The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has published today the report on its ad hoc visit to Montenegro, which took place from 7-13 June 2022, together with the response of the Montenegrin Government. To address the continued ill-treatment by the police and improve the poor situation of remand prisoners, serious measures need to be taken by the authorities, the Committee concluded.
Many allegations of serious physical ill-treatment of detained persons by police officers were received by the CPT’s delegation, the report highlights. These included allegations against officers from the Sector for the Fight against Organised Crime and Corruption, Special Units, criminal police and inspectors from a variety of different police stations located in several parts of the country. The allegations included slaps, punches and kicks to the head, abdomen, chest and arms and of use of ‘falaka’ (strikes to the soles of feet), the grabbing and squeezing of suspects’ genitals, electro-shocks with dog collars along with inducing a sensation of asphyxiation through placing a plastic bag over the head of the suspect, threats at gun-point, threats of rape, and the stripping of suspects, tying them to a chair and dousing them with cold water. In addition, the delegation also heard of threats made against the children or other family members of the suspect to pressure them to make a confession or to impart certain pieces of information. In the Committee’s view, these alleged actions may well amount to torture.
Most of the alleged torture and/or ill-treatment occurred during the pre-investigation phase of criminal proceedings, apparently for the purpose of extracting information or a confession. In many (but by no means all) instances, these allegations concerned persons who had been summoned to police premises to give an initial statement or information, but who were not yet formally designated as a suspect. They had been summoned for “Informative Talks” with the police. Safeguards surrounding such talks must be strengthened.
