Body searches can also be particularly distressing for prisoners of particular religious or 299 cultural backgrounds. In some countries, there have been reports of body searches, including strip searches, in separated units or high-security settings being conducted routinely and in a systematic way “for security purposes” upon admission, and also prior to and after each visit from outsiders, meeting with lawyers, court hearing, participation in 300 activities, religious practice or transfers, including for medical treatment. In these cases, there is no individualized assessment of risks to ensure that a body search is necessary and proportionate, as required by the UN Nelson Mandela Rules. Body searches (and also cell searches) that are conducted on a routine basis, too frequently, or in a systematic or collective way on all detainees are arbitrary measures, and may in themselves constitute 301 humiliating or degrading treatment. Effective means for prisoners to challenge such 302 routine measures are often limited. The systematic nature and frequency of body searches may also impede prisoners’ contact with their family and lawyers or their participation in meaningful activities, as some prisoners renounce such visits and activities in order to avoid being subjected to body searches. This practice can, therefore, also lead to infringements upon their right to private and family life and a fair trial. It may also increase the risk of harmful effects from isolation for these detainees that are detained under security regimes where the activity 303 level and possibility of human contact are already very restricted. Contact with the outside world For a number of reasons, contact with the outside world is important for all detainees. First, contact with the outside world is a key safeguard against human rights abuses, 299 Ibid., Chapter 2, paras. 6 and 7. To ensure respect of human dignity and privacy intrusive body searches, such as strip searches, must be conducted, for example, by a prison staff member of the same sex and in two stages, so that not all clothes are removed at the same time. See for instance, the CPT’s report on the 2016 visit to the Netherlands (CPT/Inf (2017) 1, para. 76. 300 UN Committee against Torture, “Concluding Observations on the Seventh Periodic Report of the Netherlands” op. cit., note 202, para. 28: It is particularly concerned about reports of prolonged solitary confinement in the TA units. It is also concerned about reports of the frequent and routine use of full-nudity body searches which occur after, and sometimes also prior to, a detainee meeting in person with outside visitors, including close family members and children, as well as when detainees leave the prison for court or police hearings. 301 For information on different scenarios where body searches can constitute torture or other ill-treatment see: ODIHR & PRI, Guidance Document on the Nelson Mandela Rules, op. cit., note 10, Chapter 2. 302 Based on NGO, NPM and CPT reports on practices in the Dutch TA, French “dedicated units” and the highest security settings in the Czech Republic, Norway and Poland. See Amnesty International and Open Society Justice Initiative, “Inhuman and Unnecessary Human Rights Violations in Dutch High-Security Prisons in the Context of Counter Terrorism”, op. cit., note 106, pp. 39-46, “Radicalisation islamiste en milieu carcéral: les unités dédiées ouvertes en 2016”, CGLPL, op. cit., note 108; Public Defender of RightsOmbudsm, Czech Republic, “Report on Systematic Visits Carried Out by the Public Defender of Rights”, an, 2016, pp. 43-44; The Parliamentary Ombudsman Norway – NPM “Visit report: Telemark Prison, Skien branch, 2-4 June 2015”, op. cit., note 226, pp. 16-17; “Report of the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights on the Activities of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in 2016”, Polish Commissioner for Human Rights, Warsaw, 2017, pp. 26-27; Rapport au Gouvernement de la République française, CPT/ Inf (2017) 7, op. cit., note XXX. 303 “The Parliamentary Ombudsman Norway – NPM , “Visit report: Telemark Prison, Skien Branch, 2-4 June 2015”, ibid., p. 17. 65