Report on the Performance of Activities of the National Preventive Mechanism for 2016 “...I had my blood drawn twice and the doctor told me that in her opinion, I did not have hepatitis C, but even though I asked her to issue a paper confirming that I did not have hepatitis C, I have still not received any kind of confirmation and I am still not sure whether I am ill... I asked the doctor if they could employ me as an assistant cook, she told me that she would rather not put me in the kitchen because I had hepatitis C.” Reasons for filing complaints about quality of healthcare are more or less the same as in previous years. Prisoners are often only provided with emergency dental interventions, whereas other services, especially regarding dental devices, are not readily available. Certain dentists refuse to receive prisoners as their patients, which is a big problem, especially in smaller towns. Given that some penal institutions do not provide a complete set of cutlery, prisoners who have not resolved their oral problems or are missing many teeth, may experience health difficulties. Since both outpatient and inpatient physical therapy is difficult to obtain, in some cases, treatment is delayed until after the expiry of prison sentence, which may lead to patient’s disability. Because of their poor knowledge of the Execution of Prison Sentence Act (EPSA), sometimes neither physicians nor prisoners are aware of the right of prisoners to request that they be examined by a specialist doctor if the penal institution physician fails to do so; however, prisoners are obligated to bear the costs of the examination on their own if the specialist establishes that the patient is healthy. When being transported to external medical institutions, persons deprived of their liberty are situated on side benches, in the back of the special vehicle, without hand grips, often with their hands and sometimes even legs bound, with no security belt provided, which may cause injuries and additionally aggravate their health condition. Prisoners are also often dissatisfied with the organization itself of such an undertaking, since they When being transported to external are forced to spend hours waiting in inadequate medical institutions, persons conditions, cramped in the back part of the vehicle, deprived of their liberty are situated until everybody has undergone the necessary checkon side benches, in the back of the ups. Prisoners are all the more dissatisfied if they special vehicle, without hand grips, themselves bear the costs of such undertakings, often with their hands and whereas the fact that such complaints have been sometimes even legs bound, with no confirmed as well-founded in the previous years, security belt provided, which may points to the need for introducing systematic and cause injuries and additionally organizational changes. aggravate their health condition. Some complaints pertained to accommodation conditions. For example, investigative procedure conducted in Bjelovar County Prison revealed that a room, where seven actively employed prisoners were situated, had no sanitary facilities and that from 9:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., when the room was locked, the prisoners had to urinate or defecate in a bucket, which might be an example of degrading treatment. Our 8