Civic Alliance organized a lecture for the students of the Faculty of Law, where Ms. Marijana Sinđić, Chief Adviser to the Ombudsman, together with the Adviser to the Ombudsman in the sector Protection from torture, security and the national prevention mechanism, spoke about activities in the field of prevention and response. Through the mentioned lecture, students heard more about the practical work of the Ombudsman and all the steps that the employees of the Ombudsman’s office take to improve the protection of human rights in Montenegro.
To bring the work of the Ombudsman as close as possible, the lecturers talked about their experience with the institution as well as the changes that have taken place in the last ten years regarding the guidelines and opinions of the Ombudsman.
Ms. Sinđić pointed out that in the beginning, the institutions and state bodies did not take the recommendations and opinions of the Protector seriously, and that there was even a great deal of resistance towards them. Over time, however, the situation changed and there are noticeable advances in the protection of human rights and freedoms in Montenegro.
The students were also presented with the work of Ombudsmen in the field, what the visits of the Protector look like, as well as the fact that 90% of visits are unannounced and unexpected, especially in closed facilities such as the Institute for Execution of Criminal Sanctions (UIKS), homes for the elderly, psychiatric hospitals and similar. It was pointed out that there is a mailbox in every pavilion in UIKS, where people can directly contact the Ombudsman and obtain protection.
Although the situation with the protection of human rights has improved in Montenegro, we are still far from the standards we strive for. That is why it is necessary to work more intensively on better conditions in closed institutions, especially on material conditions in UIKS, police premises, and special hospitals.
The lecture was held as part of the project “No impunity for violations and breach of human rights in Montenegro”, which was financially supported by the European Union and co-financed by the Ministry of Public Administration.
