CPT/Inf (2019) 2 Report to the Government of Montenegro on the visit to Montenegro carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 9 to 16 October 2017 The Government of Montenegro has requested the publication of this report and of its response. The Government’s response is set out in document CPT/Inf (2019) 3. Strasbourg, 7 February 2019 - 2 - CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 4 I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 8 A. The visit, the report and follow-up.......................................................................................... 8 B. Context of the visit and cooperation encountered ................................................................. 9 C. Immediate observations under Article 8, paragraph 5, of the Convention....................... 10 II. FACTS FOUND DURING THE VISIT AND ACTION PROPOSED .............................. 11 A. Police establishments .............................................................................................................. 11 1. Preliminary remarks ........................................................................................................ 11 2. Torture and other forms of ill-treatment ......................................................................... 12 3. Investigations into allegations of ill-treatment ................................................................ 14 4. Safeguards against ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty ............................. 19 5. Monitoring and complaints procedures ........................................................................... 22 6. Conditions of detention ................................................................................................... 23 B. Prison establishments ............................................................................................................. 25 1. Preliminary remarks ........................................................................................................ 25 a. overcrowding ......................................................................................................... 25 b. prison establishments visited ................................................................................. 26 2. Ill-treatment ..................................................................................................................... 27 3. Conditions of detention and regime ................................................................................ 29 a. Institution for Sentenced Prisoners (KPD) ............................................................ 29 b. Remand Prison ....................................................................................................... 30 c. Bijelo Polje Prison ................................................................................................. 32 d. juveniles and young adults .................................................................................... 33 4. Health-care services ........................................................................................................ 35 5. Other issues of relevance to the CPT’s mandate ............................................................. 39 a. prison staff ............................................................................................................. 39 b. means of restraint ................................................................................................... 40 c. discipline ................................................................................................................ 42 d. contact with the outside world ............................................................................... 44 - 3 - e. complaints and inspection procedures ................................................................... 45 f. transport of detainees ............................................................................................. 46 C. Psychiatric establishments ..................................................................................................... 47 1. Preliminary remarks ........................................................................................................ 47 2. Ill-treatment ..................................................................................................................... 49 3. Patients’ living conditions ............................................................................................... 50 4. Treatment ........................................................................................................................ 52 5. Staff ................................................................................................................................. 54 6. Means of restraint ............................................................................................................ 55 7. Safeguards ....................................................................................................................... 58 D. Komanski Most Institution for Persons with Special Needs............................................... 62 1. Preliminary remarks ........................................................................................................ 62 2. Ill-treatment ..................................................................................................................... 63 3. Residents’ living conditions ............................................................................................ 63 4. Staff and care ................................................................................................................... 64 5. Means of restraint ............................................................................................................ 66 6. Safeguards ....................................................................................................................... 68 E. Ljubović Centre for Juveniles ............................................................................................... 70 1. Preliminary remarks ........................................................................................................ 70 2. Residents’ living conditions ............................................................................................ 71 3. Staff and care ................................................................................................................... 72 4. Means of restraint ............................................................................................................ 74 5. Safeguards ....................................................................................................................... 75 6. Other issues ..................................................................................................................... 75 APPENDIX I: List of the establishments visited by the CPT’s delegation ................................................. 77 APPENDIX II: List of the national authorities, other bodies and non-governmental organisations with which the CPT's delegation held consultations ........................................................... 78 - 4 - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In the course of the 2017 visit the CPT’s delegation reviewed the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the police and the conditions of detention of inmates in the country’s two prison facilities. The delegation also examined the treatment of psychiatric patients at Dobrota Special Psychiatric Hospital and Podgorica Psychiatric Clinic, and conducted follow-up visits to Komanski Most Institute for People with Special Needs and Ljubovic Centre for Juveniles. On the whole, the CPT’s delegation received excellent co-operation during the visit from the Montenegrin authorities at all levels. That said, when it comes to the implementation of its previous recommendations, the report notes that several long-standing issues remain unaddressed. For example, the lack of implementation in practice of fundamental legal safeguards against ill- treatment for persons deprived of their liberty by the police; inappropriate and prolonged resort to mechanical restraint using metal hand- and ankle-cuffs to fixate inmates to beds in prison establishments; and continued overcrowding and poor conditions at Dobrota Special Psychiatric Hospital. On these latter two issues, the CPT’s delegation made immediate observations at the end of the visit. Law enforcement The report notes some overall improvement since the 2013 visit in the treatment of persons detained by the police. Nevertheless, a significant number of allegations of physical ill-treatment by police officers were received. The alleged ill-treatment consisted of punches, slaps, kicks, baton blows and strikes with non-standard objects and the infliction of electro-shocks from hand-held electrical discharge devices. This was said to have occurred either at the time of apprehension or during the pre-investigation phase for the purpose of extracting confessions. The Committee concludes that persons deprived of their liberty in Montenegro still run an appreciable risk of being ill-treated by the police and that there is the need for the police senior management to enforce a multi-faceted strategy