FACTSHEET the Rules suggest that body-cavity searches should be conducted by qualified healthcare professionals other than those primarily responsible for the care of the prisoner or, at a minimum, by staff appropriately trained by a medical professional in standards of hygiene, health and safety.39 What could monitoring bodies check? • Are searches conducted by staff of the same sex? • Do staff involved in body searches receive specific training? • How many officers are present during a search, in particular strip or invasive body searches? The Council of Europe has noted that ‘[b]ody searches are a matter for the administrative authorities and prison doctors should not become involved in such procedures. However, an intimate medical examination should be conducted by a doctor when there is an objective medical reason requiring her/his involvement’.41 The CPT has stated that ‘[a] prison doctor acts as a patient’s personal doctor. He should not carry out body searches or examinations requested by an authority, except in an emergency when no other doctor can be called in’.42 Some medical experts have pointed to the possibility of giving the detainee a choice between having a trained member of detention staff or a physician carry out the search, drawing on the principle of informed consent for any medical intervention by physicians. “ This non-medical act may be performed by a physician to protect the prisoner from the harm that might result from a search by a non-medically trained examiner. In such a case the physician should explain this to the prisoner. The physician should furthermore explain to the prisoner that the usual conditions of medical confidentiality do not apply during this imposed procedure and that the results of the search will be revealed to the authorities. ” (World Medical Association, Statement on Body Searches of Prisoners) • If body-cavity searches are conducted, who performs them? If detention staff, are they adequately trained? • Where healthcare personnel are involved in searches, are the same personnel involved in providing medical care to the detainee(s)? Are physicians aware of the relevant standards of medical ethics? • What sanctions are applied to staff in cases where excessive or abusive conduct of a search is established? Does the system incentivise unnecessary, routine or disproportionate searches? 3.4. Persons in situation of vulnerability While body searches are humiliating and degrading for any prisoner, some groups are disproportionately affected, such as women, children, LGBTI detainees, members of certain religious groups, ethnic or cultural minorities or persons with disabilities. Detainees labelled a ‘national security threat’ may be subject to discriminatory treatment, and so may prisoners on death row or those convicted to life imprisonment. Moreover, vulnerability is not static and will depend on the context. Individuals may be particularly vulnerable regardless of whether or not they belong to a particular group. The educational, cultural and religious background of the detainees, including taboos on sexual matters, are factors that can either cause a search to be humiliating or degrading, or cause it to be perceived by the detainee as such. The European Court of Human Rights has recognised that for searches to be degrading or humiliating, ‘it may well suffice that the victim is humiliated in his own eyes, even if not in the eyes of others’.43 Where body searches are carried out by the opposite sex, women prisoners are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse. The Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women described the improper touching of women during searches carried out by male prison staff, as ‘sanctioned sexual harassment’.44 The InterAmerican Court has ruled that it can amount to sexual rape. International standards therefore require all body searches performed on women to be carried out 39. See revised Standard Minimum Rules, Rules 46 and 52 (2); World Medical Association, Statement on Body Searches of Prisoners: ‘If the search is conducted by a physician, it should not be done by the physician who will also subsequently provide medical care to the prisoner’; and European Prison Rule 54.6: ‘There shall be no internal physical searches of prisoners’ bodies by prison staff’, and Rule 54.7: ‘An intimate examination related to a search may be conducted by a medical practitioner only’. 40. World Medical Association, Statement on Body Searches of Prisoners: ‘If the search is conducted by a physician, it should not be done by the physician who will also subsequently provide medical care to the prisoner’. 41. Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers, Recommendation Concerning the Ethical and Organisational Aspects of Health Care in Prison, No. R (98) 7, 8 April 1998, para. 72. 42. CPT Standards, 2006 Edition, Extract from the 3rd General Report [CPT/Inf (93) 12], p38, para. 73. 43. Tyrer v. UK, Application No. 5856/72, 1978, para. 32. 44. Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women of the mission to the United States of America on the issue of violence against women in state and federal prisons, E/CN.4/1999/68/Add.2, paras 55, 58. 6 | Penal Reform International | Body searches: Addressing risk factors to prevent torture and ill-treatment