By visiting the “Major Milan Tepić” barracks in Jakovo, the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture started the practice of visiting barracks in which a disciplinary sanction is imposed banning the abandonment of special premises in a military facility.

Seeing how special premises for disciplinary sanctions are places where the persons deprived of their liberty are or may be, in this case the members of the Army, the NPM also introduces visits to barracks in its regular activities in order to strengthen the protection, if necessary, against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of such persons and the protection of their position. The NPM derives such mandate and authority from domestic and international regulations, which provide, among other things, that the Protector of Citizens, together with the National Assembly and other state bodies, also exercises civilian control of the military.

The first visit was realized with a positive response from the Ministry of Defense and the establishment of the necessary cooperation between the institution and the state body. The NPM team members received the requested information during the visit, the barracks commander and other members of the Serbian Armed Forces answered all questions from the NPM team and allowed them to visit special premises where disciplinary sanctions preventing the abandonment of the facility are being enforced, as well as access to records.

The visit to the Jakovo barracks is the first of 15 planned visits to the barracks with special premises for the execution of disciplinary sanctions, which will be implemented by the NPM by the end of the year and after that a summary, comprehensive report will be made on the position of persons who have been imposed disciplinary sanctions and the conditions found in the premises where that sanction is enforced.

The NPM team visited yesterday two health care institutions in Niš. The visit was paid to the Psychiatric Clinic of the Clinical Center Niš after it was announced and in accordance with the plan of visits for 2019, while the visit to the Center for Mental Health at the Clinical Center Niš was visited by NPM members without previous announcement.

Apart from the representatives of the Protector of Citizens, the NPM team included the doctor specialist of psychiatry, representative of the association International Assistance Network (IAN).

Both these institutions were visited by the NPM for the first time with the aim of observing the position of patients, exercise and promotion of their rights and special attention was paid to the conditions in which they are accommodated, the reception procedure, and the treatment of agitated patients. The heads and employees of both institutions cooperated with the NPM team and enabled them to implement the visit in compliance with entrusted competences and mandate. The NPM shall execute reports and issue necessary recommendations to competent persons on completed visits.

The NPM team visited today Police Station Velika Plana, which is a part of the Police Administration in Smederevo.

During the unannounced, the NPM team members accomplished successful cooperation with police officers, who provided the insight into the requested documentation in the files on detention of persons and in the files referring to the application of the means of coercion. They were also provided with the conversation with police officers as well as the visit to the premises for detention of persons, there are two of them at the station and during this visit NPM team members did not find any person in detention.

In compliance with the established practice, NPM shall make a report on the paid visit and issue to the competent persons corresponding recommendation.

Irregularities in the implementation of the final exam in school year 2018/2019, such as those which occurred in the school year 2012/2013, occurred because employees at printing plants engaged at printing and packing of tests, illegally obtained tests and made them available to public. The fact that illegal conduct on both occasions occurred at printing plants outside the education system, which had agreements with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development binding them not only to perform their task but also to keep the test confidentiality, shows that trusting these tasks to legal entities which are not a part of the educational system and are not subjected to the control of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development is a “weak link” and an important risk factor in the organization of the final exam. This is stated among other things in the Opinion with recommendations of the Protector of Citizens issued to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development.

In the process of control implemented by the sector competent for the child rights of the Protector of Citizens, it was determined that the educational system does not have technical possibilities and corresponding financial and human resources to provide printing and packing of tests within the institutions of the educational system, said the Protector of Citizens Zoran Pašalić, adding that the Law on Fundamentals of the Educational System established the Exam Center within the Institute for the Assessment of the Education Quality, with competences corresponding also to the need of printing, packing and distribution of tests. Since the employees of the institutions of educational system are subjected to far more strict inspections and measures than those at private employers, the use of competence and resources of the Institute and Exam center provides the retention of the control over the complete organization of the final exam and state test and responsibilities for that within the educational system and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, said Pašalić.

The Protector of Citizens issued a recommendation to the Ministry to take measures in order to keep the entire procedure of organization and implementation of the final and entrance exam and state test in the domain of the control and responsibility of the Ministry and educational bodies, institutions and organizations. Furthermore, it was recommended that the budged funds necessary for the provision of material, technical and other conditions be planned so that the activities in the organization of the final exam, which have been trusted to external partners so far, are implemented from now on within the Institute for the assessment of education quality and Exam Center, it is said in the recommendations of the Protector of Citizens.