CAT/OP/POL/CSPRO/1 controlling prisoners and visitors at the statutory level so that its officers would enjoy adequate powers in comparison to other uniformed services. Complaint mechanisms 136. With regards to paras 112 and 113 of the report, detainees of penitentiary facilities enjoy a constitutional right to lodge complaints in a free and unrestricted manner. Complaints are processed in accordance with the rules of striving for the lack of bias and the determination of objective truth. 137. In accordance with the provisions of the Penal Enforcement Code, complaints lodged by detainees of correctional facilities and pre-trial detention centres are handled within a procedure provided for in Article 6 and Article 7 of the Code. Pursuant to Article 6 § 2 of the Penal Enforcement Code, a convicted person may lodge applications, complaints and requests to bodies that are competent to execute the judicial ruling. Article 7 of the Penal Enforcement Code, in turn, stipulates that the convicted person may appeal against a decision of the body named in Article 2(3–6) and 10 before the court on the ground of its unlawfulness. 138. To illustrate this according to statistical data in 2017 1,239 claims were raised in reference to the manner of handling a complaint, out of which 32 were considered justified, while in 2017 the number of claims was 2,526, out of which 48 were considered justified. 139. No example was recorded of a justified complaint concerning the use of retaliation against prisoners who have lodged complaints or concerning lack of contact with the free helpline operated by the Commissioner for Human Rights’ Office. 140. In 2018 organisational units of the Prison Service decided on 50,591 claims included in complaints and provided clarifications to the Commissioner for Human Rights in 1,836 cases. The data above shows that prisoners are able to contact the Commissioner for Human Rights’ Office freely and they are able to lodge complaints. 141. It should be, therefore, emphasised that convicted persons deprived of cash do not incur the cost of sending complaints and requests and that they receive paper and envelopes from the facility’s administration. The fact that prisoners use special mailboxes located in residential wards to send correspondence to international human rights protection institution is a choice made by prisoners themselves and independent of the administration’s will. 142. Within the penitentiary facilities prisoners may use pre-paid card stationary telephones in accordance with the provisions of the Penal Enforcement Code and internal regulations. External telecom operators do not introduce any restrictions in access to the helpline operated by the Commissioner for Human Rights and making calls to this helpline does not require special authorisations. 143. Also, on 9–10 October 2019 a random control of call options for the Commissioner for Human Right’s helpline, i.e. 800 676 676, was carried out with the use of phone devices available to prisoners in the following facilities: • Correctional Facility in Strzelin – Orange and Dialtech; • Correctional Facility in Wołów – Orange and Dialtech; • Correctional Facility No. 1 in Wrocław – Orange; • Correctional Facility in Siedlce – Telestrada; • Pre-trial Detention Centre in Piotrków Trybunalski – Orange and Ahmes; • No restrictions in calls to the helpline were identified during the inspections. 144. Information on the right to phone calls is made available to prisoners through operators’ helplines and in leaflets distributed in cells, posters available in shared spaces or stickers attached directly on phone equipment. 32