Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Poland in 2017 Given such circumstances and the lack of awareness about the provisions of the Istanbul Protocol among prison staff, the NMPT recommended documenting bodily injuries of detainees upon each admission to the establishment and discussing with them their origins. As the NMPT recommended, in case of indication that the injuries might have been sustained in relation to prisoner’s apprehension - law enforcement bodies as well as the penitentiary judge should be notified. The NMPT also recommended that the personnel of the establishment should be acquainted with the provisions of the Istanbul Protocol24. The method for conducting body searches Virtually in all visited establishments body searches were performed in one step (detainee was requested to fully undress at once), which is incompliant with the regulation of the Minister of Justice that has been in force since 2 January 201725. The NMPT recommended reminding personnel about applicable standards and change their methods of operation in that regard. Body search is a hugely invasive and possibly embarrassing measure. Therefore, it should be conducted following an individual risk assessment and subject to the observance of strict criteria and supervision. All reasonable efforts should be made to minimize the feeling of embarrassment; detainees subject to body search should not be requested to remove all clothes in one step and should have the right, for example, first to undress from the waist up and then put on some clothes before undressing from the waist down(CPT)26 Using handcuffs 71-year-old prisoner with impaired mobility handcuffed on the way to the doctor In one establishment, the NMPT representatives presented reservations concerning the legitimacy of using handcuffs when transporting a 71-year-old prisoner, suffering from back problems and other mobility-hindering ailments, to the medical examination outside prison premises27. 24 Translation of the protocol is available on the website of the CHR under the following address: https://www.rpo.gov.pl/pl/content/protokol-stambulski 25 Pre-trial detention centre in Grójec, Wałbrzych, prion in Herby, Malbork, field unit in Radom. See also Article 68 of the regulation of the Minister of Justice of 17 October 2016 on security measures in organizational units of the Prison Service (Dz. U. of 2016, item 1804) 26 Report of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from the visit to Poland, CPT/Inf (2014) 21, Article 106 27 Prison in Herby 18