Report of the Human Rights Defender on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2013 The penalties imposed in certain youth care centres also included other unacceptable measures, such as punishment in the form of isolation of a charge in a separate room or the use of coercive measures as a means of introducing discipline. Each time, the visitors recommended elimination of these disciplinary measures. 3A.3.4. Right of access to information The recommendations of the visitors as to right usually concerned displaying addresses of institutions that guard human and citizen rights and the rules for charges in an available place. 3A.3.5. Right to contact with the outside world Comments from representatives of the National Preventive Mechanism on this issue are very similar to the reservations reported in previous years. It can be assumed that this is due to the absence of detailed regulation of charges’ contacts with people from outside the establishments in the Act on juvenile delinquency proceedings. As to this provision, it should be noted that the introduction of any restrictions on charges’ contacts with persons from outside a youth care centre in the form of, for example, the need to ask the director for permission to visit by people who are not family members or using the possibility to contact people from outside the family as a prize, punishing with a ban on contact or withholding mail from friends, making the possibility of using the phone dependent on behaviour, organisation of visits of people who are not family members under special control or in the presence of a tutor, violates the law.94 Censorship of juveniles’ correspondence is also incompatible with the law, i.e. Article. 66 § 3 of the Act on juvenile delinquency proceedings.95 The NPM employees also recommended that the right of juveniles to privacy should be respected by ensuring them with intimacy and allowing them to speak freely during visits and phone calls.96 This concerned, for example, conducting phone calls with the speakerphone mode on or within the range of hearing of a tutor, as well as arranging visits to charges in the presence of an establishment employee. Youth Care Centres in: Wola Rowska, Borowie, Jaworek, Warsaw (No 3), Samostrzel, Goniądz, Pogroszyn, Polanów. 95 Youth Care Centres in: Jaworek, Wola Rowska, Borowie. 96 Youth Care Centres in: Nysa, Wrocław, Warsaw (No 3), Borowie, Wola Rowska. 94 43