Where are the data on abuse and torture committed by police officers?
The report on the work of the Department of Internal Control of the MUP for 2025 did not present the structure of criminal charges filed against police officers and other employees of the ministry. The report states that out of 358 investigated criminal charges, 170 are related to corruption crimes, and 188 to other crimes. However, what is included in the other criminal acts was not specified, in contrast to 2024, when the structure of other criminal acts, including abuse and torture committed by police officers, was clearly explained. The question arises why these data are not shown for the year 2025?
Last year, numerous examples were recorded in which the police used excessive force against citizens, especially during the months of August and September.
Disturbing videos came from Valjevo on August 14, when the police brutally beat citizens who were lying on the ground and did not offer any resistance. On the videos, we saw a large number of policemen kicking and hitting and beating citizens lying on the ground with batons. In the case of a man being beaten, the policeman targeted him in the area between the legs, and on one video, the policeman can be heard asking the man he is beating, “Are you an oppositionist?“. Forensic examinations of 25 people indicated the degree of violence committed against the people of Valjev that night, but despite the evidence, there are still no people punished.
In the center of Belgrade, members of the Unit for Securing Certain Persons and Objects detained citizens, including students, and took them to the garage of the Government of Serbia. According to one of the detained students, the then commander of the JZO beat her and threatened to rape her. One student who was detained without any reason also testified about the violent behavior during the detention on the same evening by members of the JZO. He testified about the beatings he received in the Government garage and the threat from a policeman who told him that “they will shoot him”.
The public was also shocked by a video from Novi Sad showing 15 young men detained at the protest kneeling tied with their heads resting on the wall, while members of the Police Intervention Unit stand behind them. Among those detained were high school students. Several times the police used force against the citizens of Novi Sad, and tear gas and stun grenades were also used in the interventions. In one of the police interventions in that city, an elderly fellow citizen was also injured, after the policeman pushed him from behind, and then the elderly man fell and hit his head on the curb.
The list of cases of police brutality is long, and these are just a few examples:
- a policeman who hits a student from Nis several times in the head
- a policeman who hits a woman with a baton at a protest in Belgrade
- violent beating of demonstrators lying on the ground recorded in Belgrade
- citizens of Novi Sad were forced to lie on the ground for an hour during the protest in September, which made some of them sick
- the police also beat an 18-year-old young man from Novi Pazar after taking him into custody without any reason
- the bloody face of a female student after the intervention of the police at a protest in Belgrade
The only thing we haven’t seen is that someone is held accountable for all this violence and brutality.
Let’s remind you, according to Article 137 of the Criminal Code: “The criminal offense of abuse and torture is punishable by up to one year in prison. If the use of force, threats, or other illegal means causes great pain or severe suffering to another person with the aim of obtaining a confession, statement or other information from him or a third party or to intimidate, illegally punish or discriminate against him or a third party, the punishment is up to five years in prison. If in these two cases the act is committed by an official in the performance of his duties, he will be punished with imprisonment of up to three years, that is, up to ten years”, and we ask SUK why it hides information about initiated procedures for abuse and torture and inflicting serious physical injuries? It remains unclear whether such actions were initiated at all, and SUK is obliged to provide answers to the public and all victims of police brutality against citizens during the 2025 protests.
Despite many years of pointing out by civil society organizations and international bodies to cases of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, exceeding police powers and illegal use of force, with numerous publicly available evidence and documented cases, the Department of Internal Control has not shown the capacity or willingness to ensure effective accountability of police officers.
That is why the new Draft Law on Internal Affairs represented an opportunity to remove the long-standing weaknesses of the police supervision system. However, that opportunity was missed. The draft does not ensure the real institutional and operational independence of the Internal Control Sector, nor does it establish mechanisms that would guarantee its independence and efficiency in investigating allegations of illegal behavior by police officers. Instead of strengthening accountability and independent oversight, the proposed solutions leave existing structural deficiencies intact.