ESSEX PAPER 3: INITIAL GUIDANCE ON THE INTERPRETATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN NELSON MANDELA RULES Searches of Prisoners, Cells and Visitors Rule 1 on the requirement to respect human dignity frames how the specific rules on searches of prisoners, cells and visitors in Rules 50 – 52 and 60 should be interpreted and applied. These Rules cover whether searches should be carried out in the first place and when they are, how they are conducted. Types of Searches Searches cover all personal searches, including pat down and frisk searches, as well as strip and invasive searches. A strip search refers to the removal or rearrangement of some or all of the clothing of a person so as to permit a visual inspection of a person’s private areas. Invasive body searches involve a physical inspection of the detainee’s genital or anal regions. Other types of searches include searches of the property and rooms of prisoners. Visitors to prison are also frequently searched. Searches as a Last Resort and the Use of Alternatives The Essex Group recalled that international standards and norms set out clear requirements on when searches are legal, proportionate and necessary31. The Essex Group recalled the second Essex paper that emphasized the requirement for the prison administration to ensure that alternatives to searches (and other invasive measures) are in place so that searches are a means of last resort.32 The Essex Group also emphasised the particular position of vulnerability in which women are placed with regard to body searches, especially of an invasive nature. This vulnerability arises because of the way in which body searches are conducted (for example, requiring women to remove items of clothing and lifting their breasts) as well as reasons such as prior abuse. These risks again underscore the importance of prioritizing alternatives to searches and ensuring that searches are used only as a last resort as well as the importance of complying with Rule 19 of the Bangkok Rules that require searches of women to be conducted by women staff. A fact-sheet by the Association on the Prevention of Torture and Penal Reform International sets out a list of concrete questions for prison officials to ask themselves when assessing if a search is necessary in the first place and if they are to be carried out, how and by whom in line with the Nelson Mandela Rules and international standards and norms.33 General Principles for the Conduct of Searches Rule 50 of the Nelson Mandela Rules provides that searches must be respectful of the ‘inherent dignity and privacy of the individual being’. The Essex Group emphasized that searches must be conducted in line with the prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment and the right to health. Rules 19-21, UN General Assembly, United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules, 6 October 2010), A/C.3/65/L.5, available at: http://www.un.org/ en/ecosoc/docs/2010/res%202010-16.pdf; Principle XXI, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR),  Resolution 1/08, Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas (13 March 2008) No. 1/08, available at: http://www.cidh.org/basicos/english/basic21.a.principles%20and%20best%20practices%20pdl.htm ; European Prison Rules, Part IV para. 54 31  Second Report of the Essex Group of Experts, at paras. 9 and 72. 32  33  ssociation on the Prevention of Torture and Penal Reform International, Body Searches: Addressing risk factors A to prevent torture and ill-treatment (Second edition, 2015), available at: https://www.penalreform.org/wp-content/ uploads/2016/01/factsheet-4-searches-2nd-v5.pdf Penal Reform International and the Essex Human Rights Centre | 14