separate toilets constitutes a violation of the 34 detainees’ human dignity. square metres, and multiple-occupancy custody cells 35 for up to five persons measured 9 square metres. Furthermore, a recommendation was made to consider the use of textile hand restraint belts, should shackling be necessary in the custody cells. In order to expedite processes and limit detention to the shortest possible period, an outpost of Hamburg Local Court was set up where there were judges and interpreters present continuously throughout the entire duration of the Summit. During its visit, the National Agency inspected the actual processes and detention conditions during the on-going operations at the mass detention center. 2.2.21 – Hygiene products Essential hygiene products should be kept in stock in police stations for persons detained in custody. 2.2.22 – Custody suites located separately from guard rooms The custody suite at Worms Police Station is located in another part of the building from the guard room. It takes several minutes’ walk to reach the custody suite. This relatively long distance makes work harder for the officers, for example when conducting inspections, and also takes up a considerable amount of time. It is also not possible to ensure the detainees receive assistance promptly when required, which is a particular concern in emergency situations. 2.3.1 – Missing documentation at mass detention center Information requested by the National Agency directly after the visit to the mass detention center was not supplied, or not supplied in full. The documents had been added to bit by bit, and were in parts contradictory. This gave the impression that the authority in charge did not have an overview of the duration or details of the detentions that took place at the mass detention center during the Summit. Given the imperative of prevention, this is not acceptable. 2.2.23 – Documentation of incidents In Chemnitz North East Police Station, no access is available to documentation on self-harm incidents in custody. The station stated that no such search function had been programmed into the electronic custody record book, nor was it required. The National Agency believes it is necessary to document self-harm incidents in such a way that the information can be accessed subsequently. This makes it possible to analyse reasons for self-harm, to take suitable preventive measures, and thereby better fulfil the State’s duty to protect persons being deprived of their liberty. 2.3.2 – Duration of transfer to custody at the mass detention center Assuming the relevant documents supplied are correct, it appears that in a large number of cases several hours elapsed between the time the person was arrested in the street and the point when they were brought into the mass detention center. It was not clear from the documentation where these persons had been held in this period of time, or what had caused their transfer to the mass detention center to be delayed by several hours. 2.3 – POLICE ACTIVITIES AT MAJOR EVENTS As part of its focus in the period under review, the National Agency also observed police activity in connection with major events. A visit was undertaken for this purpose to the Neuland police mass detention center in Hamburg-Harburg, which had been set up for the duration of the G20 Summit in Hamburg. The mass detention center was first visited approximately one month before the G20 Summit to conduct a visual inspection of the facilities. According to the authority in charge, the mass detention center was only planned for short-term detention of only a few hours. Even prior to the initial visit, the National Agency took a critical view of the size of the cells, as the single-occupancy custody cells measured only 3.3 2.3.3 – Duration of detention and size of custody cells For persons taken into custody under police law, the mass detention center had 250 places in multipleoccupancy cells for up to five persons. For persons arrested under the Code of Criminal Procedure, there were a further 150 places in both single and multipleoccupancy cells. The single-occupancy custody cells had a floor space of 3.3 square meters, while multipleoccupancy custody cells measured 9 square meters. In assessing how humane detention conditions and treatment are, a decisive factor is the duration of the detention in connection with the size of the custody cells. The documents and interviews with detainees 34 Federal Constitutional Court, Decision of 22/02/2011, file no. 1 BvR 409/09, margin no. 30. 35 34 See Chapter II. 5.4 – “Size of custody cells”.