Report on the Performance of the Activities of the National Preventive Mechanism for 2019 cases that we request by name and surname of complainant, and only for the dates cited in the BVMN report. Thus, the only available cases pertained to dates when actions were taken against 11 foreign citizens who were denied entry into the RC. However, we could not ascertain whether any other measures under the Foreigners Act were taken on the dates in question, and, if so, how were larger groups of irregular migrants treated, especially members of vulnerable groups – for instance, how is vulnerability established, or how is the Protocol on the Treatment of Unaccompanied Children applied, and whether there have been inconsistencies in the treatment of various groups in the same period. Moreover, while the investigation was in progress, the communication by the head of the service was not suited to the official context, he sought to take the dominant position in conversations, trying to make the communication less formal, which, along with insisting on not releasing certain data, represented arbitrary conduct. In addition to withholding information, during several investigative proceedings and NPM visits, police officers "educated" the Ombudswoman's Office and NPM staff in various ways about how procedures under the OA and the ANPM are to be conducted. Thus, on some occasions we were told that the investigative proceedings or NPM visits can only be carried out with prior announcement, when we would be given access to all the requested case files pertaining to treatment of individuals or groups; on others, that access would only be given to the case files we request by name; in some PS/BPS we can get a print-out of certain data, while in others we cannot get data by direct access, but only if we request them in writing. Denying us access to the MoI Information System concerned all our investigative and NPM visits, with the rationale that according to the Instruction on assigning passwords and the IT Service's response, they cannot give the password to the Ombudswoman's Office staff, as violating the Instruction is considered a serious breach of the code of conduct. However, the MoI should organise its data management system so as to enable effective fulfilment of international and legal commitments under the OPCAT, the ANPM and the OA, whose legal force is superior to that of the instruction. Using such arbitrary and uneven interpretations of the legal framework regulating the mandate of the Ombudswoman and the NPM, police officers overstep their authority and make it impossible to efficiently fulfil the mandate of the NPM and examine the treatment of irregular migrants. As an independent national human rights institution, the central body tasked with preventing discrimination and as the NPM, the Ombudsman has a unique mandate to promote and protect human rights, within which she examines illegalities and irregularities in the work of state bodies. The CoE has highlighted the importance of the role played by such institutions, precisely in preventing police impunity for overstepping authority, including violence. For this reason, policemen need to be acquainted with the mandate and the right to access information. In conclusion, the situation at the RC border cannot be viewed apart from EU legislation and policy, which imposes far greater responsibility for carrying out asylum procedures and combating irregular migrations on peripheral states. Although they are the fundamental principles of this area, solidarity and fair distribution of responsibility have not been sufficiently realised, whether normatively, financially or in support on the ground. The EC's new leadership has emphasised the necessity of 31

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