On December 9 and 10, 2024, the Public Defender's Special Preventive Group conducted a preventive visit to the Bediani assisted living facility for persons with disabilities. The purpose of the preventive visit was to assess whether beneficiaries are protected from ill-treatment, whether they have access to legal remedies, health care and other services, and whether their living conditions comply with international and national standards.

For years, the Public Defender has been recommending that patients who no longer require inpatient psychiatric care and have nowhere else to go be offered housing in the community. The Bediani Psychiatric Hospital was first transformed into a shelter, and then into a residential service, although nothing has changed in essence and in terms of service delivery. The facility is actually an institution where beneficiaries are isolated from the outside world and where there is no environment conducive to their mental, emotional or physical development.

Within the framework of the preventive mandate, this report thematically presents the current situation in the Bediani Psychiatric Hospital and relevant recommendations, the implementation of which will significantly improve the protection of the rights of beneficiaries in the hospital.