–3–
To allow this to happen would run counter to the legitimate interests of detained persons in general
and to society as a whole2. The CPT is therefore in favour of an automatic reporting obligation for
health-care professionals working in prisons or other places of deprivation of liberty when they
gather such information. In fact, such an obligation already exists under the law of many States
visited by the CPT, but is often not fully respected in practice.
In several recent visit reports, the CPT has recommended that existing procedures be
reviewed in order to ensure that whenever injuries are recorded by a health-care professional which
are consistent with allegations of ill-treatment made by a detained person, that information is
immediately and systematically brought to the attention of the relevant authority, regardless of the
wishes of the person concerned. If a detained person is found to bear injuries which are clearly
indicative of ill-treatment (e.g. extensive bruising of the soles of the feet) but refuses to reveal their
cause or gives a reason unrelated to ill-treatment, his/her statement should be accurately
documented and reported to the authority concerned together with a full account of the objective
medical findings.
78.
The “relevant authority” to which the health-care professional’s report should be sent is first
and foremost the independent body empowered to carry out an official investigation into the matter
and, if appropriate, bring criminal charges. Other authorities to be informed could include bodies
responsible for disciplinary investigations or for monitoring the situation of persons detained in the
establishment where ill-treatment may have occurred. The report should also be made available to
the detained person concerned and to his/her lawyer.
The actual mechanism for transmission of the report to the relevant authority(ies) will vary
from country to country in the light of organisational structures and may well not involve direct
communication between the health-care professional and that authority. The report might be
transmitted through the hierarchy of the health-care professional (e.g. a Medical Department at
ministerial level) or the management of the detention facility in which he/she works (e.g. prison
director). However, whichever approach is followed, the rapid transmission of the report to the
relevant authority must be ensured.
79.
A corollary of the automatic reporting obligation referred to in paragraph 77 is that the
health-care professional should advise the detained person concerned of the existence of that
obligation, explaining that the writing of such a report falls within the framework of a system for
preventing ill-treatment and that the forwarding of the report to the relevant authority is not a
substitute for the lodging of a complaint in proper form. The appropriate moment to provide that
information to the detained person would be as from the moment that he/she begins to make
allegations of ill-treatment and/or is found to bear injuries indicative of ill-treatment.
If the process is handled with sensitivity, the great majority of the detained persons
concerned will not object to disclosure. As for those that remain reluctant, the health-care
professional might choose to limit the content of the report to the objective medical findings.
80.
The reporting to the relevant authority of medical evidence indicative of ill-treatment must
be accompanied by effective measures to protect the person who is the subject of the report as well
as other detained persons. For example, prison officers who have allegedly been involved in illtreatment should be transferred to duties not requiring day-to-day contact with prisoners, pending
the outcome of the investigation. If the possible ill-treatment relates to the acts of fellow inmates,
2
For a description of the dilemmas that can be faced by health-care professionals working in places of
deprivation of liberty, see paragraphs 65 to 72 of the 1999 Istanbul Protocol (Manual on the Effective Investigation and
Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman of Degrading Treatment or Punishment).