Report of the HRD on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2011
The National Preventive Mechanism recommended:
• The relevant family court should be officially notified about the lack of interest
in the child on the part of his/her legal guardian and on the lack of taking legal
measures on his/her behalf;
• The addresses of institutions protecting the rights of juveniles, including the Human Rights Defender, the Ombudsman for Children, the Helsinki Foundation for
Human Rights and a family court judge, should be displayed in a well visible place.
i) Cultural and educational measures
The majority of Police emergency centres for children offer instructional and preventive
activities. The offer of activities at the ECC in Ostrów Wielkopolski was extended to include
classes on addictions, Polish language lessons, mathematics and biology lessons. In the ECC
in Lublin, the representatives of the Mechanism praised the offer of classes aimed at refreshing and consolidating the knowledge of orthography, grammar, mathematics, chemistry
and geography, but also of activities testing the juveniles’ powers of observation and logical
thinking. Juveniles could also use a gym equipped with a ping-pong table and numerous
fitness devices. The ECC in Gorzów Wielkopolski deserves special praise for organising a
consultation point, a hotline, and meetings with youth in schools and in the Centre.
The visiting team of the NPM noted that in two Police emergency centres for children
(Radom and Bydgoszcz) the offer of activities was poor. According to the Director of the
Centre in Radom, juveniles at the Centre could watch educational films, they received
brochures, rebuses to solve, and writing tasks.
In some visited centres, juveniles did not have access to any outdoor activities (Olsztyn,
Gorzów Wielkopolski). Juveniles staying at the ECC in Olsztyn, interviewed by the representatives of the Mechanism, stated that their main activity was watching television. The
staff successfully persuaded them not to participate in outdoor activities. The staff of the
Centre confirmed that watching television was the main activity of juveniles. They did not
take juveniles outdoors for safety reasons and due to reluctance declared by juveniles. The
activities organised for juveniles at the Centre in Gorzów Wielkopolski took place only in
the entertainment room, since the Centre does not have an exercise yard.
In its report for the Polish government following its visit to Poland in 2004, the CPT
stated that the Polish authorities should take the following steps at the police establishments
for children: develop the range of constructive activities offered to detained children, with
particular emphasis on education and ensure that persons detained in police cells for a longer
time (i.e. 24 hours and more) are offered outdoor exercise everyday day148.The NPM also
emphasizes that it is of utmost importance to create conditions to enable juveniles to
participate in educational, cultural and sports activities for an appropriate part of the
day, including an hour of outdoor exercise. The Directors of the Centres agreed with the
See: § 36 and 44 in CPT/INF(2006)11.
148
82
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents