26 June 2019
Skopje
PRESENTED THE ANNUAL REPORT ON OMBUDSMAN- NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISM FOR 2018
"This 8th Annual Report of the National Preventive Mechanism presents the situation in the places of deprivation of liberty and detention, as well as the situations in the treatment of refugees in the places of their accommodation or detention, which the team of the NPM determined during the direct visits Police Stations, Penitentiary Rehabilitation Institutions, Reception Transit Centers for Refugees, the Aliens Center and the Asylum Seekers' Center. During the reporting year, we conducted a total of 42 preventive visits, of which 11 visits to police stations and prisons and 31 visits to the places of accommodation and retention of migrants and refugees. In addition, we conducted a survey on the degree of respect for the rights of foreign nationals serving prison sentences in the Idrizovo Penitentiary, for which two dedicated visits to this institution were carried out".
This, among other things, was stated by the Deputy Ombudsman, Ms. Vaska Bajramovska Mustafa at the press conference on the occasion of the presentation of the Annual Report of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) for 2018.
According to Bajramovska Mustava, the fact of incomplete implementation of the recommendations of the NPM after the visits to the Police stations in order to improve the material conditions for eliminating the risks of inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees and persons deprived of their liberty is worrying.
"The conclusion is that the situation remains largely unchanged, which was emphasized during the visit of the police stations, in the reporting period, as well as from the answers from the competent authorities, which undoubtedly shows that the authorities usually accept our recommendations, but in practice, do not implement them, especially if their implementation is related to the provision of funds, which from the aspect of the NPM's mandate is unjustified", said Deputy Ambassador Vaska Bajramovska-Mustafa.