VISIT TO THE ASYLUM CENTRE 3.5 VISIT TO THE ASYLUM CENTRE in 2018, we paid an unannounced visit to the reception facilities of the Asylum Centre. The purpose of the visit was to determine possible restriction of liberty of foreigners accommodated at the reception facilities of the Asylum Centre, the possibilities to spend time outdoors in the fresh air and to generally examine the conditions for accommodation at the reception facilities of the Asylum Centre. Since the visit to the reception facilities of the Asylum Centre was made on 21 December 2018 and the NPM report was drafted and submitted to the Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants on 11 January 2019, we have not yet received their response to the recommendations while preparing this report. Only data about the total number and the type of recommendations given are provided below, including data on what the recommendations referred to. On the occasion of the visit, we submitted eight recommendations, of which two referred to targeted issues, two were systemic and four were general. The recommendations dealt with activities (two recommendations), living conditions (three recommendations), the discussion and forms of work (two recommendations) and health care (one recommendation). One of the systemic recommendations referred to the preparation of house rules and the running order of the Asylum Centre, so that foreigners are informed about their accommodation and rights (e.g. possibility to exercise in the fresh air), and for the rules and the order to be translated in foreign languages (e.g. English and the languages most frequently spoken by the foreigners). It was specifically determined that staying in the Asylum Centre was governed by the Decree on Asylum Centre House Rules (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia [Uradni list RS], No. 24/17); however, the Decree only governs staying at the Centre and not staying at the reception facilities of the Asylum Centre. We also determined that the Asylum Centre had no running order of living, which would determine in more detail the daily routine of living in the Centre. The second systemic recommendation dealt with the observance of the principle that procedures involving foreigners accommodated at the reception facilities of the Asylum Centre must be conducted as soon as possible so that applicants for international protection do not wait several days before filing the application. We proposed that the principle stipulating that such procedures be implemented in the shortest time possible be particularly strictly observed for the so-called vulnerable groups (minors, families, etc.). We noted that living quarters where foreigners were accommodated during our visit were locked and their liberty or movement was actually restricted. On that note, we especially highlighted that minors were also being accommodated at the reception facilities of the Asylum Centre. According to the explanations received during the visit, foreigners have access to outdoor areas, but only under the supervision of a security guard. On this basis, we pointed out that such treatment which de facto indicates the deprivation of freedom of movement requires a suitable legal basis for each restricted movement or infringement on a person’s personal liberty or a different organisation of work. 3.6 VISITS TO POLICE STATIONS In 2018, we visited 31 police stations (PS), i.e. in Brežice, Krško, Sevnica, Škofja Loka, Kranj, Bled, Radlje ob Dravi, Dravograd, Ravne na Koroškem, Maribor I, Podlehnik, Slovenska Bistrica, Trebnje, Novo mesto, Šentjernej, Idrija, Tolmin, Bovec, Kranjska Gora, Radovljica, Tržič, Laško, Celje, Slovenske Konjice, Črnomelj, Metlika, Ilirska Bistrica, Ljubljana Bežigrad, Nova Gorica, Ormož, and Ljubljana Police Detention Centre; that is a total of 32 places of deprivation of liberty due to police detention. All visits were unannounced, except for the visit to Ljubljana Police Detention Centre where the representatives of the Kazakh NPM were present. The representative of the Serbian NPM also attended the unannounced visits to Ljubljana Bežigrad, Vrhnika and Nova Gorica police stations as an observer. Three visits, i.e. to Črnomelj, Metlika and Ilirska Bistrica police stations, were thematic (at night) and referred to the verification or monitoring of implementing police obligations when conducting procedures with foreigners crossing the state border illegally. Two interpreters for Farsi and Arabic also attended these thematic visits. Some 158 recommendations were submitted during the visits, of which 137 were targeted, 14 systemic and seven general. The recommendations related to the possibilities for activities (three 40 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE NPM IN 2018 NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM UNDER THE OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO THE UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT