Report of the HRD on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2011 The National Preventive Mechanism recommended: • Using coercive measures in compliance with the provisions of law, in a manner which is not degrading for intoxicated persons, and to thoroughly document all cases when such measure is applied; • conducting additional training for the staff on the use of direct coercion. c) Informing patients of sobering-up stations about their rights As regards the right of patients to information where they have been detained, what are the rules applicable in a given facility, and where they may submit their complaints or requests for intervention, the situation looks rather alarming. In all of the visited establishments, the visiting team noted a lack of regulations for the detainees, who were not able to learn about their rights. On the walls in the visited rooms there was no information about institutions to which patients can turn when their rights are being violated (e.g. the Human Rights Defender). Pursuant to the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under any Form of Detention or Imprisonment of the UN214: any person shall, at the moment of arrest and at the commencement of detention or imprisonment, or promptly thereafter, be provided by the authority responsible for his arrest, detention or imprisonment, respectively, with information on and an explanation of his rights and how to avail himself of such rights. Similar position was adopted by the CPT, which stresses that rights for persons deprived of their liberty will be of little value if the persons concerned are unaware of their existence215. The recommendations of the Mechanism on informing patients about their rights were taken into account by persons who manage the visited establishments. The National Preventive Mechanism recommended to: • Place in an accessible and visible place the regulations of the sobering-up station and the information about institutions dealing with the protection of human rights and freedoms to which the patients can turn for help; • Introduce a procedure for orally notifying about the rules applicable at the station – in case of persons who are capable of comprehending the information communicated to them – upon their admission to the facility, ,and in case of persons who when being admitted were too intoxicated to comprehend, when it is possible to establish contact with them. d) Right to health care Medical care over patients in the visited establishments is performed by physicians who are on duty during each shift (in each facility there is a physician on duty 24/7). It  Rule 13 of the Resolution of UN General Assembly No 43/173 of 9 December 1988.  See: §44 of the 12th General Report [CPT/Inf (2002) 15]. 214 215 120