Penitentiary establishments In 2019 the NMPT visited 9 penitentiary establishments74: six prisons and three pre-trial detention centres. Visits to two penitentiary facilities75 were paid ad hoc; their aim was to identify inmates suffering from serious physical disorders and to verify on site whether their rights to appropriate medical care are secured. SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS A problem of medical examination of inmates of penitentiary facilities and absence of procedures in case of reporting tortures and inappropriate documentation of injuries Not every person about to be detained is subject to a medical examination. Only those „newly” detained are examined; inmates who change penitentiary facilities are not. Although they are initially interviewed by a nurse who refers them to a doctor if necessary, there is no provision for obligatory physical examination of all first time detainees, including inspection. Currently applicable legislation does not impose an obligation on penitentiary facilities to carry out such an examination in respect of inmates transported from other detention facilities. The shortcomings of such a solution are well demonstrated by the following case encountered during one of the visits76. An inmate from another penitentiary facility arrived at the Dzierżoniów pre-trial detention centre. During an interview with a nurse he did not report any medical problems, so the nurse did not refer him to a doctor. However, a correction officer who interviewed the inmate noticed symptoms in him which could point to physical abuse. The doctor was already gone, so the inmate was taken to a public healthcare facility. A doctor did not find any external injuries. Since the symptoms occurring in the inmate still arouse prison officers’ concern, they took him to a forensic pathologist at another location. The pathologist not only confirmed lip crush injury, crush injury of ribs and a burn wound on the back of his hand, but also suggested that, in line with the inmate’s testimony, those injuries could have been a result of violence inflicted by other inmates of the former facility. As a result of the physical examination, prosecution bodies were notified of a suspected crime. 74 75 76 38 Prisons: ZK Opole Lubelskie (KMP.571.3.2019); ZK Zaręba (KMP.571.5.2019); ZK no 2 in Łódź (KMP.571.6.2019); ZK Kłodzko (BPW.571.3.2019); ZK Zamość (KMP.571.7.2019); ZK Siedlce (KMP.571.2.2019); Temporary Detention Centres: AŚ Dzierżoniów (BPW.571.2.2019); AŚ Sosnowiec (BPK.571.1.2019); AŚ Radom (KMP.571.1.2019). ZK Siedlce and AŚ Radom. AŚ Dzierżoniów. PART IV – Situation in places of detention