General Report of the CPT, 2011-2012 Report on the periodic visit to Serbia in February 2011 and response of the Serbian authorities (treatment of persons in police custody, prison overcrowding, conditions in the Special Prison Hospital and psychiatric establishments) 73. The CPT’s delegation received several allegations of ill-treatment by police officers, including in respect of juveniles, consisting of slaps, punches, kicks and abusive resort to truncheons at the time of apprehension or when suspects were being questioned in police stations. The Committee has recommended that police officers throughout Serbia be reminded that all forms of ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty are not acceptable and will be the subject of severe sanctions. Recommendations have also been made aimed at strengthen­ ing safeguards against ill-treatment, in particular as regards access to a lawyer from the very outset of deprivation of liberty, the proper documenting of the period spent in police custody, and the medical screening of persons remanded to prison; on the last point, the report stresses that prison health-care services can make a significant contribution to the prevention of ill-treatment through the systematic recording of injuries and the provision of information to the relevant authorities. In their response, the Serbian authorities describe the work of the Sector of Internal Control of the Ministry of the Interior in the field of monitoring the work of law enforcement officials and provide statistics on complaints filed by citizens and investigations against police officers for alleged criminal offences of ill-treatment and torture during the period 2008 to 2011. Reference is also made to a plan for the construction and renovation of police detention facilities, taking account of the CPT’s recommendations. 74. Overcrowding was observed in all the prisons visited and in particular at Belgrade District Prison, where it was not uncommon to find four inmates being accommodated in cells measuring some 9m². The situation at Belgrade District Prison was further aggravated by the establishment’s overall state of dilapidation. The CPT has called upon the Serbian authorities to redouble their efforts to combat prison overcrowding and to be guided in this respect by the relevant recommendations of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. A comprehensive and fully budgeted refurbishment programme for Belgrade District Prison, with precise timetables, is also required. In their response, the Serbian authorities, referring to the 2010-2015 Action Plan for the Reduction of Prison Overcrowding, provide information on the steps taken in this field, including the planned construction of three new prisons (Pančevo, Kragujevac and Medvedja) and the increasing recourse to alternative measures of detention. Further, 1.35 million Euros have been earmarked in 2012 for refurbishment work at Belgrade District Prison, and more funds will be allocated for this purpose in 2013 and 2014. 30