The Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Kotor opened a case regarding allegations that a medical technician at the Special Hospital for Psychiatry in that city abused a female patient, while the competent Ministry of Health requested a statement from the administration of that health facility.
The Ministry of Health, in its response to "Vijesta", said that they learned about this case from the media and from the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms, but not from the management of the "Dobrota" special hospital.
"On the occasion of the report of the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms, which states that a medical technician repeatedly physically abused a patient in the institution SB Dobrota, the Ministry of Health immediately after receiving this act, requested in writing an explanation of what the management of this health institution did when uu about this case", said the department and pointed out that they asked the hospital to take all measures and actions within their jurisdiction so that such and similar events would not occur.
On the other hand, ODT Kotor told "Vijesta" that a case was formed in that prosecutor's office based on the opinion of the Protector, in order to assess whether there are elements of a criminal offense in the actions of a person for which prosecution is undertaken ex officio.
"The case is in the stage of investigation, which is why we are not able to tell you, in order to protect against the disclosure of data related to the content of the actions taken in the pre-criminal procedure and the evidence collected during the investigation, what information we have obtained, what actions were taken, and about content of the collected evidence", spokeswoman and state prosecutor Tijana Čelanović said.
The medical technician of the Special Hospital for Psychiatry slapped twice and physically abused the patient several times, but the administration and the protector of patients' rights at "Dobrota" did not take any action regarding the reports of torture, nor did they prevent such actions, "Vijesti" announced on Tuesday.
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The latest case of abuse of a female patient, which happened at the end of December, was reported to the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms by a nurse working at the hospital. The Protector's team visited the institution and spoke with the director, employees, and the patient, but there was no official statement from the hospital, which on several occasions during the previous five months did not even allow the institution to view the case files.
According to the opinion that "Vijesti" had access to, the protector concluded that the medical technician's actions were contrary to the Law on the Protection and Exercise of the Rights of Mentally Ill Persons and that the case was not reported in a timely manner, nor investigated internally.
This, they claim, violated the patient's right to dignity and physical and psychological integrity of the person from Article 28 of the Constitution of Montenegro, i.e. Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The ombudsman points out in his opinion that since 2017 he recommends establishing a protocol of action in cases of reporting allegations of torture and other forms of abuse without delay and that it be consistently followed in practice. Seven years later, the protocol still does not exist.
According to the claims of the patient, the medical technician has beaten him ten times so far, and the last case of abuse, which was witnessed by the staff, happened in December last year.
In February, the Protector requested a detailed statement from the administration regarding the allegations in the complaint, documentation related to the implementation of the procedure in the specific case, but also in connection with earlier reports in relation to the medical technician, as well as the outcomes of the procedures. Since the Special Hospital did not submit the requested statement and documentation, the Protector sent an emergency in April and noted that failure to act on the Ombudsperson's request in accordance with the law is considered as obstructing the work of that institution, which can inform a higher authority, the Assembly or inform the public, as well as that the authorities are obliged to cooperate with them and provide them with assistance.
The protector again sent a letter at the end of April, which was not answered, and during the visit of the ombudsman as the National Preventive Mechanism in June of this year, they again asked the legal service for immediate access to official files and documents.
"However, despite the communication of the Protector's jurisdiction regarding the request, the team was not given the documents to inspect with the explanation that the director of SPB Dobrota is on vacation, and that the answer to the Protector is not ready," reads the opinion, which "Vijesti" had access to.
The opinion was sent to the Ministry of Health as the department in charge of supervising the operation of the hospital, in order to point out the obstruction of the work of the Protector, but also to the ODT Kotor, in order to determine whether there is criminal responsibility of the medical technician and other employees who knew, or should have known, that the abuse happened and they didn't report it.
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