No systemic torture in Serbia

BELGRADE - Torture does not exist in Serbia as a systemically organised and encouraged phenomenon, but there are individual cases of abuse, which are tolerated by the authorities, Deputy Ombudsman Milos Jankovic said on Wednesday.

Should such cases be tolerated continually and on a larger scale, they could indicate a systemic character of torture, Jankovic warned in a parliamentary debate on the 2013 National Mechanism for Torture Prevention report.

"One of the most significant messages of the report is the message to the relevant Serbian authorities to step up the efforts in the fight against impunity of torture," Jankovic said.

The parliamentary Committee on Human and Minority Rights unanimously adopted the report on Monday, proposing the conclusions to be adopted by the MPs.

The conclusions include the ombudsman's findings on the position of convicts and proposals for improving their treatment, Meho Omerovic, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality, told reporters.

The Committee proposed that the parliament obligate the state authorities to take measures to ensure that female convicts, due to their low numbers in detention units, are not solitary or isolated over longer periods of time, he said.

The Committee also proposed that the parliament obligate the state authorities to implement the ombudsman's recommendations for eliminating illegal practices in treatment of illegal migrants and foreigners who express intent to seek asylum in Serbia.

The Committee also proposed that the parliament obligate the Ministry of Justice to ensure improvements to the teachers' work with convicts and that their engagement be stepped up where possible, as...