Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Poland in 2020 (Summary) 1 BULLETIN OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS 2021, no 2 SOURCES Editor-in-chief: Stanisław Trociuk Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Poland in 2020 Editors: Hanna Machińska, Ph.D., Marcin Kusy, Przemysław Kazimirski Prepared by: Part I – Marcin Kusy Part II – Marcin Kusy Part III – Marcin Kusy Part IV Police detention facilities – Michał Żłobecki, Rafał Kulas Penitentiary establishments – Magdalena Dziedzic, Aleksandra Nowicka Detention of juveniles – Aleksandra Osińska Nursing homes and long-term care and treatment facilities – Justyna Zarecka, Aleksandra Nowicka Sobering-up stations – Rafał Kulas Guarded Centres for Foreigners –Rafał Kulas National Centre for the Prevention of Dissocial Behaviours – Justyna Jóźwiak, Ph.D. Group quarantine facilities – Klaudia Kamińska Proofreading: Małgorzata Kuźniar Publisher: Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights al. Solidarności 77, 00-090 Warszawa www.rpo.gov.pl Helpline for citizens: 800 676 676 ISSN 0860-7958 Submitted for layout and printing in May 2021. Circulation: 100 copies. The publication is available under a Creative Commons licence: Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Poland (CC BY-SA). Layout, DTP, proofreading, printing and binding: OMIKRON Sp. z o.o. 2 FOREWORD ......................................................................................................................................... 4 THE PANDEMIC AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN PLACES OF DETENTION ................................. 6 HOW TO READ THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NATIONAL MECHANISM FOR THE PREVENTION OF TORTURE (NMPT)? .......................................................................................... 8 PART I – ORGANIZATION OF WORK OF THE NMPT in 2020 ............................................... 10 EXPERT COMMITTEE .................................................................................................................... 11 FINANCING OF THE NMPT ........................................................................................................... 12 PART II – HOW DOES THE NMPT WORK? ................................................................................ 14 NMPT'S WORK METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................ 14 EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES ........................................................................................................ 16 INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION .............................................................................................. 19 ADVISORY ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................................. 20 OTHER ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE PANDEMIC ............................................................. 36 PART III – DIFFICULTIES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NMPT MANDATE ...... 38 PART IV – SITUATION IN PLACES OF DETENTION ............................................................... 40 POLICE DETENTION FACILITIES ............................................................................................... 41 PENITENTIARY ESTABLISHMENTS ........................................................................................... 58 DETENTION OF JUVENILES ....................................................................................................... 100 NURSING HOMES AND OTHER LONG TERM CARE AND TREATMENT FACILITIES 122 SOBERING-UP STATIONS ............................................................................................................ 135 GUARDED CENTRES FOR FOREIGNERS ................................................................................ 140 THE NATIONAL CENTRE FOR THE PREVENTION OF DISSOCIAL BEHAVIOURS IN GOSTYNIN ........................................................................................................................................ 151 GROUP QUARANTINE FACILITIES .......................................................................................... 156 3 FOREWORD Every social crisis is a unique test of our humanity. It reflects our real approach to human dignity. It is also an important measure of our social sensitivity and solidarity. The year 2020 was undoubtedly marked by a social and health crisis related to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. How did the extraordinary circumstances and the accompanying restrictions impact the situation of people deprived of their liberty? The question is discussed in this report. The situation required at least two-fold measures. On the one hand, persons deprived of their liberty had to be consistently protected against torture and other forms of ill-treatment. On the other hand, it was necessary to ensure that these persons do not themselves become victims of the COVID-19 virus pandemic. To this end, they had to be provided with appropriate care (in particular, medical care). Also, steps had to be taken to guarantee that their rights are respected or are not restricted in an undue or disproportionate manner. Another fact to be taken into account was that in crisis situations, due to obvious reasons, the risk of torture and ill-treatment increases. However, the prohibition of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, provided for in Article 40 of the Polish Constitution, is absolute and may never be lifted or suspended. A failure to observe it may not be justified even by extraordinary circumstances. The prohibition derives from the obligation to respect inherent and inseparable human dignity. Therefore, last year was also a kind of test for our state, of its approach to the Constitution and the rule of law. The extraordinary situation related to the pandemic influenced, naturally, also the methods of operation of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture (NMPT). The Mechanism is a team of specialists that operates within the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights. Since 2008, the Mechanism has been conducting monitoring visits to places of detention, pursuant to the provisions of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) ratified by Poland. In view of the need to take the necessary precautions in interpersonal contacts and to follow the principle of "do not harm", I decided to temporarily suspend the conduct of on- site (physical) monitoring visits to places of detention. According to the SPT guidelines related to COVID-19 (addressed to OPCAT States-Parties and to national preventive mechanisms), we took a number of other activities to comply with our obligations. Among others, we carried out the visits remotely via an internet communicator. We continuously monitored the pandemic 4 situation in places of detention, intervened in many cases and maintained dialogue with the institutions and authorities responsible for supervising such places. I would like to emphasize that this publication: the "Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights on the activities of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture in Poland in 2020" is already the thirteenth report on the NMPT activities in the country. As each year, we have tried to give a broad description of the situation of persons deprived of their liberty in our country and to draw attention to numerous aspects thereof. However, this year, for obvious reasons, we have devoted more space and attention to the safety of such persons during the pandemic and to the implementation of the so-called minimum anti-torture guarantees. Of course, the report also describes all advisory and educational activities undertaken by the NMPT Team and sets out our recommendations for the future. I hope that this report of the NMPT will become an important source of information both for those in places of detention, who need to know their rights, and for the authorities required to respect the law and the international standards applicable to such places. I hope you will find the report interesting. Adam Bodnar, Ph.D. Commissioner for Human Rights 5 THE PANDEMIC AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN PLACES OF DETENTION The year 2020 has made a unique mark on the history of every institution in every country. The announcement of the pandemic and the introduction of numerous restrictions influencing the exercise of the rights and freedoms of societies across the world raise many questions regarding the necessity for those restrictions as well as their effectiveness. The pandemic has also become a pretext, or a justification, for introducing excessive and ungrounded measures restricting the rights of individuals without contributing to their security. The pandemic has brought about special challenges for the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture which, during its direct or online visits to places of detention, monitored the observance of anti-torture guarantees, including the right of access to a lawyer, the right to have a third person informed about the detention, the right of access to an interpreter and to a doctor, the right to information, and the possibility of lodging a complaint. The NMPT conducted monitoring visits to prisons, remand prisons, rooms for detained persons, police stations, juvenile correctional facilities, juvenile educational centres, nursing homes for persons with disabilities, social care homes, a guarded centre for foreigners,