CAT/OP/MKD/1/Add.1
19.
With regard to the right to a medical doctor, detainees may receive medical
assistance should it be “visibly” necessary, should they request it, or should they not
request it, but police officers present consider it necessary.
20.
The issue of ensuring mandatory medical screening of detainees upon arrival has
often been a topic of discussion at trainings and work meetings and carrying it out in
practice would only become fully possible if special detention centers with an around-theclock presence of an on-duty medical doctor are established.
21.
The new Standard Operating Procedures deals with this matter and established
assertion by means of setting forth the following obligation: “Should detainees be
established to be suffering from serious injury or be complaining of pain or injury, their
right to being afforded medical assistance takes primary precedence above all else and all
other activity shall be undertaken only after they have been provided medical assistance.
22.
All requests for receiving medical assistance shall be granted without exception and
police officers shall not be allowed to filter any such requests.”
23.
In view of the recommendations outlined in the SPT Report, the MoI has been all of
them taken into consideration and particularly during the process of drafting the revised
Standard Operating Procedures, the text of which particularly stresses the obligation of
ensuring that a defence lawyer is present over the course of conducting police interviews
with detainees, as well as of detainees being allowed to converse/consult with their lawyer
in private.
24.
Furthermore, a separate chapter of the revised SOP particularly highlights the
absolute prohibition as stipulated by Article 3 of the European Convention on Human
Rights (and Article 2 of the CAT) and establishes connection with Article 142 of the
Criminal Code of the Republic of Macedonia “Torture and other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment and punishment”, thus bringing to the fore and underscoring the chief
demand as outlined in the recommendation made in the SPT Report for the MoI employing
zero tolerance in regard to the matter in question.
B.
Material conditions
25.
The 2016–2020 Police Development Strategy outlines a specific objective numbered
4.7 which has been entitled Strengthening the Technical Capacities of Detention Premises
in Police Stations. The Strategy further puts forward a concrete timeframe for the pursuance
of said specific objective.
26.
At this juncture, under a Decision of the Minister of the Interior, a Working Group
has been established tasked with determining which police stations and sectors of the
interior (PS and SoI) across the country are most in need of refurbishment and should have
new facilities constructed.
27.
After establishing which PS should be prioritized, a report will ensue outlining the
timeframe for further activity. The specific objective is to be met by 2020.
28.
With reference to the holding cells in Kicevo police station, the MoI would like to
report that the conclusion outlined in said items as regards the PS in question indeed
corresponds with the actual state of the facility mentioned.
29.
In September 2017, the Strategic Planning, Standards, and Quality Control Unit at
the MoI Public Security Bureau (PSB) filed an information paper to the MoI General and
Common Affairs Department pointing out that, as of 2012, Kicevo PS had been constantly
pinpointed as a priority PS in terms of needing refurbishment to the detention premises
within its compounds.
30.
Moreover, Kicevo PS is one of the police stations that has been listed as a priority
objective in the Draft 2018–2020 Budget Calculation, which formed part of the process of
drafting the Work Program of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, being
formulated under the following title: Refurbishment of Detention Facilities with Police
Interviewing and Suspect Line-Up Face Identification Premises.
5