In the period from December 2019 to October 2020, the NPM conducted visits to institutions for the enforcement of penal sanctions with the aim of monitoring the treatment of addicts on psychoactive substances. In this regard, a sample of 5 penal-correctional institutions (PCI Sremska Mitrovica, PCI Belgrade, PCI Pancevo, PCI Nis, PCI Pozarevac) and 5 district prisons (DP Cacak, DP Kraljevo, DP Novi Sad, DP Smederevo, DP Belgrade) was selected. The problem was observed from three aspects: safety, treatment and health, with the intention to check which activities the institutions are undertaking in order to detect and prevent the intake of psychoactive substances, whether there are programs in the institutions specialized for working with convicts who have a problem with psychoactive substance addiction, which programs are implemented, which therapies are offered, whether the staff is trained to implement treatment or treatment programs, what measures are taken with the aim of reducing the demand and availability, preventing and reducing harmful consequences.

The Thematic Report prepared after the visits highlighted the good practices observed in the visited institutions and also gave recommendations for improving the situation in this area, bearing in mind that addicts are a special group within the prison population that requires a specialized approach.

In its response regarding the implementation of the given recommendations, the Administration for the Enforcement of Penal Sanctions informed the NPM, among other things, that the Draft of the New Strategy for the Development of the Enforcement of Penal Sanctions for the period 2021-2027 envisages improvement of security in institutions and procurement and upgrading of counter-diversion protection systems, with special emphasis on the new analyzes of the content systems being reviewed. Also, the Administration will continue working on the employment of members of the security service and educational workers in the institutions, and all institutions were ordered to take the necessary measures to hire a psychiatrist or a neuropsychiatrist, to provide their services in the institution, where the implementation of this recommendation will be controlled by the Inspection Department.

The NPM was also informed that within the project of the Council of Europe, financed by the European Union, new specialized programs for group work with convicts have been developed, among them the Specialized program for group work with drug addicts, which has been distributed to all institutions.

The Administration submitted the recommendation of the NPM to create conditions for the realization of individual goals set for convicts in all institutions, to the Inspection Department, in order to, when performing supervision, control whether individual goals and planned procedures and activities and tasks of the staff in the implementation of the treatment program are realistically set, in relation to the possibilities of the institution and whether they are carried out according to plan.

The Administration also informed the NPM that it will take measures to find the best solution for making contact and cooperation with the competent centers for addictions, which have the staff trained for the introduction of substitution therapy, in order to assess the indications for the introduction of this therapy to persons who have not started treatment for addiction when they were free.

On 22 December 2020, at the meeting of the NPM Network of countries of Southeast Europe, in its capacity as the chair of the Medical Group of the Network, the NPM presented the basic findings from this report.

Attachments:

Thematic Report

On 1 April 2021, the Protector of Citizens’ team in performing the NPM tasks, led by the Deputy Protector of Citizens, Ms. Nataša Tanjević PhD, visited the Penal-Correctional Institution for Women in Požarevac. Aside from the Protector of Citizens’ employees, a representative of the Victimology Society of Serbia and a doctor specialized in forensic medicine joined the team.

Bearing in mind that 21 December last year marked the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders known as the Bangkok Rules, as well as the fact that on 8 March on the International Women's Day, the NPM of Serbia, for the first time, together with the Association for the Prevention of Torture and a number of monitoring bodies from around the world, called on state authorities to continuous action to protect women in prison, the NPM monitored compliance with Bangkok rules during the course of the visit.

The NPM team visited the accommodation facilities in the Institution, the newly built facility, the economy, the part of the Institution where women prisoners with children are accommodated and gained insight into the relevant documentation in the General Affairs Service, Health care Service, Treatment Service and Security Service. In addition, interviews were conducted with the management of the Institution and the heads of the line services, as well as with several prisoners. Special attention has been paid to the manner of exercising health care for women prisoners, as well as the position of pregnant women and women prisoners who stay with children in the Institution.

The professional conduct of the management and all employees in the Institution during the NPM’s visit is an example of good practice, pursuant to legally prescribed obligation for authorities to cooperate with the NPM.

8 March 2021. For the first time – today on International Women’s Day – The National Preventive Mechanism of the Republic of Serbia has joined with the Association for the Prevention of Torture and 36 other oversight bodies from across the globe to call for sustained government action to protect women in prison.

Around the world, more than 75 national and local independent monitoring bodies established under the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT) – known as National and Local Preventive Mechanisms – work to uphold dignity and fairness for persons deprived of liberty.

We undertake regular visits to all places of detention. We conduct interviews in private with detainees, family members and staff. We document how the prison environment affects women, whether pre-trial or convicted. We prepare reports to authorities that highlight the discrimination and gender-based violence experienced by women in prison, including those in a situation of heightened vulnerability due to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, among others. Importantly, we develop practical recommendations to guide changes in law, policy, procedures and practices. We do all this based on sustained and constructive dialogue with all actors across the criminal justice system.

Monitoring the situation and needs of women is an important part of our work. It has been especially crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic has put an additional strain on prisons worldwide, presenting new challenges to staff and exposing detainees to heightened risks. We have reported – and continue to report – on the impact that restrictions implemented to contain the virus have had on women. Many have been left isolated, emotionally affected and without material support following the suspension of family visits and restrictions on daily activities. Children have also suffered by being unable to see their mother. Based on our monitoring, we have strongly advocated for the implementation of early release schemes and alternative measures to detention for women.

We use the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (Bangkok Rules), adopted ten years ago, as a compass for our monitoring and to support our findings and recommendations. We also draw on other complementary standards, such as the Nelson Mandela Rules and the Yogyakarta Principles. In strengthening protections for women in prison and promoting non-custodial alternatives to detention, the Bangkok Rules are particularly relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We acknowledge the positive measures taken by States across the world to protect the rights of women in prison. However, there is a need for greater and sustained action, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We therefore jointly call for a renewed commitment by all States to uphold the dignity, health, safety and security of all women in prison and to establish alternatives to detention for women in contact with the law. The Bangkok Rules, along with recommendations made by National and Local Preventive Mechanisms, provide States with a solid foundation to make justice fair, accessible and safer for women.
Signed:

• Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT)
• Austrian Ombudsman Board as National Preventive Mechanism
• Comisión por la Memoria - Mecanismo Local de Prevención de la Tortura de la Provincia de Buenos Aires / Argentina
• Comisión Provincial de Prevención de la Tortura de Mendoza / Argentina
• Comité Nacional para la Prevención de la Tortura de Argentina / CNPT-AR
• Human Rights Ombudsman of the Republic of Slovenia
• Instance Nationale pour la Prévention de la Torture (INPT) / République Tunisienne
• Mecanismo Estadual de Prevenção e Combate à Tortura do Rio de Janeiro / Brasil
• Mecanismo Estadual de Prevenção e Combate à Tortura de Pernambuco / Brasil
• Mecanismo Local para la Prevención de la Tortura y Otros Tratos y Penas Crueles, Inhumanos y/o Degradantes de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires / Argentina
• Mecanismo Nacional de Prevenção e Combate à Tortura - MNPCT/Brasil
• Mecanismo Nacional de Prevención contra la Tortura y otros Tratos o Penas Crueles, Inhumanos o Degradantes - Defensoría del Pueblo / Ecuador
• Mecanismo Nacional de Prevención contra la Tortura (MNPT) / Costa Rica
• Mecanismo Nacional de Prevención contra la Tortura MNP-CONAPREV / Honduras
• Mecanismo Nacional de Prevención de la Tortura – Defensoría del Pueblo / Perú
• Mecanismo Nacional de Prevención de la Tortura / Paraguay
• Mecanismo Nacional de Prevención de la Tortura (INDDHH – MNP) / Uruguay
• Mecanismo Nacional de Prevención de la Tortura de la Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos / México
• Mecanismo Nacional para la Prevención de la Tortura, Penas y Tratos Crueles, Inhumanos o Degradantes (MNPT) / Panamá
• Médiateur du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg
• National Center of the Kyrgyz Republic for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
• National Commission for the Prevention of Torture (NCPT) / Switzerland
• National Guarantor for the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty / Italy
• National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture / Poland
• National Preventive Mechanism – Commissioner for Fundamental Rights / Hungary
• National Preventive Mechanism – Ombuds Institution / Croatia
• National Preventive Mechanism – Protector of Citizens / Serbia
• National Preventive Mechanism - Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms / Montenegro
• National Preventive Mechanism - Romanian Ombudsman
• National Preventive Mechanism (Ombudsman’s Office) / Portugal
• National Preventive Mechanism of South Africa (SA NPM)
• National Preventive Mechanism of the Republic of Moldova (Office of the People’s Advocate)
• New Zealand Human Rights Commission as Central National Preventive Mechanism
• Oficina Nacional de Prevención de la Tortura y otros Tratos o Penas Crueles, Inhumanos o Degradantes / Guatemala
• Ombudsman of the Republic of North Macedonia - National Preventive Mechanism
• UK National Preventive Mechanism
• Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights
• Victorian Ombudsman – Australia

 Key recommendations made by the National Preventive Mechanism of the Republic of Serbia

In Annual Reports, the NPM of the Republic of Serbia has been indicating for years:

• Women in pre-trial detention are placed in detention units of the prisons. Relatively small number of them in one detention unit has the consequence that some of them are practically in solitary confinement during the execution of pre-trial detention, often for a longer period. Special or disciplinary measure for persons serving a prison sentence, often represents a way of executing a pre-trial detention for women.
• Enforcement of prison sanction against women is carried out in one institution for women (Požarevac Penal-Correctional Institution), which prevents them from serving a prison sentence as close as possible to their place of residence.

NPM found that investments are being made in improving the conditions for women in penitentiary institutions: during 2019, the construction of a new facility in the Penitentiary for Women in Požarevac was completed, and during a visit to the Belgrade District Prison made in 2017, NPM determined that the women pavilion was renovated. Also, accepting the opinion of the Protector of Citizens on the importance of preventive medical examinations in the Penitentiary for Women in Požarevac, this institution passed the Directive on monitoring the health condition and prevention of diseases of convicts, which determined the dynamics, scope and content of preventive examinations.

December 21 marks the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the UN Rules on the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders, known as the Rules from Bangkok (Bangkok Rules). Building upon a number of UN Resolutions in the field of human rights protection, these rules particularly emphasized the need to establish global standards in the treatment of women prisoners by the competent authorities. Essentially, the Rules highlight the gender and anti-discrimination aspect, defining the protection of women's rights in certain areas such as prisons to which until then no attention was devoted.

These rules showcased the need to create a fairer and safer environment for women, with an alternative to imprisonment, especially for those who struggle with poverty, violence, mental health or have committed petty offenses. They stand for a society and a state that respects the dignity of women and strives to improve their position in all life situations. Shedding light to the fact that women in prison are usually mothers and primary carers in a family, the Bangkok Rules specify that they as prisoners should be staying close to their homes and remain in contact with their family. Prison health care and hygiene should respond to the specific needs of women, provide them with regular gynecological and specialized examinations as well as with continuous psychological support. Furthermore, prisons should provide for women's basic needs, specific to their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, ethnicity and age. Female prison staff, who should have the same opportunities in terms of training and promotion in the workplace as men, as well as safety and security at work should not be disregarded.

Within the general competence in performing the NPM tasks, the Protector of Citizens monitors the treatment of women in criminal justice system and closed type institutions and encourages the changes in practice and in law, including the issue of an alternative to remand/prison. In this regard, over the years the NPM has been pointing out to the negative aspects of the long-term enforcement of detention measures against women, given that, due to the relatively small number, some women while in detention are practically in isolation. Namely, although in the penal sanctions enforcement system, solitary confinement/isolation is a special, disciplinary measure that is strictly time limited, it is a regular manner of execution of detention for some detainees in the current practice. Although the Administration for the Enforcement of Penal Sanctions has undertaken significant activities to improve the material conditions of accommodation of persons deprived of liberty and enhance the institution ‘s capacity, having a new facility built in Požarevac Penitentiary, this still remains a sole Institution accommodating women sentenced to imprisonment, so it is impossible for the institution to be near the prisoner's home, making regular contacts with the family, important for their integration and social inclusion upon their release, more difficult.

Acknowledging the Protector of Citizens’ Opinion on the importance of preventive medical examinations in the Požarevac Penitentiary, this Institution passed the Directive on monitoring the health condition and prevention of diseases of female convicts, which determined the dynamics, scope and content of preventive examinations.

The Protector of Citizens will continue to monitor the treatment of women, as a particularly vulnerable category of persons deprived of liberty, and take activities to step up the situation in this area.