The proposal was prompted by the case of free-lance journalist Helena Puljiz, who has alleged that agents of the Counter-Intelligence Agency (POA) tried to blackmail her and recruit her.
The CMS proposed that the directors and all staff of security services should undergo additional training in cooperation with human rights organisations, and that security services should have the obligation under the law to tell citizens that they can refuse an interview and that a record of an interview should be given to the interviewee for confirmation.
"We expect the Council for the Civilian Supervision of Security Services not just to consider whether certain acts are lawful or not, but first of all to protect a person's dignity," the CMS said in a statement, adding that the POA should apologise to Puljiz for unfair treatment.
Puljiz approached the Council in mid-October, complaining that the POA had detained her for nearly five hours for questioning, among other things, about most intimate details of her life. She said that POA agents had blackmailed her and wanted her to collaborate with the agency, offering her a job in any media of her choosing in return.
The parliamentary Home Affairs and National Security Committee found at a meeting last week that the POA had not violated the law when it summoned the journalist for an interview and that her conversations had not been monitored.
Since the Council could not determine with certainty that the POA had violated Puljiz's rights during the interview, the Committee decided that the case would be investigated by a third institution -- the National Security Council.