As they stated, during the visit, the CPT examined the treatment and conditions of detention of arrested persons in various places of detention, including prisons, child and youth detention facilities and correctional facilities, as well as psychiatric hospitals and social welfare institutions. The Montenegrin authorities' letter of response was published together with the observations.
"The preliminary observations are particularly critical of the situation of persons in detention. They are subjected to ill-treatment and are held in unacceptable conditions. They are often locked in cells for 23 hours a day, and in some cases they have only 2.5 m² of living space per person. It also points to systemic problems with the application of detention in Montenegro, where 56 percent of the prison population is made up of detainees, and the delegation spoke to several persons who have spent more than six years in pre-trial detention," the statement added.
There remain severe restrictions on detainees, resulting in reduced contact with the outside world and minimal access to any meaningful activities or work. Basic items needed for a decent and dignified life – such as toilet paper, hygiene products and bedding – are not regularly provided by the authorities, forcing prisoners to depend on their families for these most basic necessities. Despite the Committee’s repeated recommendations over the years, no measures have been taken to improve the plight of detainees.
“The situation of patients at the Dobrota Psychiatric Hospital has not improved since the CPT’s previous visit in 2017. Overcrowding remains a key problem: a significant number of patients continue to sleep on mattresses on the floor, as the institution continues to accommodate different categories of patients. This includes forensic patients, so-called “social patients” who do not require further hospitalization, and even children, despite the opening of a children’s psychiatric ward at the Clinical Center of Montenegro,” the HRA said.
As regards social care homes, the Committee noted some improvements since the previous visit, in particular at the Komanski Most Institution. However, the Committee remains concerned about the insufficient number of caregivers, as well as the challenges in working with distressed beneficiaries, especially those with severe forms of autism spectrum disorders, which require specific skills and training.
The report also states that the vast majority of persons interviewed by the delegation, in the four prisons visited, stated that they were treated fairly by prison staff. However, the delegation did receive some
allegations of physical abuse by prison staff. Most such allegations were recorded in
The Spuž Remand Prison and the Bijelo Polje Prison, but there were also some in the Spuž Long Sentence Prison.
The allegations, they say, related to cases of beatings by prison staff in rooms not covered by video surveillance, such as isolation cells. Several of the allegations were confirmed by corresponding injuries in the reviewed medical records or other records.
“One of the allegations, which concerned the beating of a prisoner by two prison officers from Bijelo Polje Prison, was under investigation at the time of the visit and was referred to the State Prosecutor’s Office; however, the employees to whom the allegation relates have not been formally suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. While it is clear that the majority of employees do not abuse prisoners, there are a few employees who do, and the prison administration needs to pay more attention to this issue,” the report states.
Violence between prisoners is reported to occur quite regularly, but less frequently than the Committee recorded in 2022. They add that the impression is that this problem is generally adequately addressed in all four prisons visited. This is positive. Similarly, the recorded use of force or coercion has decreased in all four prisons since the Committee's last visits, as has the practice of shackling.
This, as they say, is another positive step.
When it comes to material living conditions, certain measures have been taken in the Supsk Prison for Long Sentences.
Steps have been taken to improve conditions and all blocks have recently been renovated and equipped with new video surveillance – but there is still a problem with limited access to natural light and plastic window coverings.
However, as they say, many detention facilities, especially in Bijelo Polje Prison (closed and detention pavilions), and
They are still below standard: poor hygiene, insufficient sanitary conditions, moldy and damp conditions were recorded.
cells, crumbling floors and crumbling walls, open light installations and strong
overcrowded cells.
"The Spuž remand prison is characterized by somewhat better conditions, but the overall situation remains poor – especially in the Juvenile Department, where sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds live 23 hours a day in cells with torn mattresses, dangerous attachment points, and inadequate, poor, and unacceptable conditions (see text below)," the report states.
Likewise, in all four prisons visited, smokers have to share accommodation with non-smokers (including non-smokers in their fifth month of pregnancy in the Supca prison).
"By letter dated 22 January 2026, the authorities of Montenegro responded to various issues raised by the Committee's delegation," the statement added.
The full report on the November 2025 visit will be submitted to the Montenegrin authorities in July 2026.
"The preliminary observations and response were published with the consent of the Montenegrin authorities," the statement concluded.
Photo: HRA
