FACTSHEET revised Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners3). Specific provisions dealing with body searches can be found in the revised Standard Minimum Rules,4 in the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (Bangkok Rules, 2010), in the European Prison Rules (2006) and in the Inter-American Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas (2008). These provisions underline the need for regulations governing searches, the exceptional nature of body searches, and the need for searches to respect the detainee’s dignity and to be carried out by trained staff of the same sex. They also recommend the development and use of alternative searching methods. Case law has further defined conditions and modalities regarding the legitimacy of body searches. The European Court of Human Rights, for example, has found strip searches to constitute degrading treatment when not justified by compelling security reasons and/or due to the way they were conducted.5 The Inter-American Court on Human Rights considered a finger vaginal inspection carried out by several hooded staff members at the same time, in a very abrupt manner, ‘constituted sexual rape that due to its effects constituted torture’.6 Recommendations provided by monitoring bodies such as the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture7 and the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture also provide useful guidance. In 1993, the World Medical Association adopted a Statement on Body Searches of Prisoners which reiterates the overarching principles of the individual’s privacy and dignity and requires that body cavity searches be carried out by personnel with appropriate medical training. Main references • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 7 and 10 • Revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, Rules 50-52 (prisoners and cells), Rule 60 (visitors), Rule 76 (training of staff) • UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules), Rules 19 to 21 • European Prison Rules, Rules 54.1 to 54.10 • Inter-American Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, Principle XXI • Principles of Medical Ethics relevant to the Role of Health Personnel, particularly Physicians, in the Protection of Prisoners and Detainees against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment • World Medical Association Statement on Body Searches of Prisoners 3. Types and situations of risk 3.1. Grounds and conditions for searches While the provision of security in places of detention and the protection of detainees and staff may justify body searches, a domestic legal basis is imperative to avoid abuse. The use of body searches should be prescribed by law,8 which should define the conditions under which searches may take place based on the criteria of necessity and proportionality,9 and should include the admissible sanctions against detainees who refuse to undergo a search. Additional operational regulations could provide more detailed procedures regulating the circumstances and modalities of the use of body searches. Usually, a systematic search takes place upon admission to a place of detention to ensure that the detainee does not carry dangerous objects (such as weapons) or prohibited items (such as drugs, objects that could be used for escape attempts, or cell phones in some contexts). Searches are subsequently applied when detainees may have had access to such items, for example before and following personal contact with visitors (relatives, friends, lawyers),10 exercise or activity in workshops, after transfers, including for example for specialised treatment to a hospital, or following home visits or temporary release. They may be argued on medical grounds, for example if the detainee is suspected to have swallowed or hidden drugs or other items that might constitute a health hazard. 3. Revised United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), adopted by the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on 22 May 2015, endorsed by the Economic and Social Council on 9 September 2015, UN-Doc. E/RES/2015/20 and adopted by UN General Assembly Third Committee on 5 November 2015, UN-Doc. A/C.3/70/L.3 (at the time of printing this Resolution was pending adoption by the plenary of the UN General Assembly.): Rules 50-52 for prisoners and cells, Rule 60 for visitors, see Rules 75 and 76 for training of staff. 4. Revised Standard Minimum Rules, Rules 50-52 for prisoners and cells, Rule 60 for visitors, see Rules 75 and 76 for training of staff. 5. Iwanczuk v Poland, 15 November 2001; Shennawy vs France, 20 January 2011; Valasina v Lithuania, 24 July 2001; Frerot v. France, 12 June 2007. 6. Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Miguel Castro-Castro Prison vs Peru, 25 November 2006, para. 312. See also para. 309 to 312. In paragraph 310, the Court considers that ‘sexual rape does not necessarily imply a non-consensual sexual vaginal relationship, as traditionally considered. Sexual rape must also be understood as act of vaginal or anal penetration, without the victim’s consent, through the use of other parts of the aggressor’s body or objects’. 7. See more at http://www.cpt.coe.int/en/hudoc-cpt.htm, key words ‘body search’. 8. Revised Standard Minimum Rules, Rule 50, which inter alia states that ‘[t]he laws and regulations governing searches of prisoners and cells shall be in accordance with obligations under international law and shall take into account international standards and norms, keeping in mind the need to ensure security in the prison’. 9. Revised Standard Minimum Rules, Rule 50. 10. In Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, according to a new policy, detainees are subject to a genital pat-down search whenever they leave the detention camp, including for a meeting with a lawyer. This policy has been challenged as ‘having no legitimate purpose, but being pretextual, imposed in order to chill the right of access to counsel’. Available at: http://jurist.org/paperchase/2013/07/guantanamo-guards-allowed-to-continue-detainee-genitalsearches.php, <accessed 30 October 2013>. 2 | Penal Reform International | Body searches: Addressing risk factors to prevent torture and ill-treatment

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