Report of the HRD on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2011 The National Preventive Mechanism recommended to: • Stop reprimanding the prisoners incessantly and stop threatening them with disciplinary action; • Assess whether there are no abuses consisting in unfounded requests by the prison officers to impose disciplinary punishments on the prisoners; • Eliminate collective responsibility of the prisoners. f) Right of access to information The observance of the right of the prisoners’ access to information is one of the safeguards for human rights observance and as such it is verified by the National Preventive Mechanism during each visit. All detainees in the visited penitentiary establishments were advised about their rights and obligations when they came to the establishment and could use the help of a prison counsellor in case of any doubts. However, in the libraries of some penitentiary establishments (Pre-Trial Detention Centre in Grójec, Prison in Trzebinia, Prison in Nowogard, Prison in Uherce Mineralne, Prison in Nowy Wiśnicz, Prison in Kluczbork) there were no copies of Executive Penal Code and other legal acts, as well as „Compendium for foreigners”53 in English, French, German, Russian and Arabic. According to the Mechanism, all places of detention should have documents (translated into the most popular foreign languages) presenting the rights and obligations of detainees or prisoners, which should be provided to the foreigners placed in those establishments. The European Prison Rules54 stipulate that at admission, and as often as necessary afterwards all prisoners shall be informed in writing and orally in a language they understand of the regulations governing prison discipline and of their rights and duties in prison (Rule 30.1). In addition, the CPT emphasizes that rights for persons deprived of their liberty will be of little value if the persons concerned are unaware of their existence55. Noticeboards located in the corridors of living quarters of the Prison in Trzebinia and in Uherce Mineralne did not provide the addresses of institutions to which prisoners can apply if needed. In the opinion of the visiting team, prisoners should have a permanent access to the addresses of i.a. Penitentiary Court, Human Rights Defender and the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. The prisoners were unaware about the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal and of the European Court of Human Rights, and of their consequences (Prison in Trzebinia, Prison in Łupków, Prison in Jasło, Prison in Koronowo, Prison in Wadowice, Prison in Uherce Mineralne, Prison in Sieradz, Pre-Trial Detention Centre in Olsztyn, Prison  The collection of rights and obligations compiled based on the Executive Penal Code, the Ordinance of the Minister of Justice of 25 August 2003 on the organisational and order regulations on serving custodial sentences, and the Ordinance of the Minister of Justice of 25 August 2003 on organisational and order regulations on temporary detention. 54  Recommendation Rec(2006)2 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States of the Council of Europe on the European Prison Rules. 55  See: § 44 of 12th General Report on the CPT’s activities, [CPT/Inf (2002)12]. 53 38