News 2021

Tillbaka Council of Europe anti-torture Committee carries out 11-day visit to Serbia

A delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) carried out its 5th periodic visit to Serbia from 9 to 19 March 2021.

In the course of the visit, the CPT’s delegation examined the treatment and safeguards afforded to persons detained by law enforcement agencies. It also looked into the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held in three prison establishments, both on remand and sentenced. A further focus of the visit was the treatment and living conditions afforded to psychiatric patients under civil and forensic measures and of residents placed in social care homes. Further, the delegation was able to assess the impact of the measures taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in these establishments.

At the end of the visit, the delegation presented its preliminary observations to the Serbian authorities.

The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:

Mykola Gnatovskyy (Head of delegation)
Julia Kozma
Marie Lukasová
Alexander Minchev
Slava Novak
Aleksandar Tomčuk.

They were supported by Julien Attuil-Kayser and Christian Loda, of the Secretariat of the CPT as well as by Jake Hard, General Practitioner working in prisons in Wales, United Kingdom (expert).

The delegation visited the following places of deprivation of liberty:

Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior

Metropolitan Police Headquarters, 29 November Street, Belgrade
Savski Venac Police Station, Belgrade
Voždovac Police Station, Belgrade
Zvezdara Police Station, Belgrade
Požarevac Police Administration
Niš Medijana Police Station

Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of Justice

Belgrade District Prison including the Special Prison Hospital and the separate Special Pre-trial Detention in Ustanička Street
Pančevo Penal Correctional Institution
Požarevac Zabela Penal Correctional Institution