Members of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), following visits to eight Polish police stations and four detention centers in July of 2013, reported finding widespread allegations of mistreatment, including prisoners being beaten with truncheons and burned with cigarettes.

"While visiting Polish police stations, the CPT representatives witnessed many complaints of mistreatment of the detainees,” said Dr. Adam Bodnar, vice president of HFHR, noting that many of the reported cases have been confirmed by medical examinations performed by a physician accompanying the CPT members. "The observations lead us to conclude that there’s a high risk of being mistreated while in custody.”

The Committee’s report recommends implementing procedures against mistreatment in Poland, including measures to protect whistleblowers who report cases of abuse and mistreatment. "It is necessary to improve the efficiency of criminal proceedings concerning cases of ill-treatment,” said Marcin Wolny, a lawyer with HFHR.

The report also emphasized the problems that detainees face when trying to exercise their basic rights, including the right to contact legal counsel and the right to receive legal aid, access to an independent physician, and even the basic right of informing relatives that they had been arrested at all.

Similar to previous reports from the Committee, issues around prisoners' rights have been underscored. "The Committee recommends increasing the amount of space required per detainee to four meters squared,” said Katarzyna Wiśniewska, a lawyer with HFHR. "Moreover, there are still many problems concerning dangerous prisoners. It's mostly about their access to the open air, activities outside the cells and discontinuation of humiliating body searches."

The report noted cases of verbal abuse by prison guards, especially against foreign inmates. It also included recommendations on the treatment of inmates being held in wards for mentally sick prisoners, saying that these prisoners should have more opportunities to attend therapy sessions and other similar activities.

The Committee said that the practice of restraining prisoners for more than 6 hours is particularly disturbing. During their visit, the delegates were informed of cases when restraint of a prisoner lasted up to 32 hours.

The visits were held at police stations and detention centers across the country, including Warsaw, Lublin, Szczecin and Bydgoszcz.