The Independent Monitoring Mechanism for police work in illegal migration and international protection said on Friday it had conducted several announced and unannounced oversights of police conduct on the state border since June.

The Independent Monitoring Mechanism comprises the Croatian Academy of Medical Science, the Croatian Academy of Legal Science, the Centre for the Culture of Dialogue, and the Croatian Red Cross.

Following this week’s reports in Croatian and foreign media on violent incidents at the expense of irregular migrants on the Croatian border, the Mechanism said it had been monitoring police conduct since June.

An unannounced monitoring related to the incidents documented in those reports is under way, the Mechanism said, adding that it undertook it as soon as it found about the reports, including by visiting the state border which, the Mechanism said, certainly contributed to the authorities informing the public that the men involved in the incidents were police officers.

The Mechanism regretted that the video footage of the incidents was not released and delivered to the authorities much sooner, first of all to the State Attorney’s Office, which, the Mechanism said, would have contributed to shedding light on the incidents far sooner, to collecting evidence, protecting migrants, taking action against those responsible, and preventing comparable incidents.

The Mechanism said it would present its work so far and the findings of announced and unannounced monitoring in a six-month report that would be finished next month.

After RTL television earlier this week showed a video taken in June of masked persons in police gear hit migrants, Police Director Nikola Milina said on Friday the police were interested in fully shedding light on the case of violence against migrants on the Bosnian border.

Three riot police officers were fired over the incident yesterday and disciplinary action will be taken against them.

Milina said the police were also using the Independent Monitoring Mechanism “in relation to that conduct”.

The Mechanism is financed by the European Commission and has been established only in Croatia, but under the draft EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, all member states will have to introduce it.