The CPT called on the Polish authorities to take decisive action to develop activity programs
for remand prisoners. The aim of these activities should be to ensure that all prisoners spend 8 hours or
more outside of their cells, engaged in activities of various kinds - work, education, sports, etc.157
Both visited establishments failed to implement the recommendation. The inmates did not
have any activity programmes and, similarly as during the CPT visit, they spent most of their time in
the cells where they had access to books and newspapers. The only other possible activities were: going
for a walk (1 hour per day) and staying in the association room (in the remand prison WarszawaBiałołęka: twice per week, and in the remand prison Warszawa-Służewiec: one to four times per week).
The visited establishments tried to offer also some other activities to the inmates, e.g. cultural
and educational activities aimed at building civic and patriotic attitudes (e.g. the action entitled Saving
the memory), an exhibition about the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, competitions and
quizzes about the Battle of Warsaw of 1920, the Warsaw Uprising and Marshal Józef Piłsudski, as well
as outdoor sports activities. In the opinion of the NMPT, these activities are, however, too rare and only
occasional.
Association rooms
When visiting the two remand prisons in 2017, the CPT paid attention to the poor equipment in
the association rooms. The CPT report addressed to the Polish authorities emphasized that the
association rooms on each floor were practically unfurnished (in some cases, there were even no chairs
or a TV set)158. The CPT recommended that the Polish authorities take steps to adequately furnish the
association rooms in the penitentiary establishments159.
The remand prison Warszawa-Białołęka has implemented the recommendation.
The remand prison Warszawa-Służewiec has implemented the recommendation in part.
The equipment differed strongly between the individual association rooms. One of the rooms had only
a TV set, a table and some chairs. In the other rooms, there were: a computer game station, a table tennis
table, a mattress and a ladder for workout, a TV set and an exercise bicycle.
Walking yards
The CPT drew attention to the technical condition and equipment of the walking yards in Polish
penitentiary establishments. The report emphasized that the vast majority of the visited establishments
had only small yards surrounded by high concrete walls. The equipment in the yards included benches,
157
Ibid., para. 73. See also the SPT comments, CAT/OP/POL/ROSP/1, points 86-91.
158
CPT report on the visit to Poland, CPT/Inf (2018) 39, para. 62.
159
Ibid., para. 67.
68
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