A/HRC/40/59/Add.1
C.
Lack of genuine investigations
25.
Procedural safeguards are in place, which allow individuals to file complaints
directly regarding alleged human rights violations, including torture and other forms of illtreatment, with the administrative or judicial authorities responsible for their detention and,
as a subsidiary remedy, to the Constitutional Court.
26.
In particular, the law on the execution of penal sanctions provides for internal
control by the respective departments of the Ministry of Justice. Similarly, the 2005 police
act established an internal control section for the police, with operative units in all
municipalities, while the current functions of the internal control section of the Ministry of
the Interior enable senior officers from the same organizational unit to investigate
subordinate officers accused of acts of ill-treatment.
27.
While the Special Rapporteur strongly welcomes the measures mentioned above, he
remains concerned at the lack of independence of such oversight bodies, which does not
allow for a truly reliable and impartial oversight and control over alleged malpractice of the
police and correctional authorities. His concern is further compounded by the low number
of reported and adjudicated complaints regarding acts of torture and other ill-treatment and
the disproportionately low ratio of convictions as compared to acquittals and case
dismissals. That seems to reflect a lack of trust of the general population in the willingness
of the authorities to ensure accountability for acts of torture and ill-treatment.
28.
Measures should be urgently taken to curb the culture of impunity still prevailing for
torture and ill-treatment. In particular, the Special Rapporteur is of the view that the
authorities should ensure that all investigations into acts of torture and ill-treatment by the
police are conducted by an independent body that is neither connected to, nor under the
authority of the police.
D.
Conditions of detention
29.
The Special Rapporteur notes that in the past, Serbia has repeatedly been criticized
by international mechanisms for poor conditions of detention and overcrowding. During the
Special Rapporteur’s visit, it became clear that, in the course of the past few years,
significant and meaningful steps have been taken to renovate and increase the capacity of
the existing detention infrastructure and to build new detention facilities.
30.
The Special Rapporteur was able to ascertain that large parts of the correctional
centres in Niš and Sremska Mitrovica and of the central prison in Belgrade had been
completely renovated and now fully met international standards, while further large-scale
renovation and construction works were visibly in progress. Overcrowding remains a major
problem in Sremska Mitrovica, however, with an occupancy rate of up to 150 per cent of
the actual capacity, most notably in the “reception section” where convicts are initially
accommodated before being assigned to a cell. There, inmates were found to suffer from
unacceptable conditions, including overpopulation, problems of lice and bedbugs, dust and
respiratory problems. The Special Rapporteur wishes to stress that urgent renovation is also
needed in pavilion 4 of the Sremska Mitrovica correctional facility, which is gravely
outdated and clearly falls short of international standards. Sanitary and hygienic conditions
observed in the facilities were found to be generally satisfying, but also affected by
overcrowding.
31.
The Special Rapporteur therefore very much welcomes the measures taken by the
relevant Serbian authorities to reduce overcrowding by promoting alternative, non-custodial
measures and to facilitate conditional release in line with the “Strategy for the development
of the penal sanctions enforcement system in the Republic of Serbia until 2020” and the
action plan for its implementation. Those tools being in place, the Special Rapporteur
urgently calls on the judicial institutions of Serbia to make maximum use of them in order
to alleviate the broad spectrum of the negative consequences of overcrowding and
unnecessary incarceration.
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