Report of the HRD on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2011 • Police officers on duty in PDRs to fully comply with the requirement that strip searches are carried out by persons of the same gender as the controlled; • To carry out strip searches of persons detained and held in PDRs in unmonitored rooms with guaranteed absence of third persons; • Police officers on duty in PDRs to unconditionally comply with the requirement to regularly control behaviour of persons held in PDRs – not less frequently than every 30 minutes or at least every hour in the case of a PDR equipped with a monitoring system, • To abandon the practice of undressing all persons brought to PDRs to sober up, against their will; • To respect the right of persons detained or brought to PDRs to sober up to stay in their own clothes and shoes if this does not compromise safety of the detained and third persons, and poses no epidemiological risk • To allow persons detained and placed in PDRs to exercise their right to purchase tobacco and personal hygiene products as well as press for their own money. b) Right to medical care During their visits in the premises for detained persons or persons brought to sober up, the employees of the National Preventive Mechanism did not reveal any violations of the right of the detained to have access to a physician. Persons detained and placed in PDRs, who met specific conditions defined in legal regulations and determining when medical examination should be carried out, always underwent such examination. The examinations were carried out by physicians from ambulance emergency services, cooperating with Police stations based on agreements for providing medical services. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the practices applied in the significant majority of the visited establishments were in conformity with national legal provisions, it should be stressed that in the opinion of the Mechanism, all the detainees should be examined before being placed in a PDR. Such solution would meet the objectives of international standards on access to medical care in detention. The Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment should be quoted here: A proper medical examination shall be offered to a detained or imprisoned person as promptly as possible after his admission to the place of detention or imprisonment, and thereafter medical care and treatment shall be provided whenever necessary. This care and treatment shall be provided free of charge (Rule 24)94. The NPM’s representatives noted that in PDR in Lublin, all persons placed in rooms for persons detained or brought to sober up underwent medical examination. In the opinion of the Mechanism, it is a praiseworthy practice, particularly because it shows that covering all the detainees with initial examination is possible, even without specific legal norms  Resolution of UN General Assembly No 43.173 of 9 December 1988. 94 56