Information

The Protector of Citizens identified omissions in the work of the Republic Geodetic Authority, Real Estate Cadaster Office in Lazarevac because it posted the decision on the Authority’s website and on the body’s bulletin board, although the delivery was not carried out in accordance with the applicable legal regulations.

Thus, the complainant’s rights to be informed about the outcome of the investigation upon the submitted request and to challenge the decision of the body by using a legal remedy were violated.

The Protector of Citizens in its capacity as the National Preventive Mechanism has pointed out for years to the shortcomings of the current organization of mental health care. These shortcomings have been recognized as well in the Mental Health Protection Program in the Republic of Serbia for the period 2019-2026 adopted by the Government in late 2019, and the Protector of Citizens expects that the activities envisaged by the Action Plan for the implementation of the Program will be implemented within the set deadlines.

Patients and beneficiaries with intellectual and mental disabilities are hospitalized and institutionalized for a long time in one part of large psychiatric hospitals and residential social welfare institutions, which are understaffed and have adverse material conditions, whereas the respect for their human and patients’ rights is not always possible to exercise. Due to COVID-19 epidemic, the rights of this particularly vulnerable group have been additionally restricted, Mr. Zoran Pašalić, the Protector of Citizens states.

However, systemic activities regarding deinstitutionalization have not been implemented, nor have conditions been created for the care and support of persons with intellectual and mental disabilities (and their families) in the local community.

Bearing in mind that, amid the current epidemiological situation (as in similar extraordinary circumstances) the need to improve mental health care system is even more pronounced and significant than in ordinary circumstances, the Protector of Citizens points out to the necessity to do the following without delay: develop a network of community mental health services that will provide comprehensive mental health care, with as few restrictions as possible and as close to the family as possible; employ more people to strengthen the existing specialized services at health care institutions and provide continuous education of employees in the field of mental health.

Equally important segment is investing in the fight against stigmatization and discrimination of persons with mental disorders, raising awareness of mental health importance and investing in mental health reforms to respect human rights and treat persons with mental disorders in accordance with the modern psychiatry principles, Deputy Protector of Citizens, Ms. Nataša Tanjević, PhD emphasizes. As she said, special attention should be paid to particularly vulnerable groups, prevention of mental disorders of children and youth, improvement of mental health and treatment of the elderly with mental disorders, as well as improvement of protection and care of persons serving medical security measures (forensic patients).

Lack of funds for mental health protection allocated from the budget of the Republic of Serbia i.e. the lack of data on the percentage of these funds in relation to the funds allocated for health care in general must not serve as an excuse or be an impediment to the necessary investments in preserving and improving citizens’ mental health.

The Protector of Citizens, in performing the tasks of the National Preventive Mechanism in 2020 and in order to monitor the treatment of persons in the execution of medical security measures, visited the Special Hospitals for Psychiatric Diseases in Vršac and Gornja Toponica, and the findings from these visits will be published within a special thematic report, after completing the planned visits to all institutions where forensic patients are being treated in the Republic of Serbia.

World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on 10 October at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health and with the support of the World Health Organization.

In May 2020, the Protector of Citizens’ team in their capacity as the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) paid an unannounced visit to Smederevo Police Administration in order to monitor the implementation of the Recommendations from the Report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) which followed the visits to the Republic of Serbia in 2017. The team leader was the Deputy Protector of Citizens, Ms. Nataša Tanjević, PhD. Following the visit, the Team issued the Report with Recommendations to Smederovo PA.

The Ministry of Interior’s response on acting on the recommendations reads that a new room has been designated in the facility where confiscated items will be kept, that conditions have been provided for disposing of these items, and that police officers have been warned of the ban on keeping the confiscated items in offices. In addition, police officers were instructed to record in the detention record the date and time when the family member, relative or defense counsel was informed of the person's deprivation of liberty.

The response also stated that due to the epidemic, the seminar "PEACE Model for Conducting Investigative Interviews" was postponed, intended for all police officers who exercise police powers and aimed at professionalizing the way interviews with witnesses, victims and suspects are conducted, and that it would continue as soon as health conditions establish. Within the Professional Development Program, classes on the topic "Police work with minority, marginalized and socially vulnerable groups" are also planned.

Regarding the recommendation that all persons detained for more than 12 hours be provided with at least one full meal, the Protector of Citizens was informed that acting on this recommendation was underway, in coordination with the Police Directorate, which would take measures within its competence to realize the agreements for providing hot meals from the District Prison in Smederevo and the barracks in Smederevska Palanka.

The Smederevo PA did not act on the recommendation regarding the provision of dedicated interrogation rooms and equipment with appropriate technical equipment for recording the interrogation, as its implementation depends on the available budget funds of the Ministry of Interior and the list of priorities set for providing dedicated premises in all police administrations in the country.

The death penalty was abolished in Serbia in 2002, and last carried out in 1992. The re-introduction of the death penalty is occasionally raised again in the public, and this attitude of citizens is correlated with cases of monstrous violence against children, domestic violence and similar crimes that justifiably provoke great public condemnation and require the most severe punishment, Deputy Protector of Citizens Ms. Natasa Tanjević, PhD. accentuates on marking the World Day against the Death Penalty.

However, the reintroduction of the death penalty would be impermissible, in any case and under any circumstances. Although punishment as a repressive measure is necessary given that it performs an important function in society by protecting the most important human goods and deterring crime as a generally dangerous social phenomenon, this does not mean that it should be reduced to mere repression and its goal must not be revenge to the perpetrator of the crime. We should strive for a fair and proportionate punishment that will best meet the requirements of general and special prevention.

In two-thirds of the world's countries, the death penalty has been abolished in law or not carried out, and in countries that have not yet done so, there is no evidence that the crime rate is lower or that the number of the most serious crimes is decreasing. In addition, the death penalty opposes the current state of culture and civilization and the wide possibilities available to the modern state in the fight against crime, the Deputy Protector of Citizens, Ms. Natasa Tanjević, PhD emphasizes. The attitude against the death penalty at all times and in all circumstances derives from both the universal and fundamental right to life.

On the World Day against the Death Penalty, the Protector of Citizens reminds that since 2007, when the Republic of Serbia chaired the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, 10 October has been marked as the European Day against the Death Penalty. This day is very important from the point of view of human rights protection, because it reminds of the importance of protecting the inviolability of human life and human dignity.