The Clinic for Psychiatry of the Clinical Center of Serbia has informed the Protector of Citizens about the activities it has undertaken in accordance with the recommendations of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, which it received in the Visit Report of October 30, 2019.

Regarding the recommendations concerning more detailed and orderly keeping of the medical history and an increase in the availability of physicians to the patients for interviewing, with the protection of privacy and confidentiality of personal information, the Clinic stated that compliance with these procedures will be subject to continuous internal quality review of professional work.

In addition, the Clinic has compiled a list of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that can be followed with even the least minimal risk to the health of the patient in order to create an appropriate form used at the Clinical Center of Serbia for informed consent of the patient to a subsequently introduced medical measure. The clinic has accepted the NPM's recommendation to expand the psycho-social rehabilitation plan by developing accessible and tailored psycho-social rehabilitation activities to suit patients' individual needs and capabilities.

In connection with NPM's recommendation that the Clinic develop a program of continuing specialist education for nursing staff, the Clinic submitted a 2019 Report and an Education Plan for 2020 and informed the Protector of Citizens that it has a long tradition of educating nurses, technicians and therapists, that the lectures accredited by the Health Council of Serbia are compulsory and necessary for the re-licensing of the work permit, and that the nurses-technicians from the nursing and treatment of psychiatric patients department are also educated by attending specialist meetings, symposia and conferences of professional associations.

The Clinical Center of Serbia and the Ministry of Health were requested information on the activities undertaken to procure the prescribed equipment for performing the health care activity and to carry out standard diagnostic procedures, investment maintenance of the building and installation of an external lift for the needs of the Psychiatry Clinic.

Based on the monitoring of the forcible removal procedure of a Chinese national, which was carried out on September 27, 2019, the NPM prepared a report stating that the proceeding was conducted in accordance with the regulations and standards envisaged.

The monitoring began at the Shelter for Foreigners, where the Chinese national was located, his transfer into an official vehicle was monitored, and while on his way to the airport, an NPM representative was in an official vehicle, behind the vehicle carrying the foreigner.

At the airport, an NPM representative interviewed the foreigner and followed the procedure for boarding the aircraft. The Chinese national stated that he had no objection to the actions of police officers, he also said that he had been allowed to contact his wife and that he wanted to return to China. During the interview with him, no signs of uneasiness about the removal and / or conduct of police officers were observed.

All police officers have fully cooperated with the NPM by providing the requested information, facilitating attendance and monitoring of the removal process, as well as unsupervised interview with the foreigner.

In August 2019, the National Preventive Mechanism, as part of its regular, planned activities, visited the Velika Plana Police Station, part of the Smederevo Police Administration. The visit was unannounced, and within it the NPM team visited two detention facilities, interviewed police officers and gained insight into individual detention cases and cases of use of coercive means. All police officers cooperated fully with the NPM by providing all the information requested, and by enabling the team to access and photograph the documentation, as well as to tour and photograph the premises. Based on the visits and the facts established, the NPM submitted a Report with recommendations to the supervised authority.

In accordance with the recommendations of the NPM, measures are being taken at the Velika Plana Police Station to ensure that surveillance videos are kept for a period of not less than 30 days, as well as to improve the accommodation capacities of the detention facilities. The response of the authorities also stated that a letter was sent to organizational units of the Police Administration of Smederevo saying that they should start using a special room for the purpose of identifying and hearing persons, if they have one. Bearing in mind that the NPM recommended the correct calculation of the beginning of detention under the Criminal Procedure Code, the heads of organizational units of the Police Administration of Smederevo were ordered to carry out controls of cases of detained persons in this regard.

The National Preventive Mechanism of the Protector of Citizens sent the Report with recommendations to the controlled authorities, following the control visit to the Jagodina Police Administration, which included visits to the headquarters of the Jagodina Police Administration and the Ćuprija Police Station, as well as visits to the Penal-Correctional Facility in Ćuprija, which were conducted in April 2019.

Acting on the recommendations of the NPM, the Jagodina Police Administration took the necessary measures in order to keep the surveillance videos for at least 30 days and provided a special room for the interrogation of persons, and the necessary measures were taken to equip this room with technical equipment for audio and video recording. Also, this administration informed the NPM that it will have its technical equipment set up for audio and video recording in the interrogation room in the Ćuprija Police Station.

Also, based on the visits performed by the representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, the NPM received information that the detention facilities at the Paraćin, Ćuprija and Despotovac police stations will be renovated in the coming period.
At the Penal-Correctional Facility in Ćuprija, doctors have started acting in accordance with the recommendations of the NPM regarding medical examinations, meaning that in the future the first examination of detainees will include an examination of all body parts, that is, a patient will be examined without clothes. Also, during the first medical examination, the doctor will enter in the medical record all the information he/she has obtained, will photograph all injuries observed on the detained person during the first medical examination, and photographs of the injuries will be stored in the medical record of the person. The Penal-Correctional Facility in Ćuprija also installed a PVC curtain at the sanitary block, ensuring the privacy of detainees, while in the room intended for detention, sufficient supply of natural light was provided in such a way that the security of the institution was not endangered. In the room intended for detention, sanitary facilities have been renovated and clean bed sheets and personal hygiene products for detainees were provided.

The National Preventive Mechanism made an unannounced visit to the Penal-Correctional Facility in Niš on December 24 and 25. In addition to the checks related to the use of video surveillance and the practice of having confidential conversations with the warden, special attention was paid during this visit to the treatment of psychoactive substance addicts.

The existence of psychoactive substances in prisons is controlled and monitored by the NPM from the safety, health and treatment aspects, and particular attention will be given to this issue in the coming year in order to comprehensively review the situation and produce a thematic report.

Specialized experts will be included in the visits that will be carried out in 2020, which will address the problem of existence of drugs in prisons, and with the planned research we intend to primarily determine the degree of presence of psychoactive substances in prisons and the response of penal-correctional facilities to this problem.

During its stay in Niš, the NPM also made an unannounced visit to the Niš border police station - Airport and the Constantine the Great Airport. The NPM was there for the first time, and the topic was the treatment of foreigners who were not allowed to enter the country. The NPM representatives visited a special room that was provided for accommodation of those who were forbidden from entering the country, and they accessed the required records and interviewed police officers and airport security officers. The NPM will draw up a report on the visit and send it to the competent authorities.

In its Report on the visit to the Shelter for foreigners, the NPM states that the preparation of the translation of the reasons for placement in the Shelter into several languages has begun, which will be served to foreigners either with the decision on accommodation or during accommodation. The house rules have already been translated into several languages and are handed over to persons upon their placement at the Shelter, and the NPM recommendation was adopted that families with children, should they find themselves in such a place, since a case like that was not recorded in years, should not be separated in the future. The report also states that one of the two wings intended for housing foreigners in the Shelter has been renovated and is being used, while works on the other wing are in progress.

At the same time, the NPM indicates in its report that there are still deficiencies in terms of health care, which it had been pointing out for a long time, and problems with access to lawyers have also been identified. Concerning the hiring of translators, the competent authorities announced that they will seek funding for this purpose in 2020.

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In its replies to the NPM Report on the compulsory removal of Chinese nationals and the sent recommendations, the most important being the provision of translators, the Ministry of the Interior said that it did not have a uniform practice at the moment, but that the problem was being solved from situation to situation, and that for the year 2020, they sought the necessary funds for this purpose.