related proceedings are started. The method of registering injuries of prisoners is therefore inconsistent
with the Istanbul Protocol172.
The representatives of the NMPT also met with the opinions of the staff that not all injuries are
recorded (especially minor injuries), and the Police and the Prison Service should cooperate and trust
each other. The NMPT delegation even heard about the informal rule in the unit, according to which
one does not report to each other. The findings of the NMPT representatives also indicate that not all
information about injuries of a prisoner goes to the law enforcement agencies. Minor injuries are
recorded in the prisoner's health book, when the injuries are serious and the perpetrators are police
officers, law enforcement agencies are notified. At the Warsaw-Służewiec University, medical
personnel were aware of the existence of the Istanbul Protocol, but did not know its content. This
document is not used in the investigation and documentation of injuries.
Drug-addicted prisoners
The CPT paid attention to the methods of work with drug-addicted prisoners. The Committee
pointed out that methadone programmes were available in all the visited establishments. However,
despite the CPT’s repeated recommendations, no harm reduction measures (e.g. needle change
information, the supply of condoms, information on how to sterilise needles and other materials used
for injecting drugs) were introduced.173.
According to the CPT, the management of drug-addicted prisoners must be varied. It should, on
the one hand, focus on eliminating the supply of drugs into prisons, and on the other hand, on the
problem of drug abuse as such (through identifying and engaging drug misusers, providing them with
treatment options and ensuring that there is appropriate through care, developing standards, monitoring
and research on drug issues, and the provision of staff training and development). The activities should
be linked to a proper national prevention policy. The CPT emphasizes that health-care staff must play a
key role in drawing up, implementing and monitoring the programmes concerned and must co-operate
closely with the other (psycho-socio-educational) staff involved.
The CPT called upon the Polish authorities to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy
for the provision of assistance to prisoners with drug-related problems (as part of a wider national drugs
strategy)174.
172
See: paragraph 122 and Annexes III and IV to the Instanbul Protocol. Manual on the Effective Investigation
and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; The Office of
the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights; Professional Training Series No. 8/Rev.1; New York and
Geneva, 2004.
173
See: CPT report on the visit to Poland, CPT/Inf (2018) 39, para. 81.
174
Ibid., para. 81.
73
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