About us
The Independent Mechanism for monitoring the actions taken by police officers of the Ministry of the Interior in the area of illegal migration and international protection was established by the “Cooperation Agreement to implement an Independent Mechanism for monitoring the actions taken by police officers of the Ministry of the Interior in the area of illegal migration and international protection” of 8 June 2021.The Mechanism is currently implementing its activities on the basis of the “Cooperation Agreement to implement an Independent Monitoring Mechanism on the protection of fundamental rights in actions of police officers of the Ministry of the Interior in the area of border surveillance, irregular migration and international protection” of 4 November 2022.
The purpose of the Independent Monitoring Mechanism is to contribute to the respect of fundamental rights by monitoring the actions taken by police officers of the Ministry of the Interior in the area of border surveillance, irregular migration and international protection, with particular emphasis on the respect of the principle of non-refoulement, prohibition of collective expulsion, prohibition of torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
The establishment of the Independent Monitoring Mechanism marks the beginning of an impartial, independent and expert dialogue with the Ministry of the Interior with the aim of identifying normative, institutional, systematic, operational and technical, as well as human factors which contribute or cause unlawful actions.
The Independent Monitoring Mechanism is composed of the following:
The purpose of the Independent Monitoring Mechanism is to contribute to the respect of fundamental rights by monitoring the actions taken by police officers of the Ministry of the Interior in the area of border surveillance, irregular migration and international protection, with particular emphasis on the respect of the principle of non-refoulement, prohibition of collective expulsion, prohibition of torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
The establishment of the Independent Monitoring Mechanism marks the beginning of an impartial, independent and expert dialogue with the Ministry of the Interior with the aim of identifying normative, institutional, systematic, operational and technical, as well as human factors which contribute or cause unlawful actions.
The Independent Monitoring Mechanism is composed of the following:
- Croatian Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS)
- Croatian Academy of Legal Sciences (CALS)
- Centre for Cultural Dialogue (CCD)
- Croatian Red Cross (CRC)
- Prof. dr. sc. Iris Goldner Lang.
The Mechanism consists of the Coordination Board (5 members, each representing respectively CAMS, CALS, CCD and CRC, as well as prof. dr. sc. Iris Goldner Lang) which, independently from the Ministry of the Interior (whose officers are not present at the Board meetings) decides on the implementation of activities of direct activity providers (8 members, two each from CAMS, CALS, CCD and CRC) who, based on the decision of the Coordination Board, carry out monitoring missions in the field (police stations, border crossing points, green border, reception centres, etc.).
The members of the Coordination Board are:
The members of the Coordination Board are:
- Prof. Dr. sc. Anna-Maria Getoš Kalac, Head of the Coordination Board (CALS)
- Selma Ilić, Deputy Head of the Coordination Board (CRC)
- mr. sc. Nermin Botonjić, Secretary of the Coordination Board (CCD)
- Prof. Dr. Iris Goldner Lang, Member of the Coordination Board
- Assoc. Prof. Dr. Krunoslav Capak, dr. med., Member of the Coordination Board (CAMS)
Direct activity providers are:
- Prof. Dr. Nadan Rustemović, dr. med. (CAMS)
- Prof. Dr. Mario Starešinić, prim. dr. med. (CAMS)
- Prof. Dr. Davorin Lapaš (CALS)
- Prof. Dr. Damir Primorac (CALS)
- Samir Ilijazi, mag. iur. (CCD)
- Admir Muhić (CCD)
- Branislav Tomić (CRC)
- Živko Šimunović (CRC)
Direct activity providers will monitor the actions taken by police officers and whether they respect fundamental rights of irregular migrants and international protection applicants in enforcing the regulations governing state border control and the provision of international protection.
At least 20 monitoring missions (announced and unannounced) of actions taken by police officers are carried out as part of the Independent Monitoring Mechanism.
The logistical support for the work of the Mechanism is provided by the Ministry of the Interior which has appointed a contact officer in order to ensure the uninterrupted and timely exchange of information and performance of other tasks which enable the implementation of monitoring and other activities of the Mechanism. Within the framework of its statutory tasks and competences, the Mechanism is equipped with precisely those powers which enable it to carry out impartial, independent and efficient monitoring. It should be noted that the Mechanism does not perform the tasks nor does it have the powers of the State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia (DORH), the Ombudswoman or the internal control of the Ministry of the Interior but it closely cooperates with these institutions with regard to any irregularities detected.
The Mechanism implements its mandate in accordance with the Agreement and the legislation in force in the Republic of Croatia and, in its work, it is guided by the vision of a direct, impartial, independent and expert dialogue with the Ministry of the Interior, in which a broad circle of stakeholders is indirectly involved through the Advisory Board, as is the public from which the Mechanism receives certain information and to which it transparently communicates the findings of its work.