Report of the HRD on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2011 when necessary and in a clean and decent manner. The international standards invoked above are treated as minimum conditions acceptable for Member States of the Council of Europe and of the United Nations. In the opinion of the NPM representatives, one toilet for 15 persons is not enough to ensure that prisoners may comply with the needs of nature at any time; what is more, it can be a source of conflicts between co-inhabitants of one cell. It can also hardly be said that all prisoners in a given establishment have equal access to sanitary equipment if in some cells there is one toilet for 3 persons, while in other – for 15 persons. The sanitary equipment is usually overly occupied in the morning, and as a result some prisoners have to wait for a long time to use it. In all these cases, the Mechanism requested that appropriate sanitary conditions are secured in these cells. In the visited establishments, all cells had sanitary sewage system; in some pavilions hot water was available. However, not all cells had a separated sanitary “corner” (Sieradz Prison, Płock Prison, Nowy Wiśnicz Prison). Representatives of the National Preventive Mechanism are of the opinion that where a privacy-respecting sanitary facility cannot be ensured in a cell, the capacity of such cell should be decreased to make it an individual cell. According to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights72, the use of an open sanitary facility when there is more than one prisoner in a cell can be qualified as degrading treatment. With reference to the possibility of maintaining personal hygiene, some prisoners reported a need to increase the frequency of baths and a problem of low-quality hygiene products provided to them. European Prison Rules73 should be quoted here, providing as follows: Adequate facilities shall be provided so that every prisoner may have a bath or shower, at a temperature suitable to the climate, if possible daily but at least twice a week (or more frequently if necessary) in the interest of general hygiene (Rule 19.4). The national legislation also does not limit the number of baths to one per week, which leaves the frequency of baths at the discretion of directors of penitentiary establishments74. Taking the above into accout, the NPM is of the opinion that he frequency of baths in penitentiary establishments should be increased. In all penitentiary establishments the Mechanism noted the lack of ladders and security guards of bunk beds. In the opinion of representatives of the Mechanism, this can result in falls and possible body injuries of those who try to climb the beds using the available but unsuitable pieces of furniture or to jump onto them. In the context of living conditions, the suitability of penitentiary establishments to the needs of disabled prisoners was also evaluated. The visited establishments were generally not adapted to accommodate such persons (Nowy Wiśnicz Prison, Grójec Pre-Trial Detention Centre, Łupków Prison, Jasło Prison, Sieradz Prison, Wadowice Prison, Uherce  Peers vs. Greece, case No 28524/95.  Recommendation Rec(2006)2 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on the European Prison Rules.  See: §30(3) of the Ordinance of the Minister of Justice of 25 August 2003 on the regulations concerning the execution of deprivation of liberty (Dz. U. of 2003 No 152, item. 1493). 72 73 74 48