VISITS BY THE FEDERAL AGENCY with intercoms, especially when they are located in remote parts of the building. Response: The Federal Ministry of the Interior notified the Federal Agency that the facilities concerned would be successively retrofitted with fire alarms. Further, the Federal Agency pointed out the need for natural ventilation in custody rooms. In addition, the temperature in custody rooms should not exceed 22°C. Response: The Federal Ministry of the Interior gave its assurance that the ventilation system in question had been examined to see whether it may possibly be malfunctioning. During a visit to the Neunkirchen Duty Room the Federal Agency’s attention was drawn to the lack of fire alarms and night lighting and to the lack of ventilation in the custody rooms. In response to the corresponding recommendations of the Federal Agency, these custody rooms were taken out of operation. The Federal Ministry of the Interior informed the Federal Agency that it was not economical to implement the recommendations since the rooms were used only infrequently. with integrated sanitation and in the doors of separate toilets. The entire toilet areas are in full view as a result. Human dignity demands that privacy in the performance of bodily needs must always be guaranteed. An exception can at most be considered admissible in a well-founded and documented situation involving an acute risk of suicide or selfharm. Immediately following the Federal Agency’s visit Görlitz Federal Police Station stopped using the peephole fitted into the door of a separate toilet. Response: The Federal Police attaches great importance to respecting detainees’ privacy. The use of peepholes is necessary in individual cases to protect the detainee or for reasons of staff safety. This applies both to detention rooms and separate sanitary areas. Visibility of toilets in rooms with CCTV cameras The Federal Agency noted that custody rooms in Mannheim Federal Police Station are equipped with CCTV cameras. The cameras are fitted into the ceiling light and can thus not be identified as such. The entire toilet area is in full view as a result. Human dignity demands that where video surveillance of a detention cell, including the toilet, is carried out, the detainee’s genital area must be obscured on the screen. Unrestricted monitoring of the detention room can at most be considered based on a carefully weighed up, well-founded and documented decision in an individual case where there is an acute risk of suicide or self-harm. In addition, video surveillance in custody suites is no substitute for regular, direct checks, and it can at most be carried out in addition to those checks. Response: The CCTV equipment in Mannheim Federal Police Station can only be operated by hand and cannot be used to make recordings. It is not used as a substitute for the regular checks provided for under police regulations. Stuttgart Federal Police Regional Office is planning to hold an additional training course for staff working in custody suites. Suitable measures to protect detainees’ privacy will be addressed in that course. Documentation Officers should make detailed records in the custody record book of checks carried out on persons taken into custody. In addition to the precise times of the checks, the name and signature of the officer checking on the person in his/her custody room should always be included. During its visit to Mainz Federal Police Station the Federal Agency found that it kept no custody record book. Instead, the custody record book is kept at the Federal Police District Office in Kaiserslautern. Officers record relevant data on occupancy sheets and transfer them to the custody record book at a later date. This does not, however, apply to visual checks and the provision of meals. It should be possible to read and understand the custody record book without the need to consult other documents. It should be possible to verify whether checks have been carried out and not to first have to consult an occupancy sheet which may possibly be located elsewhere. That is why the custody record book should always be kept in the vicinity of the custody rooms. Response: Shortcomings as regards keeping custody record books properly up to date have been recognised and will be addressed in training courses. In addition, the federal police regional office in question has directed that one custody record book should be kept in each facility. Information about rights People detained in police custody must be immediately informed about their rights. Sheets containing this information should therefore be available in various languages. They should at the very least provide information about the fact that anyone taken into custody has the right to be examined by a doctor, to consult a lawyer and to notify a trusted third party and, where necessary, their home country’s consulate. It is not enough to simply inform those taken into custody about their right to contact a Visibility of toilets through peepholes During its visits the Federal Agency found peepholes both in the doors of those detention rooms 35