Report of the HRD on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2011 a provision pursuant to which a soldier detained in the Centre is entitled to demand that a person closest to him, or some other person indicated by him instead of, or additionally to the closest person, is informed. Soldiers detained in the Centre were not able to personally inform about their detention. This was done by a soldier who was on duty at the Centre. The CPT attaches particular importance to the right of a person detained by police to notify about the fact a third person of his choice229. This is one of the three basic guarantees against ill treatment of detained persons, which was listed by the CPT. In the opinion of the NPM, an officer should not replace a detainee in executing this right. In his response, the Chief of Military Gendarmerie in Lublin pointed out that he officially informed his superiors about the issue related to the possibility of executing this right directly by a detained person, asking them to analyse whether it would be possible to amend the applicable legislation. The National Preventive Mechanism recommended to: • Introduce to the Regulations and to the practices employed in Detention Centres a provision pursuant to which a detained soldier would be entitled to demand that the person closest to him, or some other person indicated by him instead of, or additionally to the closest person, is informed b) Right to medical care Information obtained from Commanders of the Centres has revealed that every soldier, before being admitted to the Centre, is examined by a physician who issues an appropriate certificate that there are no contraindications to place him in the Centre. c) Treatment During its visits to the DCMGs, the NPM reported no instances of improper treatment. However, at that time there were no detainees who could be interviewed. The analysis of the book of complaints revealed no complaints lodged by soldiers detained in the Centres. No direct coercive measures were applied. d) Living conditions In all of the visited establishments general living conditions were evaluated as good. However, in the Centre in Ustka, floors need to be renovated immediately due to the fact that large parts are missing and this causes the whole construction to be unstable. In order to minimise the negative effects of such situation, the floor was covered with rubber lining, but such solution is only temporary. Moreover, the NPM reported that an adequate level of intimacy was not ensured for soldiers using the toilets and bathrooms due to the lack of curtains (Centres in Ustka and in Cracow), that the number of bunks in the rooms for  See: §36 of the 2nd General Report [CPT/Inf (1992) 3]. 229 128