The Ombudsman submitted several questions to the Ministry of the Interior concerning the alleged bad practices of individual police officers in the field (which we did not witness in person), i.e. certain police officers supposedly shouted and screamed at the aliens in Slovenian, and unsuitable, at times racist, xenophobic and scornful comments about the inclusion of real men in the army and the fight for their homeland and the like were noted. Certain police officers pushed and shoved aliens for no reason. The non-responsiveness of police officers to the expressed intention to file applications for international protection was also mentioned. We assessed that these claims were a cause for concern and required a suitable response from the authorities. The Ombudsman believes that it must be taken into consideration that people arriving as migrants (also) on the territory of Slovenia may have many personal problems, that they have been travelling for a long time, and that they are helpless because they are in a foreign environment, all of which calls for the utmost tolerance and understanding. Due to the above, they themselves may be impatient, tense and irritated, which may be displayed in their attitude to the personnel dealing with them. Therefore, we are certain that it is even more important that personnel working with refugees are carefully selected and trained accordingly. In such conditions, it is appropriate to issue regular reminders of the commitment to treat refugees correctly (firstly at the verbal level) and that all irregularities will be sanctioned accordingly and decisively. It would be disappointing if some unsuitable conduct of individual (in this case) police officers tarnished the efforts of other police officers who are dedicated to their work with aliens on a daily basis. Furthermore, we did not forget to mention the difficult working conditions of police officers (12-hour shifts, several hours’ drive to work, lack of sleep, tiredness, separation from their families, lack of information about work tasks or arrival of new groups etc.). While observing the aforementioned, the Ombudsman asked the Ministry to study the aforementioned examples and take additional measures to improve conditions in this field if necessary (possible enhanced supervision of the work of police officers, decisive response of the superiors to possible verbal or physical threats made by inferior officers etc.) and consider special (additional) training of police officers for working with large crowds and special preparation of police officers to work with migrants of other nationalities, religions and cultures, including the manner of communication without the use of (verbal) intimidation, and take additional measures aimed at overcoming language barriers when communicating with aliens. The Ministry of the Interior explained that the police were striving to respect all human rights during the increased influx of aliens and that instructions had been sent to all police administrations on correct treatment of aliens in police procedures, and that their work was being monitored and supervised promptly by the General Police Directorate. An informative brochure was also prepared which was intended to inform aliens of their rights and police procedures. The Ministry also stated that it had not been informed of, or it had not found, concrete irregularities in their conduct towards aliens. The Ombudsman’s findings were supposedly submitted immediately to all police administrations, which were also ordered to ensure an appropriate organisation of work in order to prevent unnecessary problems, and the management of police units was also ordered to inform police officers of correct communication prior to commencing work or their deployment. Members of the Ethics and Integrity Committee of the police were also invited to participate in deployment. The Ministry concluded that the police had organised various training programmes for police officers dealing with aliens over the years (these programmes include content from human rights and freedoms protection, and some also include content from the fields of communication and conflict management). 2.7 ENVIRONMENT AND SPATIAL PLANNING CASES CONSIDERED FIELD OF WORK 2014 2015 2.7 ENVIRONMENT AND SPATIAL PLANNING 2.6 ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS working in the field and prevent any unprofessional treatment. Furthermore, the Ombudsman proposed that security be provided for volunteers from non-governmental and humanitarian organisations, and that all measures should be taken to prevent the separation of families, whereby the extended definition of a family be observed; groups of aliens travelling together should be kept together if possible; suitable sanitary conditions should be provided, both for refugees as well as for staff in the field (more portable toilets in accommodation centres and at border crossings; more possibilities for washing and the provision of drinking water at all points, which would prevent the possible spread of contagious diseases), and suitable organisation, coordination and provision of information should be provided with regard to all workers in the field. RESOLVED AND FOUNDED Index 15/14 NO. OF RESOLVED NO. OF FOUNDED PERCENTAGE OF FOUNDED AMONG RESOLVED 7. Environment and spatial planning 131 178 135.9 154 30 19.5 7.1 Activities in the environment 60 75 125 67 14 20.9 7.2 Spatial planning 29 46 158.6 43 9 20.9 7.3 Other 42 57 135.7 44 7 15.9 2.7.1 General observations The number of complaints discussed in 2015 (178) was much higher than in 2014, when 131 complaints were discussed, and the highest number in the field of the environment and spatial planning so far. The share of founded complaints is almost 20 per cent and is lower than in 2014, when it was 25.8 per cent. The increase in the number of complaints may be attributed to several complaints concerning the same issue, which were submitted by complainants (neighbours) regarding an intended activity in the environment, which is (when such complaints are unfounded) also the reason for lower number of founded complaints in addition to the amended method of recording complaints that were considered. In 2015, the Human Rights Ombudsman was most frequently contacted by complainants who expressed their disagreement with activities in physical space. They frequently complained about the cooperation of public in environmental and spatial planning procedures. These and other issues were discussed at regular monthly meetings with NGOs involved in the environment and spatial planning, at press conferences, meetings with relevant ministers responsible for infrastructure and the environment and spatial planning and at meetings with mayors. We also dealt with the issue of pollution with solid particles (PM10 and less), metals, waste and other pollution sources. The Meža Valley, Zasavje and the Celje Basin are particularly polluted areas that require the prompt rehabilitation of soil and air. Possible savings must not be an excuse for an insufficiently active approach by responsible bodies. The issue of noxious odours from different sources is still topical (fertilisation with liquid manure, biogas plants, pig farms and other sources). The complainants are unable to understand why nothing can be done about noxious odours. We explained to them that there were no regulations or odour meters to govern this field, although the Ombudsman has been emphasising the need to regulate this field for many years. At the time of drafting this Report, the migrant crisis had not ended – and the Ombudsman is continuing to monitor the situation. Our additional findings will thus be included in the next report. We particularly note the violation of the right to a healthy living environment in Article 72 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia and the violation of the right to a legal remedy in Article 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia. In most cases, we have also established violations of the right to good governance. 104 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN OF THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA FOR 2015 105