CAT/OP/BRA/1 (d) Contact with the outside world 115. In several prisons, the SPT was informed by inmates that they had very limited access to communication by telephone or letter. The SPT also received allegations regarding the non-transmission of correspondence. 116. At Viana II, pre-trial inmates placed under the special high security regime had a visit entitlement of two hours per week and intimate visits once a fortnight. The establishment’s visiting facilities were adequate but the geographical location of the new centres built in Espírito Santo was problematic as inmates were often held far from their families. Maximum-security inmates were not allowed to make telephone calls, receive parcels or keep personal belongings. 117. The SPT recommends that all inmates be allowed under necessary supervision to communicate regularly, by letter, telephone and visits with their families and other persons. 118. The SPT received many complaints relating to the intrusive and humiliating search procedures in place for visitors, including elderly women and children, who were requested to undergo strip searches and intimate searches. Another recurrent complaint was the significant delays in issuing visitor cards. 119. The SPT recommends that the State party ensure that strip searches and intimate searches shall and comply with criteria of necessity, reasonableness and proportionality. If conducted, bodily searches shall be carried out under adequate sanitary conditions, by qualified personnel of the same sex, and shall be compatible with human dignity and respect for fundamental rights. Intrusive vaginal or anal searches shall be forbidden by law.42 Issuing of visitors’ passes should be sped up. 120. The SPT was concerned by allegations received that mothers with children in prison were deprived of their right to keep custody of their child after the age of two, who in some cases had been put up for adoption. 121. The SPT recommend that decisions to allow children to stay with their mothers in prison shall be based on the best interests of the children, and be based on careful individual assessment.43 The SPT further requests the State party to provide clarification on the practice of placing children for adoption, and on the application of child custody legislation in these situations. (e) Food and drinking water 122. Numerous inmates complained that prison food was of poor quality. Inmates at Coronel Odenir Guimarães-CPP reported restrictions in the water supply. 123. The SPT recommends that Brazilian authorities increase the number of foodquality checks to ensure that all meals are prepared in a hygienic manner, in sufficient quantity, and with the nutrition quality and variety for the maintenance of inmates’ health. 42 43 UNCAT, article 16; the Bangkok Rules, rules 19 to 21; and the Inter-American Principles, principle XXI. Bangkok Rules, rules 49 and 52. 19