RISK FACTORS DERIVING FROM AN OVEREMPHASIS ON SECURITY degrading treatment. There is also a risk that searches, including cell searches, are used as a means of intimidation or retaliation against certain detainees. The revised Standard Minimum Rules have introduced, for the first time, standards on searches of prisoners and cells, as well as searches of visitors.58 Body searches are usually applied at the time of admission, before and/or after physical contact with relatives or even legal representatives,55 when ordering placement in a segregation cell or after exercise, workshops or following meals in the refectory. Wherever possible, alternatives to body searches, such as scans and metal detectors, should be developed and used to replace strip searches and body cavity searches, and appropriate training should be provided to staff.59 However, there are often no rules governing searches, and in a large number of prisons, officers can search prisoners, their cells and possessions at any time. There are various kinds of body searches. A pat down, rub down or frisk search represents a search of person’s outer clothing by a person running his/her hands along the outer clothes. Prison staff may ask the prisoner to take off their shoes and empty their pockets, and may check in their mouth, nose, ears and hair. By contrast, a full body or strip search refers to the removal or rearrangement of some or all of a person’s clothing so as to permit a visual inspection of a person’s private areas, without physical contact. Lastly, invasive body searches involve a physical inspection of the detainee’s genital or anal regions. The humiliating and traumatising effect of invasive body searches, in particular strip searches and cavity searches, has been widely recognised. As for women, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women described their improper touching during searches carried out by male prison staff as ‘sanctioned sexual harassment’.56 Strip searches of women prisoners in Australia In 2012 the Special Rapporteur on violence against women reported that many Australian prisons require women to undergo highly invasive and often traumatic strip searches. A prisoner from Farlea Prison reported: ‘We are strip searched after every visit. We are naked, told to bend over, touch our toes, spread our cheeks. If we’ve got our period we have to take the tampon out in front of them. It’s degrading and humiliating. When we do urines it’s even worse, we piss in a bottle in front of them. If we can’t or won’t we lose visits for three weeks.’57 Clear and strict regulations and procedures should be in place governing the use of body searches, in order to avoid abuse. They should specify when searches are allowed, based on the criteria of necessity, reasonableness and proportionality, and the principle of ‘last resort’ for intrusive searches. Alternatives should be applied wherever possible.60 For example, if there is suspicion that a prisoner is concealing an illegal item in his/her body, alternatives include modern scanning technology or making arrangements to keep the prisoners under close supervision until such time as any forbidden item is expelled from the body. 61 Vaginal examinations in Greece Prisoners in Greece who refused a vaginal examination on arrival to prison were placed in segregation for several days and forced to take laxatives. On the occasion of a visit of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) in January 2011, authorities claimed that these types of searches had been ended, and were only undertaken in exceptional circumstances and by trained doctors. However, during their visit the CPT found the practice was still ongoing in Greek prisons.62 Regulations should also specify the modalities of their conduct. Most importantly, body searches should preserve the right to privacy and dignity, should be undertaken in a sensitive way, and never be used to harass, intimidate or unnecessarily intrude upon a prisoner’s privacy.63 Prisoners should never be completely naked, but the search should be conducted in private and in two steps (first upper and then lower body), avoiding physical contact in order to avoid humiliation. Staff should explain exactly what will happen before they give a full body search. Strip searches and body cavity searches should require authorisation by the supervisor on duty.64 55. It has to be noted that authorities – and hence monitoring bodies – must take into account not only the risk of families voluntarily introducing prohibited items but also situations where they are forced to do so by other inmates’ families or criminal groups outside the place of detention. 56. Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women of the mission to the United States of America on the issue of violence against women in state and federal prisons, 4 January 1999, E/CN.4/1999/68/Add.2, paras.55, 58. 57. Australian Human Rights Committee, Australian Study Tour Report, Visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, 10-20 April 2012, p16. 58. Revised Standard Minimum Rules, Rules 51-53 (prisoner) and Rule 60 (visitors). 59. Revised Standard Minimum Rules, Rules 51-53 (prisoner) and Rule 60 (visitors). 60. Revised Standard Minimum Rules, Rule 52. 61. In 2011, the government of Argentina decided to install detectors to control the entry of visitors in prisons. These are not all installed yet. See CELS Derechos humanos en Argentina, informe 2012, p231. 62. PRI, Guidance Document on the United Nations Rules on the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules), 2013, p61, footnote 208. 63. Revised Standard Minimum Rules, Rule 51. 64. Bangkok Rules, Commentary to Rule 19, see PRI, Guidance Document on the United Nations Rules on the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Noncustodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules), 2013, p63. 12 | Penal Reform International | Balancing security and dignity in prisons: a framework for preventive monitoring