The monitoring team of Civic Alliance conducted an unannounced visit to the police station in Bijelo Polje and found that the rights of persons deprived of their liberty are being seriously violated in the detention facilities.
Damaged furniture, deteriorating infrastructure, and hygiene conditions below any prescribed minimum render these facilities entirely unfit for human occupancy.
Unfortunately, even during visits to other security departments across Montenegro, we did not encounter significantly better conditions. However, the fact that the Regional Security Center „Sjever“ (North) is headquartered in Bijelo Polje makes this situation especially alarming. Instead of serving as a model of good practice, this Department has become an example of severe institutional neglect.
The authorities’ lack of willingness to improve the situation is further evidenced by police officers from the Security Department in Bijelo Polje have repeatedly reported the unacceptable conditions through internal correspondence, urging concrete action. However, despite these internal warnings, no steps have been taken to remedy the situation.
This kind of institutional passivity reflects a serious lack of accountability and demonstrates chronic neglect of issues that directly affect basic human rights and individual security.
We would like to remind the public that this year is scheduled for a new visit from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). However, cases such as this one strongly suggest that most of the previous recommendations, including those from the 2022 visit, have not been implemented, leaving the implementation of international standards as nothing more than a formality.
We call for an urgent response from the relevant authorities and publicly urge that the detention facilities at the Security Department in Bijelo Polje be immediately taken out of use due to the extremely inadequate conditions.
