Report of the HRD on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2011 During their visit to the ECC in Olsztyn, representatives of the National Preventive Mechanism were informed that juveniles under the influence of alcohol are detained therein. The Municipal Police Commander in Olsztyn stated that the Prevention Bureau of General Police Headquarters confirmed the existence of a legal instrument which allows to place juvenile offenders who are under the influence of alcohol in Police emergency centres for children. Due to the fact that no doctor is employed at the Centre, the National Preventive Mechanism disagrees with this statement and points to the increased risk that an exceptional event may occur. According to the Mechanism, juveniles under the influence of alcohol should be placed in a hospital, since there are no grounds to place them in a Police emergency centre for children. The National Preventive Mechanism recommended to: • Perform medical examinations of newly admitted juveniles, to provide medical services to juveniles in a way making it impossible for the Centre’s staff to see and hear the procedure; • Eliminate the practice of placing juveniles under the influence of alcohol in Police emergency centres for children. f) Living conditions Although the living conditions in the majority of visited Police emergency centres for children were good, the representatives of the National Preventive Mechanism noticed some irregularities in the appearance and furnishing of those centres. Some of them required renovation and furnishing with elements ensuring that the rights of juveniles are respected. The criticism concerned in particular the damp patches and mouldy walls of the gym and the dining room (Poznań) or tiles coming off the walls and worn out bathrooms (Olsztyn). The directors of the Centres where renovations were recommended accepted the recommendations of the NPM. The visiting team was also concerned about the lack of shower curtains (ECCs in Ostrów Wielkopolski and Lublin) which would keep the entire bodies of juveniles under shower from the sight of third persons. Although in Olsztyn showers were hidden behind movable partitions, they did not guarantee intimacy to juveniles. Therefore, the representatives of the Mechanism recommended that curtains or doors be install in showers to ensure full intimacy of children using them. In reply to the recommendations of the Mechanism, the director of ECC in Lublin explained that shower curtains had not been installed earlier for reasons of safety of the juveniles, but agreed with the recommendation and declared that curtains would be purchased and installed (as did the director of the ECC in Ostrów Wielkopolski). The representatives of the Mechanism also noted that bedrooms for juveniles were equipped only with mattresses (ECC in Ostrów Wielkopolski, partly in Poznań). According to the NPM representatives, beds must be placed in the bedrooms. The lack of beds 78