INTRODUCTION
Detailed information on these visits is provided in the table.
TOTAL
Residential treatment
institutions
Social care institutions
(retirement homes)
Special social care
institutions
Psychiatric hospitals
(including the forensic
unit)
Asylum Centre
Prisons and Radeče
Juvenile Correctional
Facility
Police stations and
Police Detention Centre
Data on visits in 2018
Number of visits
32
6
1
3
4
24
11
81
Number of one-day visits
31
5
1
3
4
24
9
77
1
/
2
3
1
2
/
/
(Ljubljana
Police
Detention
Centre – foreign
visitors were
present)
(Celje Prison
and Juvenile
Prison foreign
visitors were
present, the
Murska Sobota
Unit of Maribor
Prison foreign
visitors were
present)
3
Unannounced visits
31
4
1
3
24
11
78
Regular visit
28
4
1
2
8
4
47
Number of two-day visits
Announced visits
Control visit
9
2
Thematic visit
3
In the morning
28
6
3
Attended by an expert
/
10
10
3
16
4
6
4
17
3
20
4
65
1
4
7
12
/
3
1
1
3
In the afternoon
At night
4
2
8
10
As the NPM, the Ombudsman engages experts with the widest range of recommended specialist
knowledge. Since selected NGOs cannot provide certain other suitable experts and because the
Ombudsman does not dispose of an expert in the field of medical care, certain external experts had
to be engaged. On the basis of a public call for proposals for the purpose of recruiting doctors/expert
specialists to help the Ombudsman to establish, clarify or evaluate evidence of torture or other forms
of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, or to support the Ombudsman during visits
to places of deprivation of liberty with suitable expert knowledge which the Ombudsman lacks, the
Ombudsman selected doctors/expert specialists. In 2018, we cooperated with Dr Peter Pregelj, specialist/
psychiatrist, and Dr Milan Popovič, specialist in general surgery. An individual expert selected from the
list by the Ombudsman as per the type and place of an individual visit performs their tasks according
to the orders and instructions of the Ombudsman and in cooperation with the Ombudsman’s expert
colleagues by participating in planned visits and providing written replies to the Ombudsman’s questions
in the role of the NPM and providing their own findings, particularly on the suitability of medical care
and the treatment of people deprived of liberty. Thematic visits to Črnomelj, Ilirska Bistrica and Metlika
police stations were attended by two interpreters, i.e. for Farsi and Arabic on the basis of a contract.
The NPM drafts a comprehensive (final) report on the findings established at the visited institution
after each visit. The report also covers proposals and recommendations to eliminate established
irregularities and to improve the situation, including measures to reduce the possibilities of improper
treatment in the future. The Ombudsman’s representatives and the representatives of the selected
NGOs participate in drafting the report on the visit. All participants, including NGO representatives,
must prepare a brief report on their findings, together with proposals, which form part of the report
on the implemented supervision. The report is submitted to the competent authority, i.e. the superior
body of the visited institution, with a proposal that the authority take a position on the statements
9 We visited the reception premises of the Asylum Centre.
10 T
hematic visits to Črnomelj, Ilirska Bistrica and Metlika police stations were attended by two interpreters (for Farsi and Arabic) on the basis
of a contract.
8
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