Imprisonment as Ultima Ratio – An Absolute Nature of Prohibition of Ill-Treatment

The overall objective of the project is wider use of alternative sanctions and alternatives to pre-trial detention, challenging the impunity for torture, inhuman and degrading treatments or punishments as well as creating the conditions that will lead to the reduction of torture, inhuman and degrading treatments and punishments and recidivism in prisons and detention units in Serbia.

During this project, the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights collected statistical data on the practice of the judiciary for the period from 2010 to 2016 which was used for advocating the wider use of alternatives to detention and irrefutable proof of the repressive reasoning of the judiciary. In order to sensitize the general public, the Belgrade Centre printed leaflets and produced a short film aiming at enabling the average Serbian citizen to better understand the nature of detention and what such a measure entails. The BCHR will also gather the advocacy group composed of eight most prominent experts in the issue who will, on their authority and using data collected by the BCHR, exert powerful influence to change the existing judicial practice that is based on measures of imprisonment. Regarding the fight against impunity, the BCHR gathered the cases of criminal proceedings conducted for criminal offenses Extortion of statement (Article 136 of the Criminal Code) and Ill-treatment and torture (Article 137 of the Criminal Code), statistically and substantially analyzed them and published the book on procedural aspects of ill-treatment in the Republic of Serbia. The Belgrade Centre also continued its presence in the largest penitentiary facilities through regular visits. And finally, concerning the strategic litigation, the BCHR plans to instigate 5 proceedings before a judge for the execution of criminal sanctions in the four largest facilities (in total 20 proceedings) in order to evaluate the capacity of this newly created position in the fight against ill-treatment. The focus will be health care and living conditions – two major problems within the penitentiaries. A report will be compiled concerning the effects of the proceedings before the judge for the execution of criminal sanctions which will include their outcomes, as well as an evaluation as to whether or not the judge for the execution of criminal sanctions constitutes an efficient and effective legal remedy.