Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Poland in 2017
2017 had relevant education in the field of law, sociology, political sciences, rehabilitation,
psychology and criminology. The NMPT was composed of 7 women and 6 men.
The National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture cooperates with the Sentences
Enforcement Team operating within the CHR Office. The cooperation consists in regular
exchange of experiences concerning the observance of rights of persons deprived of liberty.
Representatives of the NMPT together with members of the Sentences Enforcement Team
hold regular meetings with representatives of the National Headquarters of the Prison
Service, in which current problems highlighted in complaints lodged by prisoners and
identified during the NMPT preventive visits are discussed.
At the initiative of Deputy Commissioner for Human Rights Krzysztof Olkowicz, since
2016 preventive visits to penitentiary establishments have been carried out jointly with a
representative of the Department for Soldiers and other Uniformed Service Members. The
solution meets the needs of the Prison Service officers who may report problems related
to the performance of their duties directly to the CHR Office employees who are aware of
the officers’ rights.
Moreover, the Head of the Department for Migrant and National Minorities’ Rights also participates in visits performed under the Mechanism to closed detention centres for migrants.
During the visits, the team is supported by external experts: doctors-psychiatrists, geriatricians, internal medicine doctors as well as professionals specializing in issues that constitute the focus of NMPT visits. The focus in 2017 was psychological and psychiatric
assistance offered to foreign citizens placed in closed detention centres for migrants as well
as the identification of torture victims among residents of those establishments. For this
reason, the visits were carried out in the presence of experts, a psychologist and a psychiatrist, from the International Humanitarian Initiative Foundation.
On 18 October 2016 the Commissioner for Human Rights established the Expert Committee on the National Preventive Mechanism. The Committee includes, among other,
lawyers, representatives of non-governmental organizations, representatives of uniformed
services and doctors12 The composition of the Expert Committee on the NMPT in 2017
was as follows:
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prof. Zbigniew Lasocik, Ph.D.
Maria Załuska; D.Sc., MD
prof. Marek Konopczyński; D.Sc.
Marzena Ksel; Ph.D.
prof. Grażyna Barbara Szczygieł; D.Sc.
Maria Ejchart-Dubois, co-president;
The Committee is headed at present by: Justyna Jóźwiak, Ph.D. – NMPT employee as well as Maria Ejchart-Dubois, the Committee expert. The report on
the activity of the Team is contained in the Information about the observance of the rights and freedoms of individuals and citizens in 2017 and on the
activity of the Commissioner for Human Rights.
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