In one of the visited units, the NMPT concluded that the medical documentation kept at the RDP
failed to meet the CPT standards110. The descriptions of the medical examinations were extremely brief
and were limited only to the statement that the detainees could be held at the RDP. The certificates also
included information about the medications taken by the individual detainees. Moreover, the detention
reports had attachments indicating the results of the detainees’ medical examinations.
There have also been cases of violations of the principle of confidentiality of medical
examinations and of negligent conduct of such examinations (without a full body examination making
it possible to identify all possible injuries caused by police officers). For example, in one of the RDPs,
a detained man stated that during the medical examination his body had not been checked properly111.
The medical consultation had taken place in a police car, in front of a hospital. The doctor, according to
the detainee, approached the police car, and spoke to the detainee through an open door of the car only
for a few seconds, and then issued a certificate confirming that the detainee can be held in the RDP. The
situation had been witnessed by police officers. In another RDP, the medical examination of one
detainee was conducted in a monitored cell, with police officers present in the corridor (but the cell door
remained open and one of the officers entered the cell several times during the examination)112.
Detainees’ right to go outdoors
In its report, the SPT recommended that all persons detained by the police should spend at least
one hour a day outside their cells, with the possibility to exercise and breathe fresh air. The CPT also
called on the Polish authorities to make it possible for all persons detained by the police for 24 hours
and longer to go outdoors every day113.
Assessment of the recommendation’s implementation: Only one of the visited units had a
suitable walking area, but it was not used114. It should be pointed out that the Polish regulations on the
operation of RDPs not require outdoor space to be available to detainees or the possibility for them to
go for a walk. The implementation of the CPT recommendation would therefore require amendment of
the regulations on this aspect, and a change of the infrastructure of police detention facilities.
110
RDP at the Warsaw Police Headquarters, KMP.570.3.2020.KK.
111
RDP at the Poviat Police Station in Piaseczno, KMP. 570.6.2020 JJ.
112
RDP at the District Police Station Warsaw VI, KMP. 570.1.2020.AN.
113
CPT report, CPT/Inf (2018) 39, para. 33; SPT report, CAT/OP/POL/ROSP/1, para. 67.
114
RDP at the District Police Station Warsaw VI, KMP. 570.1.2020.AN.
54
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