Human Rights Action (HRA) strongly condemns the latest case of police torture against citizens in the center of Podgorica. It shows how the impunity for police torture is the safest way to make torture a systemic problem, which is now the case in Montenegro.

Members of the Police Directorate have obviously been encouraged to abuse coercion measures by the fact that the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit of the Police Directorate was able to apply torture against at least 25 citizens in Podgorica in October 2015 without any consequences. The absence of any legal and political responsibility for mass torture in 2015 is now showing its toxic effects.

HRA supports the urgent response of the Council for Civic Control of the Work of Police. The Police Directorate must ensure urgent criminal prosecution of all its officers responsible for this incident, suspend them from performing their duties and also initiate appropriate disciplinary punishment.

The same still needs to be done in relation to all cases that occurred in the context of protests in 2015.

We emphasize that in the meantime the amendments to the regulations have ensured that all members of the police are visibly marked and this time the Police Directorate cannot find excuses regarding their discovery.

Video of the latest case of police brutality is available here.