80 Human Rights in Counter-Terrorism Investigations 3.3 Searching Suspects Having arrested and detained a terrorism suspect, an important next step is to search him or her. This is essential for the following reasons: • to protect others, including police officers, from harm; • to protect the suspect from harming him or herself; • to find items that may be used to facilitate escape; and • to find items that may be evidence connected to the crime for which he or she has been arrested, or any other crime. The extent of the search depends on all the circumstances, but in terrorismrelated cases it is likely that it may be more extensive and intrusive than in other criminal cases. Sometimes it may even extend to a strip search or, exceptionally, an “intimate” search, in which an inspection is made of body cavities. Searches may also extend to personal items of the suspects and any items found at the crime scene, as explored in Part 2.2 of the manual. Some guidance on how to conduct searches from a human rights perspective would include the following: • Strip and intimate searches are very invasive and potentially degrading measures, and should be used only when absolutely necessary, as a last resort, and in accordance with gender-sensitive measures; • There must be reasonable grounds to suspect that the detainee may have traces of explosives or hidden items on his or her body and that such a search is necessary to detect them, as an ordinary search is unlikely to result in their discovery; • Carrying out such a search requires the authority of a senior officer and should be the subject of a written policy, setting out in clear terms the circumstances in which it is permissible to resort to it, and the reason for the search must be recorded; • Such a search should be carried out in a manner that provides privacy from other detainees and police officers; • There should always be at least two police officers present, of the same gender as the suspect; • Such a search should be carried out by personnel with sufficient medical knowledge and skills to perform the search safely. In the case of body cavity searches79, these should only be carried out by a doctor, whose gender has been agreed on by the subject; • The suspect should be informed that the usual conditions of medical confidentiality do not apply to body searches and their outcome will be revealed to the authorities; 80