Detention rooms in numerous organizational units of the police should be adapted because they are still contrary to the standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), and the hygienic conditions in them should be improved.
This is stated in the report of the National Torture Prevention Mechanism (NPM) for last year, which was submitted to the Parliament.
It is emphasized that, in terms of the material conditions of detention rooms, the Security Department (OB) in Bijelo Polje stands out as a bad example, for which the repeated recommendation is to put them out of use until they are completely renovated and adapted in accordance with standards.
The NPM report adds that, despite the repeated recommendation, those premises are still in operation.
The NPM team stated that in OB Bar, in terms of material conditions, the situation remained unchanged, and that the hygienic conditions needed to be improved and the premises kept clean.
According to their assessment, the premises of the security department in Kotor, Cetinje and Budva are also in violation of CPT standards.
The Report states that in OB Budva there is no test or possibility of audio-visual recording of conversations, and that there is no special room for storing things and objects that are temporarily confiscated by the police officer. After the monitoring of OB Kolašin, the NPM team recorded that the material conditions have not changed.
"The facility of OB Kolašin is older and it would be desirable to adapt both the detention rooms and the officers' rooms," the report states.
After monitoring OB Nikšić, the NPM team recorded that the detention facilities are orderly and optimal for stay, but the unfavorable age structure of police officers was recorded as a problem.
In the report, it is written that, in the part that refers to the material conditions and the adaptation of the detention facilities of the OB Pljevlja to the standards of the CPT, in terms of surface area and dimensions, the situation remained unchanged.
It is stated that the officers of the Andrijevica Police Station detain people, but people are not detained because there are no rooms for detention, and that all documentation on the arrest is kept in the OB Berane.
The NPM report points out that the maintenance of hygiene in detention facilities remains a general concern.
"Although efforts are being made to improve the situation, there is still a lack of systematic regulation of this issue at the UP level," the document says.
The Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms, who performs the duties of the NPM, praised the adoption of the Rulebook on conditions that must be met by premises for the detention of persons deprived of their liberty and detained persons, which was adopted in March 2024.
"The regulation is in line with international standards and we expect the necessary funds to be provided for its application in practice," the report states.
As it is added, the needs of the Podgorica Airport border crossing are not accompanied by adequate support from the airport operator in terms of providing adequate material conditions for the detention of persons.
The NPM team stated that, bearing in mind that in the last year, up to the moment of the tour, 19 persons were prohibited from entering, and that persons return to their home country with the carrier with which they came, very often in practice it happens that the first subsequent return flight according to the schedule is realized during the following days.
"Without delay, the airport, in coordination with the border police, should take measures to accommodate foreigners who have been refused entry into the country in adequate material conditions," the report states.
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