2. SAFETY, SECURITY AND DIGNITY FOR ALL – The WMA has described invasive searches as “serious assaults on a person’s privacy and dignity” and has pointed out that also they carry some risk of physical and psychological injury.120 The WMA has specifically recommended that the practice of “squatting over mirrors to examine the anus while making the prisoner bear down … constitutes a degrading procedure with questionable reliability and must be banned”.121 CONTEXT: ALTERNATIVES TO INTRUSIVE SEARCHES [2.5] 2 Rule 52 makes it clear that prison administrations shall be encouraged to develop and use appropriate alternatives to intrusive searches of prisoners. Prison administrations should also think more broadly about their search methods given the possibility of smuggling items through other means than the body, such as by using drone technology or prison staff members. 60 The use of laxatives is not an appropriate alternative to body cavity searches. The CPT has expressed particular concern about the use of irritant laxatives as this can cause the lining of ingested drug parcels to burst and result in death of the prisoner. Instead, the CPT has suggested that “[a] prisoner for whom there are reasonable grounds to suspect of attempting to smuggle drugs into the establishment could be placed in a separate cell for 48 to 72 hours, which is sufficient time for all foreign objects to pass through the body naturally”.122 Understanding the problem of smuggling: Prison authorities should consider why items are smuggled into prison and try to tackle the root cause of the problem. In many instances, items are smuggled in for criminal purposes. However, there is not always a criminal intent. For example, in some prisons, mobile phones were found to have been smuggled in because prisoners were not given enough opportunities to contact their families. Some prisoners may also be pressurized into smuggling items, indicating bullying in the prison, which should be tackled. Ending unnecessary searches: Prison authorities should consider their existing risk assessment procedures in relation to body searches, to see if there is room for improvement and to reduce the use of unnecessary searches. Unnecessary searches can also be reduced by ensuring that all searches are recorded, thus avoiding duplication of the process by different staff members, and the discriminatory application of search procedures. Natural means: The WHO has noted that, when a prisoner is hiding something in a body cavity, “[i]n many cases it may suffice to keep the prisoner under close surveillance and wait for the illicit object to be naturally expelled”.123 Some prisons have “dry cells” for this purpose ̶ rooms with no internal sanitation facilities such as a sink or toilet, but which contain receptacles for prisoners to defecate or urinate into. Cell searches: While cell searches can also infringe on prisoners’ rights, in some circumstances cell searches may be more effective at detecting smuggled items than intrusive body searches. Body scanners and metal detectors: Electronic body scanners and metal detectors, including hand-held devices, are a useful alternative to body searches. Ultrasound devices: The WMA has suggested ultrasound and other scans as possible alternative method to body cavity searches.124 These devices can, for instance, be used as an alternative to vaginal searches for female prisoners, with the proviso that health-care staff performing such scans must not be involved in prison management. Anoscopes, otoscopes and vaginal speculums: The Commentary to Rule 19 of the Bangkok Rules states that “[c]avity searches should be restricted to digital intrusion and the use of instruments such as anoscope, otoscope, vaginal speculum, nasal speculum, tongue blade, and simple forceps.” As with other devices, if health-care staff are involved in such prison management-related activities, they must not be the ones providing health-care to prisoners. 120. Statement on Body Searches of Prisoners, World Medical Association, op. cit., note 108. 121. Ibid. 122. Report to the Government of Greece on the visit to Greece carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, 10 January 2012, CPT/Inf(2012) 1, Para. 51. 123. Health in prisons, A WHO guide to the essentials in prison health, WHO Europe, 2007, p. 36. 124. Statement on Body Searches of Prisoners, World Medical Association, op. cit., note 108. Guidance document on the Nelson Mandela Rules