Inhuman and humiliating treatment of the convicted persons in Macedonia’s penitentiaries – that is the conclusion of the Ombudsman’s annual report on the National Prevention Mechanism.

In Idrizovo penitentiary, two prisoners shared the same bed, and in some parts of the prison there is less than one square meter per prisoner, despite the EU rules demanding four square meters per convict in joint accommodation, and six in solitary ones.

During the inspection, the Ombudsman established that the convicts in Idrizovo sleep on mattresses on the floor, while others occupy four-story beds. The report also stressed that any benefits may be acquired only by bribing the officials.

regarding the Tetovo Juvenile Prison, the ombudsman notes that the authorities have not yet implement his recommendation for the convicts to attend school during they sentence, as stipulated in the Macedonian Constitution.

The situation is even worse in the mental hospitals around the country, the Ombudsman report reveals. During Ombudsman’s surprise inspection of the hospital in Demir Hisar, bounding and torturing assets were found – leather belts for restricting the patients, chains with lockers, and thick, rubber cables. Asked what are they using the rubber cables for, the employees couldn’t answer. The Ombudsman in the report points to the legal ban on threatening, hurting, abusing, or torturing the mental hospital’s patients.

In another mental hospital, Bardovci, escapes are reported that last up to several months. The patients are usually running from the bad and inadequate treatment, frequent beatings by other patients, and almost complete lack of control.

The head of the Ombudsman Office, Naser Ziberi, pointed to the continuous cutting of the prevention mechanism budgets as the maain reason for the situation.