When the full-body search of a person with reduced mobility is justified, it must be conducted
in a closed room (Annual report of the CGLPL for 2012).
The documents found in the cupboards during searches should be examined in the presence
of the detainee and only by officers or warders specially appointed in writing by the head of
the institution, and for the sole purpose of verifying that there are no hidden forbidden goods
or substances; examining the documents themselves for the purpose of reading them must
be banned (Opinion dated 11 July 2013 concerning the possession of personal documents by detainees and
concerning their access to communicable documents).
Children of incarcerated mothers may be searched only if there are serious suspicions that a
rule may be violated, and the search must be strictly limited to the diaper of the child, by its
own mother, in front of a third party, but must exclude any contact between the said third
party and the child; this search must be subject to a written note, assigning this request to an
officer or a warder; the mother must not be searched in the presence of her child (Opinion
dated 8 August 2013 concerning young children in prison and their detained mothers).
In the institutions visited in 2015, in general, the necessary measures were applied. Metal
detectors were installed, and directives related to the personalisation of searches were distributed.
However, the visits showed that the searches are still conducted according to different
regimes, which must be used to identify the best practices and to correct a few inappropriate
applications of the law.
Several institutions state that body searches retain a systematic nature related to certain
circumstances. Sometimes, there is a rather long list of situations in which detainees are
systematically subjected to full-body searches, and several institutions have drafted such lists, which
are very restrictive in general.
As regards full-body searches on exiting the visiting rooms, they are generally
conducted on detainees listed by a single multidisciplinary committee (CPU),
but follow quite different methods: in one institution, the list is revised
fortnightly, in most cases, it is revised every month, and in one case, it is
revised only once every quarter. However, this method is still not systematic;
for example, sometimes, the CPU does not meet and the list of persons to be
subjected to full-body searches is proposed by the persons responsible for
the buildings, updated by the first warder of the visiting rooms and is then
validated by the detention head.
In total, the proportion of detainees subjected to full-body searches is quite
variable: 25 to 35% in one place, 15 to 25% in another, and even slightly less
than 5%.
The reasons for the measures, the traceability of the searches and the recording of their
result are still not determined equally. While certain institutions provide the exact reason for the
decision to subject a detainee to full-body searches, others only provide general reasons, and still
others do not provide any reason at all. Sometimes, the searches and their results are recorded in
the electronic liaison register, and sometimes in a physical register, but this is done very irregularly.
Finally, the CGLPL collected testimonies of inappropriate practices. For example, in one
institution, the methods for searching a transsexual do not respect their dignity. In another
institution, during the in-processing of an inmate, the institution asks for an attestation from the
escort, who always refuses to give it. In practice, this makes full-body searches of arriving inmates
systematic. Multiple testimonies have mentioned humiliating and relentless practices; a posteriori, it
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