried out in the discretion of the State. Only the prohibition of torture is absolute in nature – it may not be derogated or restricted in any way. The Ombudsman took a clear stand in this regard and noted the necessary measures to guarantee the rights of persons placed in closed institutions in the conditions of a pandemic situation. The official statement of the ombudsman in this regard with a request that leading international and European law protection standards be applied was sent as early as during the state of emergency to all competent institutions, including the Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, the Director of the State Agency for Refugees. Later, a new element was included in the methodology NPM representatives apply in inspections which is related to a check of the implementation of the recommendations issued. The state of emergency and the emergency epidemic situation resulted in significant changes in the organisation of the work of the Ombudsman acting as the NPM. First, in view of the need to provide support to the citizens and their rights in real time, in the beginning of the state of emergency, the cell phones of 4