101 361 them; not allowing or seizing copies during the searches of case files or other legal documents in the possession of the inmate; and the transferring of prisoners to locations far away from the judges or courts conducting their proceedings or from their 362 attorneys. 263. With regard to procedural infringements arising during transfers of detainees to prison facilities located at a considerable distance from the site of judicial proceedings, the IACHR notes recent Recommendation No. 35/2013 issued by the 363 in which this institution National Human Rights Commission of Mexico (CNDH), asserted that “prison transfers represent one of the most common forms of violation of inmates’ legal certainty.” This is so because, among other reasons, they are far away from the judges or courts hearing their cases and from the scene of the alleged crime, which hampers the ability of the prisoners to follow their cases and be present at the hearings, thereby limiting access to an adequate defense. Consequently, the CNDH recommended that the competent authorities, “issue the respective instructions so that prior to conducting a transfer, it is guaranteed that the person under pretrial detention has the real and effective opportunity to defend himself in the case that has been brought against him, in light of his right to due process of the law and, particularly, to a defense.” 264. Also, at a hearing on the human rights situation of persons deprived of liberty at the Islas Marias Prison Complex –a federal facility located 112 kilometers from the coast of the state of Nayarit, Mexico- the participant organizations stated that the location of this prison facility is a considerable infringement of the right to defense of the inmates being held there. The facility can only be reached by a vessel of the Secretariat of the Mexican Navy once a week and heavy restrictions have been placed on means of communication. This situation is particularly serious for inmates held for …continuation inspection, both on the way in and out. The inspection is conducted by members of the military, who even control the notes taken by the lawyers during their interviews with their clients. […] This is even more serious when it involves lawyers, because they are also subjected to searches, which are sometimes improper, intrusive and humiliating.” UN, Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions, Report on the Mission to El Salvador, A/HRC/22/44/Add.2, published on January 11, 2013, paras. 74 and 75. 361 The Commission has received information that authorities in charge of the detention facility of Guantanamo naval base have recently implemented the practice, among other ones, of patting down or searching in the genital area of the detainees as a mandatory procedure prior to and after they hold interviews with their lawyers. 362 In this regard, the IACHR has said that “when transfers are executed arbitrarily or in circumstances that are contrary to respect for the human rights of inmates, they could amount to visible spaces or gray areas for the commission of abuses by authorities;” and it set standards for judicial control over such transfers. IACHR, Report on the Human Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, OEA/Ser.L/V/II, approved on December 31, 2011, paras. 485 and 500. 363 CNDH, Recommendation No. 35/2013, Regarding the case of inmates of Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 11 “CPS Sonora”, in Hermosillo, Sonora. México, D.F., September 25, 2013, paras. 56, 58, 66, 68 and 145. Even though this recommendation was given in response to the ongoing complaints received at the “CPS Sonora,” the considerations and findings contained therein are applicable to every Mexican federal penitentiary system.