Annual report 2011: Spain’s National Preventive Mechanism In general the detainees interviewed did not complain about the searches conducted It was again observed that Detainee Registration and Custody Logs failed to record full body searches conducted Detainees should not be taken to the cells via the main door of the establishment The GC report that the criterion set out by the Ombudsman has been taken into account in newly built facilities 68  55.  On the inspection visits made, detainees were asked about the searches to which they had been subjected. In general, they had no complaints in this regard. For example a female detainee reported that the search at the Central District police station in Madrid had been correctly conducted by a female officer in the toilet area of the cell. However on other visits it was observed once again that full body searches were not always logged in the Detainee Registration and Custody Log with specific details of the reasons for such searches and confirmation that the judicial authorities had been informed as part of the procedural case file, as per the criteria set out in paragraphs 66 and 114 and elsewhere in the Annual Report 2010. One detainee at the CNP Chamberí District police station stated that he had been subjected to a superficial search “but then they told me to drop my trousers and crouch down”. In this regard the CNP reports that instructions have been issued to district stations and regional police headquarters for this shortcoming observed during the inspection of its establishments to be corrected. 56.  As indicated in paragraphs 46, 95 and 466, among others, of the Annual Report 2010, taking detainees to the cells via the main door of an establishment, via common areas used for services to the general public, has implications from the point of view of both security and the exposure to view of detainees, who although they have been deprived of their liberty still maintain their fundamental rights to their honour and their image. In 2011 this shortcoming was observed at several Civil Guard establishments and at the courthouses in Albacete, Ayamonte (province of Huelva) and the city of Huelva itself. The GC report that this criterion has been taken into account in newly constructed establishments, but that reforming all their facilities is financially unviable, given that the force has 571 facilities with holding cells and it would cost a great deal of money to implement such reforms. However, on the inspection visit to the barracks at Arguineguín (Las Palmas) it was observed that following the criterion expressed by the Ombudsman on the first visit to the establishment new cells had been built which were accessible directly from the outside. The Department of Governance and Justice of the Regional Government of Andalusia reports that it is looking into the possibility of correcting this shortcoming at the courthouse buildings in Ayamonte (Huelva) and the courthouse complex in Huelva city. The DGP reports that instructions have been issued to officers stationed at the courthouse complex in Albacete to ensure that detainees are taken into the building via the garage rather than the main entrance.   THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN

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