Report on performance of National mechanism for torture prevention for 2015 states that the Ombudsman conducted a research from August 12th to September 12th, about the respect given to arrested people in the space of Police Directorate.
The research was conducted by talking to individuals brought from 14 centers and divisions of safety of Police Directorate in reprimand in Spuž, ZIIKS. 86 individuals were questioned, out of 260 who were in the jail at the time.
“Based on the acquired data, we can conclude that the police officers failed to respect the arrestment procedure, inform the individuals of their rights and liberties”, the report states.
When asked if and how they were let know why are they being arrested, 60 individuals said that they knew, while 11 said they did not.
Responses on the question of how did they get the information varied in three categories. Some were shown a warrant, some were told, and some do not remember, while most of them did not reply to this question.
“From the total number of individuals questioned who replied to the question (36%), 8 of them said that they were shown a warrant. 16 individuals heard the reason from the police officers, and 7 do not remember the way they were informed of the reasons they are being arrested”, monitoring shows.
When asked whether they were tied during the arrest, 25 said they were, and 13 said they were not.
Those who were tied had different response to the question of resources used by the police.
“From total of 25 who were tied, 19 said said handcuffs were used, while 6 individuals said psychical force was applied”, research states.
When asked where they were brought (hearing room, reprimand room or an office), out of 76 questioned individuals, 73 said that they were brought in “an office”.
“One person said they were brought into a hearing room, while two said they were brought in the reprimand room”, the report states.
Ombudsman said that everyone questioned confirmed they had a right to a phone call when arrested.
“The results show that information paper is usually not given to the people getting arrested. From 81 who replied to this question, 73 said that they were not given this paper. 5 individuals said that they got it, while 3 of them do not recall”, the report states.
61 individuals said that police offered attorney services, while 9 said that they were not offered such services.
47 questioned individuals said that the hearing was conducted by an inspector, while 8 said that they were questioned by a prosecutor without their attorney present. 4 of them said they were questioned by a prosecutor with the attorney present, while 27 of them did not reply.
When asked if the psychical force was applied in hearings, 36 said there were not and 11 said there were.
Out of 11 individuals who confirmed the use of psychical force, 5 said that they were slapped during the hearing, while 6 said they were verbally abused.
“The five cases of psychical abuse were noted in Podgorica, Bar, Budva, Danilovgrad and Ulcinj. However, their medical records show no evidence of the abuse”, it was stated.
The research was conducted with private and open conversations with imprisoned individuals who are now out of the reach of the police, so they could answer freely.
Out of 86 who were interviewed, 63 were held in Centers in Podgorica, Bar, Budva, Bijelo Polje, Herceg Novi and Pljevlja, and 23 in Ulcinj, Kotor, Tivat, Cetinje, Plav, Danilovgrad and Kolašin.
