48 6.2. Pre-trial detention In the reporting period, the NPM visited 6 detention units within the institution for enforcement of criminal sanctions, specifically: DP Subotica, DP Leskovac, DP Smederevo, DP Pančevo – Vršac unit, DP Vranje and CPI Sombor. The competent authorities were addressed around 50 recommendations to eliminate the identified shortcomings related to exercising of rights of detainees. The capacities of detention unit of DP Vranje have been expanded and living conditions in accommodation capacities of the district prisons in Leskovac and Vranje have been improved. However, poor condition of premises where detainees are being placed is still present in the majority of institutions. When making visits to the NPM district prisons in Subotica and Smederevo, that is, after having inspected the files of the detainees, it was stated that there is a rule for the court to issue approval for each visit and define the time of visits. As stated by the detainees, duration of visits is 15 minutes, while the officers point out that the visits last longer, up to half an hour, if the visitor is arriving from remote places. After having talked to the management of institutions, it was concluded that the courts order exclusively short visits in order to be able to accomplish all the registered visits. In both cases the NPM addressed the recommendation to the institutions to ensure that visits to detainees last one hour and notify the competent court about the possibility to enable that such visits to detainees last as prescribed by regulations. The Institutions notified NPM that they would take actions to ensure that the visits are carried out in line with the regulations. Despite the improvements as regards the increased participation of the persons deprived of their liberty in penal and correctional institutions in work, a large number of them are still not involved in work nor included in other activities. This particularly refers to cases where convicts are split between closed units and custody suits. Although the NPM addressed recommendations to institutions to provide living rooms for the detainees to stay at during the day, they still spend most of the time locked in their dormitories, without any purposeful activities organized. The problem that due to a relatively small number of female detainees in detention units causes placing of detained women in isolated, solitary confinements for an unacceptably long period is the problem about which the NPM has been warning for years already, and it has not been resolved. This often equalizes the special disciplinary measure used against persons serving the sentence of imprisonment and the regular detention measure for female detainees.