FACTSHEET What could monitoring bodies check? • What are the procedures for body searches, upon against abuse during searches – one officer should conduct the search while the other should only observe. admission and subsequently? • What types of searches are applied in which situations? • When are strip searches conducted? • What is the procedure for each type of body search? • How and where do body searches take place? • Are strip searches conducted in two steps (first upper The Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture determined as humiliating the practice of search procedures after a mass transfer from one unit to another, involving prisoners being ‘strip searched in front of groups of security staff’.33 and then lower body)? • Are detainees obliged to take positions that are embarrassing or degrading? 3.3. Staff carrying out body searches Recent international standards and case law underline the need for body searches to be performed only by staff of the same sex.30 In the specific case of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) detainees, their preference regarding the sex of the staff should be respected.31 In Ukraine, where there were no female custodial staff in some places holding female detainees, the CPT stressed ‘that persons deprived of their liberty should only be searched by staff of the same gender; any search which requires an inmate to undress should be conducted out of the sight of custodial staff of the opposite gender’.32 The number of staff present during the search is also highly relevant in the appraisal of whether or not body searches are conducted in an appropriate way, or contribute to humiliation. As a general rule, security does not require the presence of several staff and strip searches should ideally be carried out by one officer only. Where the presence of a second staff member is considered necessary – for security reasons or to provide a safeguard Staff performing body searches must be trained on how to carry out such a sensitive measure in a professional way, avoiding unnecessary intrusion and touching.34 It is also important for monitoring bodies to understand the broader staff working environment in order to identify potential incentives for overzealous body searches. Where management and institutional culture overemphasise security considerations,35 and where staff are sanctioned rigidly following even minor incidents, they will be more inclined to apply body searches rigorously and systematically.36 In recently developed standards for physicians, the participation of healthcare personnel has been considered unethical. ‘The physician’s obligation to provide medical care to the prisoner should not be compromised by an obligation to participate in the prison’s security system’37 and therefore, involvement in ‘any professional relationship with prisoners or detainees the purpose of which is not solely to evaluate, protect or improve their physical and mental health’ is in contravention of medical ethics for health personnel.38 The involvement of physicians in body-cavity searches is a more complex issue, given the risk of injury if not performed by a person with relevant medical skills. The revised Standard Minimum Rules emphasise, in general, that healthcare personnel must not have any role in the imposition of disciplinary sanctions or other restrictive measures, as such involvement would compromise the exclusivity of the physician’s curative function and the principle of informed consent However, recognising the health and hygiene risks of body-cavity searches, 30. Rule 52 (1) of the revised Standard Minimum Rules; Rule 19 of the UN Bangkok Rules; European Prison Rules Rule 54.5; Principle XXI of the InterAmerican Principles. In Valasinas v. Lithuania, the European Court of Human Rights held that obliging a male prisoner to strip naked in the presence of a woman prison officer, and touching with bare hands his sexual organs and then his food constituted a degrading treatment, op.cit. 31. For more detail see PRI/APT, LGBTI persons deprived of their liberty: a framework for preventive monitoring, 2nd edition, 2015, p9. 32. Report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) on its 2009 visit to Ukraine, CPT/Inf(2011)29, para. 42. 33. Report of the visit of the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture to the Maldives, 26 February 2009, CAT/OP/MDV/1, para. 201. 34. See Rule 52 (1) and Rule 76 (b) of the revised Standard Minimum Rules and Rule 19 of the UN Bangkok Rules, which explicitly requires searches to be ‘carried out by women staff who have been properly trained in appropriate searching methods’. 35. See PRI/APT, Balancing security and dignity in prison: a framework for preventive monitoring, 2013. 36. In Argentina, Article 202 of the regulations regarding disciplinary measures for staff of federal penitentiary system provides that ‘not conducting with due rigor and zeal, searches of the detainees, cells, bars, pavilions, doors, workshops and other places’ constitutes a serious disciplinary offence. CELS, Derechos humanos en Argentina, Informe 2012, p231. 37. World Medical Association, Statement on Body Searches of Prisoners, adopted by the 45th World Medical Assembly, Budapest, Hungary, October 1993, and editorially revised by the 170th WMA Council Session, Divonne-les-Bains, France, May 2005. 38. Principle 3 of the Principles of Medical Ethics relevant to the Role of Health Personnel, particularly Physicians, in the Protection of Prisoners and Detainees against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; see also See Rule 46 of the revised Standard Minimum Rules which provides that healthcare personnel should not have any role in the imposition of disciplinary sanctions or other restrictive measures. Penal Reform International | Body searches: Addressing risk factors to prevent torture and ill-treatment |5