Committee against Torture

List of issues prior to submission of the eighth periodic report of Poland *

Specific information on the implementation of articles 1–16 of the Convention, including with regard to the Committee’s previous recommendations

Issues identified for follow-up in the previous concluding observations

1.In its previous concluding observations (para. 39), the Committee requested the State party to provide further information regarding areas of particular concern identified by the Committee, namely the independence, security and ability to function of the Commissioner for Human Rights, the prevention and prosecution of police brutality and the clinical independence of medical personnel, and the improvement of medical care provided to prisoners (paras. 24 (a) and (c), 20 (a) and 30 (e)). Noting that a reply concerning the information sought by the Committee was provided on 19 November 2020, and with reference to the letter dated 1 March 2021 from the Committee’s rapporteur for follow-up to concluding observations, the Committee considers that the recommendations included in paragraphs 24 (a) and (c), 20 (a) and 30 (e) of the previous concluding observations have not yet been implemented.

Articles 1 and 4

2.With reference to the Committee’s previous recommendations (paras. 9–10), and in addition to the information provided in the State party’s follow-up report, please indicate any recent steps taken to criminalize torture as a separate and specific crime, whose definition covers all the elements contained in article 1 of the Convention, under the State party’s legislation, and to punish acts of torture with appropriate penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime, as set out in article 4 (2) of the Convention. Please clarify whether the State party has amended its legislation to ensure that acts of torture are not subject to any statute of limitations and are not limited only to the acts arising from crimes against humanity and extreme suffering caused by an official.

Article 2

3.In light of the previous concluding observations (paras. 15–16), please provide information about measures taken to ensure:

(a)That all detainees are informed of the charges against them and about their rights, both orally and in writing, in a language that they understand, and certify that they have understood the information provided to them; that all detainees have their deprivations of liberty properly recorded in a national register at all stages, including in sobering-up stations and other centres for intoxicated persons and in police units, as well as during their transfer to different facilities; that all detainees have the right to contact family members or any other persons of their choice from the outset of detention; that all detainees have prompt and confidential access to a lawyer without delay or to legal aid services and that the contact with a lawyer is not further delayed by a specific authorization sought from the prosecutor; that all detainees are not questioned without the participation of their lawyers; and that all detainees are guaranteed confidentiality of lawyer-client communication;

(b)That the body search of all detained persons is used only in exceptional cases justified by the situation, after an individual risk assessment;

(c)That a mandatory, independent and confidential medical examination is conducted upon the detainee’s request in practice, out of hearing and out of sight of the police or prison officers, at the outset of the detention; that the medical examinations are properly recorded and that such records contain a full account of objective medical findings, an account of statements made by the detained person that are relevant to the examination (including on his or her state of health and any allegations of ill-treatment) and the doctor’s observations evaluating those statements, indicating the consistency between any allegations made and the objective medical findings; and that doctors may bring medical reports of injuries suspected of being caused by torture directly to the attention of the public prosecutor on a confidential basis;

(d)That the audio and video recording of interviews is systematically used in relation to criminal investigations as a basic safeguard and as part of its efforts to prevent torture and ill-treatment and that such recordings are kept in centralized secure facilities;

(e)That detainees can challenge, at any time during their detention, the legality or necessity of the detention before a judge. In that regard, please provide information on the number of cases, since the consideration of the State party’s previous periodic report in 2019, in which detainees have challenged the legality of their detention or treatment before the courts, as well as the outcome of those cases, specifying in particular the number of cases in which the petitioner was released from detention;

(f)That police officers have been subjected to disciplinary or criminal penalties for failing to provide fundamental legal safeguards to detained persons. In that regard, please provide information on any such cases since 2019.

4.Further to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 23–24), and the State party’s follow-up report, please provide updated information on the measures adopted to ensure that the Commissioner for Human Rights enjoys independence, security and the ability to function and that it has sufficient financial and human resources to carry out its mandate as a national preventive mechanism. Please explain steps taken to ensure its unimpeded access to all places of deprivation of liberty, including to police units and border areas; to enable it to conduct monitoring visits during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, including in the remand prisons and centres for the prevention of dissocial behaviours; and to provide for its participation as one of the observers in deportation operations as per article 333 of the Act on foreigners. Please provide statistical data, disaggregated by year and by age group (minor or adult); sex of the victim; ethnic origin or nationality of the victim; the number of complaints of torture and ill-treatment received by the Commissioner for Human Rights since 2019, including on the requests made by the Commissioner to initiate proceedings in cases to be prosecuted by public indictment;the number of such requests resulting in an investigation; and the outcome of such investigations. Please indicate whether the State party has considered allowing independent organizations, including national and international civil society organizations, to regularly monitor all facilities where persons are deprived of their liberty, including psychiatric institutions, social care homes, migrant detention centres and border areas, to complement the monitoring of the national preventive mechanism, as recommended by the Committee in its previous concluding observations (para. 32 (f)).

5.Taking note of the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 33–34), please provide updated information on the legislative or other measures taken during the period under review to combat all forms of violence against women, especially those cases involving actions and omissions by State authorities or other entities that engage the international responsibility of the State party under the Convention. Please provide information on legislative and other measures adopted to combat gender-based violence and to ensure that violence inflicted by a former and/or non-cohabiting partner is included in the Criminal Code definitions of domestic violence. Please indicate whether the State party intends to follow up on its plan to withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and on which grounds. Please also provide updated information on the protection and support services available to victims of gender-based violence in the State party. Please include statistical data, disaggregated by the age and ethnicity or nationality of the victims, on the number of complaints, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and sentences recorded in cases of gender-based violence, including against children, since the consideration of the State party’s previous periodic report.

6.With reference to the Committee’s previous recommendations (paras. 37–38), please provide information on effective measures to prevent trafficking in persons and to increase protection for victims of trafficking, particularly for victims of forced labour and for women and child victims. Please provide data, disaggregated by relevant factors, on the number of investigations, prosecutions and the punishment of perpetrators of trafficking in persons since 2019. Please also provide information on:

(a)Any new law or measure that has been adopted to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, in particular forced labour;

(b)The measures taken to ensure that non-custodial accommodation is provided, with full access to appropriate medical and psychological support, for potential victims of trafficking while identification processes are being carried out;

(c)The signing of agreements with the countries concerned to prevent and combat trafficking in persons.

Article 3

7.In light of the Committee’s previous recommendations (paras. 25–26), please provide updated information on current procedures and practices in the area of expulsion, refoulement and extradition, in particular guarantees in law and in practice of non-refoulement prior to a final asylum decision, including during the declared state of emergency. In light of the amendments to the Act on foreign nationals and the Act on granting protection to foreign nationals in the territory of the State party and the amendment to the Border Protection Act in 2021, please explain how they comply with the obligations under article 3 of the Convention. In this connection, please explain the guarantees and safeguards in place to ensure that all individuals under the State party’s jurisdiction, including those in situations of unauthorized crossing of the border:

(a)Receive appropriate and individual consideration of their application for international protection by the competent authorities, and that such applications can be subjected to a fair and impartial review by an independent decision-making mechanism on expulsion, return or extradition, with suspensive effect;

(b)Are not subjected to collective expulsions and pushbacks, including chain refoulement;

(c)Are not arbitrarily detained in border guard posts, foreign registration centres and detention centres for migrants, and have access to information about the international protection process in a language they understand, legal assistance and basic humanitarian aid and services, particularly in border areas.

8.In view of the above, please explain measures in place to ensure the early and proactive identification and protection of persons in vulnerable situations, regardless of their legal or migratory status, including victims of torture, ill-treatment, gender-based violence or trafficking, and to ensure they are not separated from their family members and that their specific needs are addressed in a timely manner, including their access to basic medical and humanitarian services.

9.Please provide statistical information for the period under review, disaggregated by year and by the sex, country of origin or nationality and age group (minor or adult) of the victim, on:

(a)The number of asylum applications registered;

(b)The number of applications for asylum or other forms of subsidiary protection approved, and the number of asylum seekers whose applications were granted because they had been tortured or ran the risk of being tortured if returned;

(c)The number of persons who were returned, extradited or expelled, indicating the grounds on which they were returned, extradited or expelled and providing a list of the countries of destination;

(d)The number of appeals filed against expulsion decisions on the basis that the applicants could be in danger of being subjected to torture and ill-treatment in their countries of origin, and the results of those appeals.

10.Please indicate the number of returns, extraditions and expulsions carried out by the State party during the reporting period on the basis of diplomatic assurances or the equivalent thereof. Please also indicate the minimum content of any such assurances or guarantees and the measures that have been taken in such cases with regard to subsequent monitoring.

Articles 5–9

11.Please provide information on any new legislation or measures that have been adopted to implement article 5 of the Convention. Please inform the Committee of any extradition treaties concluded with other States parties and indicate whether the offences referred to in article 4 of the Convention are included as extraditable offences in such treaties. Please indicate what measures have been taken by the State party during the period under review to comply with its obligation to extradite or prosecute (aut dedere aut judicare). In particular, please provide information on cases in which the State party has agreed to extradite a person for torture or related offences since 2019. Please also indicate whether the State party has rejected, for any reason, the request of a State party for the extradition of an individual suspected of having committed torture and whether it has started prosecution proceedings against such an individual as a result. If so, please provide information on the status and outcome of such proceedings. Please clarify what treaties or agreements on mutual legal and judicial assistance the State party has entered into, and whether such treaties or agreements have led in practice to the transfer of any evidence in connection with prosecutions concerning torture or ill-treatment. Please provide examples.

Article 10

12.With reference to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 27–28), please provide information on the training programmes delivered since 2019, indicating whether they are mandatory or optional, how often they are given and how many officials have already completed them in relation to the total number of such officials, in particular on the following:

(a)The provisions of the Convention and the absolute prohibition of torture, as well as rules, instructions and methods of interrogation, including non-coercive investigation techniques, for law enforcement personnel, security and prison personnel, judges, medical personnel, immigration and border control officers, and other persons involved with custody, interrogation or the treatment of detainees;

(b)The Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials for law enforcement personnel;

(c)Detecting and documenting the physical and psychological sequelae of torture for all relevant personnel, in particular medical professionals and other public officials working with persons deprived of their liberty. Please indicate whether the programmes contain specific training with regard to the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol);

(d)Preventing, detecting and combating hate-motivated crimes, including those motivated by sexual orientation or gender identity, and on domestic violence, as well as training on the treatment of persons in situations of vulnerability and on a trauma-informed, victim-centred approach to conducting trials, for law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, lawyers, judges and others who interact with victims and the public at large;

(e)Legislation and procedures to guarantee the principle of non-refoulement and on the arrangements for the identification of victims of torture, trafficking in persons and gender-based violence among asylum seekers, for immigration and border control officers and other public officials;

(f)The development and implementation of regular assessments of the effectiveness and impact of such training and educational programmes on the reduction of cases of torture and ill-treatment. Please provide information on the methodology used to assess the effectiveness of those programmes in reducing cases of torture and ill-treatment.

Article 11

13.Please describe the procedures in place for ensuring compliance with article 11 of the Convention, and provide information on any interrogation rules, instructions, methods and practices or arrangements for custody that may have been introduced since the consideration of the previous periodic report. Please indicate the frequency with which they are reviewed.

14.Please indicate what steps have been taken since 2019 to improve conditions in all places of detention, including with regard to exercise in the open air for persons held in police detention and remand facilities, and concerning living space, hygiene and sanitation in all places of detention. Please provide information on programmes of educational and recreational activities. Please indicate what measures have been taken to prevent overcrowding and to establish non-custodial forms of detention in accordance with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules). Bearing in mind the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 29–30), and the State party’s follow-up report, please explain the measures taken to ensure medical staff capacity; to offer a proper medical examination to remanded or sentenced detainees as promptly as possible after their admission to the place of detention; to provide adequate health-care services free of charge, particularly psychiatric and psychological care and interpretation services during medical consultations or examinations, if needed; and to properly record all medical examinations. Please also indicate whether the State party will consider placing medical staff in prisons under the responsibility of the Ministry of Health. Please indicate whether protocols are in place to meet the needs of groups of prisoners with special needs, including in terms of safety and security, as well as the prevention of the spread of and protection against COVID-19, such as persons with disabilities, persons with drug-related problems, older persons and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons.

15.In light of the amendment of the Act on the prison service, which entered into force on 31 March 2020 and which grants officers in penitentiary facilities the right to use direct coercion in the form of electric weapons, please explain what measures have been put in place to ensure and monitor the necessity and proportionality of their use in compliance with the Convention’s standards. Please provide information on the complaint procedure in place, and on the number of complaints lodged and the investigations opened in this regard.

16.Please provide information on the legislative and other measures taken to reduce the maximum duration, in law and in practice, of solitary confinement, including the prohibition of sequential disciplinary sentencing. Please further explain the role of health-care staff in relation to decision-making on disciplinary matters resulting in solitary confinement.

17.Please provide information on whether the authorities monitor inter-prisoner violence; on the number of complaints that have been made or registered; and on whether investigations are conducted and, if so, the outcome of such investigations. Please describe any preventive measures that have been taken in this regard. Please also provide statistical data regarding deaths in custody during the period under consideration, including in police custody, disaggregated by place of detention, sex, age, ethnic origin or nationality, and cause of death. Please indicate the manner in which those deaths were investigated, the results of the investigations and the measures taken to prevent similar cases from occurring in the future. Please indicate whether relatives of the deceased persons received compensation in any of the cases. Please explain the steps taken by the State party to ensure the identification, monitoring and protection of vulnerable detainees at risk of suicide, and to provide them with appropriate assistance, including psychiatric care and other preventive measures.

18.Please provide information on steps taken to ensure that non-custodial measures are used for minors who are in conflict with the law and that minors are detained only as a last resort, for the shortest possible period; that minors are not routinely handcuffed during transport to juvenile correctional facilities and other institutions for juveniles; and that they are afforded full legal safeguards and offered educational and recreational activities. Please specify steps taken towards the abolishment of the solitary confinement of children and the use of straightjackets in law and in practice.

19.With regard to the Committee’s previous concluding observations (para. 26 (a) and (c)), please explain the efforts made by the State party to provide non-custodial accommodation for migrant children and migrant families with children, such as care arrangements and community-based programmes, and describe the type of establishment and regime applied to them, including the educational and recreational opportunities. Please provide disaggregated data on the number of accompanied and unaccompanied children detained or accommodated in immigration detention centres since 2019. Please provide information on steps taken to ensure that the material conditions in the border guard posts, foreign registration centres and detention centres for migrants meet the minimum international standards, in particular in Wędrzyn and Kętrzyn, and that adequate health-care and psychological services are provided to migrants in vulnerable situations in detention. Please provide information on the average duration and maximum duration of those in migration detention; explain efforts to implement alternatives to migration detention, including for pregnant women and nursing mothers; and provide annual data since 2019 on the percentage of cases in which alternatives to migration detention were applied.

20.With reference to the Committee’s previous recommendations (para. 36), please inform the Committee about measures adopted to ensure that persons, including juveniles, with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities are not placed and detained in psychiatric hospitals and other public care institutions, such as psychiatric wards, arbitrarily and for prolonged periods. Please specify legal safeguards at their disposal concerning deprivation of their legal capacity and enforcement of their involuntary hospitalization. Please describe measures to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons with disabilities from involuntary conversion therapy.

Articles 12 and 13

21.Bearing in mind the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 19–20 and 31–32) and the State party’s follow-up report, please provide updated statistical data on complaints of acts of torture, ill-treatment and excessive use of force recorded by the State authorities during the reporting period. Please include information on investigations, disciplinary and criminal proceedings, convictions and the disciplinary or criminal sanctions applied. Please also provide updated information on the measures taken to ensure that officials suspected of having committed acts of torture or ill-treatment are immediately suspended from duty for the duration of the investigation. Please include examples of relevant cases and/or judicial decisions. Please indicate whether complainants and victims are duly informed of the progress and results of their complaints, and what judicial remedies are available to them should a prosecutor decide not to pursue a case. Please describe how the State party guarantees the confidentiality and independence of, and follow-up by, the system for receiving complaints of torture and ill-treatment, including in cases where victims are deprived of their liberty in all custodial settings. Please explain what steps have been taken to follow up on complaints of torture or ill-treatment properly and the state of the centralized register of complaints, as per the Committee’s previous recommendations (para. 32).

22.Please indicate any concrete steps that have been taken to investigate promptly and thoroughly the accounts of violence towards, and arrests, harassment and intimidation of, women human rights defenders, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons and defenders, journalists and other persons and civil society organizations in the context of demonstrations concerning the tightening of the legislation on abortion, COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions, and their work related to the recent migration situation, including by law enforcement agencies; the public prosecution service; and military officers, and the members under their command, of the Territorial Defence Forces. Please provide information on the number of investigations carried out in the reports of such acts, including the excessive use of force; violent arrests; disproportionate use of handcuffs during transport in police vehicles, interrogation and medical examinations; spraying gas or using service batons; invasive body searches of detained persons; and other alleged brutality inflicted by unidentified uniformed and non-uniformed officers. Please also provide information on the outcome of such investigations. Please indicate how many persons have been suspended from their official duties in connection with above-mentioned allegations pending investigation and how many disciplinary investigations have been launched.

23.With regard to the Committee’s previous recommendations (paras. 21–22), please provide an update on the steps taken towards the completion of the investigations into allegations of the State party’s involvement in the high-value detainee rendition and secret detention programme of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2001 to 2008. Please provide an update on any prosecutions of persons involved in the alleged crimes of torture and ill-treatment.

Article 14

24.Please provide information on redress and compensation measures, including the means of rehabilitation ordered by the courts or other State bodies and actually provided to the victims of torture and/or ill-treatment or their families since 2019. This should include the number of requests for compensation that have been made; the number granted; and the amounts ordered and actually provided. Please also provide information on any ongoing reparation programmes, including the treatment of trauma and other forms of rehabilitation, provided to victims of torture and ill-treatment, and on the material, human and budgetary resources allocated for their effective functioning.

Article 15

25.With reference to the Committee’s previous recommendations (paras. 11–12), please provide up-to-date information on legislative and other measures adopted to ensure that confessions obtained under torture or ill-treatment are not admitted in court proceedings. In particular, please provide information on any steps taken to repeal article 168 (a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Please provide data on the cases in which confessions obtained through torture have been declared inadmissible, and on the progress of any investigations into allegations of torture made in any previous cases and any criminal proceedings brought against public agents who extracted such confessions, including the punishment imposed.

Article 16

26.Bearing in mind the Committee’s previous concluding observations (paras. 35 and 36 (e)), please provide information on steps taken to combat racially motivated violence and other hate crimes. Please provide data on reported and investigated instances of hate crimes based on racist, anti-Semitic, xenophobic, religious, ethnic or sexual orientation or gender identity grounds since 2019, disaggregated by type of motive or basis of discrimination, and by the sex, gender, age group and ethnic origin or nationality of the victim. Please indicate whether the perpetrator was a public official. Please provide information on results of such investigations.

27.Please provide information on measures taken to decriminalize abortion in law and in practice in all circumstances, and update the Committee on any legislative or other measures adopted, or foreseen to be adopted, following the Constitutional Court’s decision of 22 October 2020 and on the compliance of such measures with the Convention’s standards. Please explain any measures taken that guarantee access to safe abortion and post-abortion health-care services for women and girls, irrespective of whether they have undergone an illegal or legal abortion. Please clarify whether any investigations were opened into the reported fatal cases linked to the near-total ban to access abortion and to the threat of criminal sanctions for the doctors. Please indicate whether any steps have been taken to remedy the chilling effect provided by the Constitutional Court decision, and indicate any measures adopted to ensure the non-repetition of such cases.

Other issues

28.Please provide updated information on the measures taken by the State party to respond to threats of terrorism. Please describe whether those measures have affected human rights safeguards in law and in practice and, if so, how they have affected them. Please also describe how the State party has ensured that those measures are compatible with all its obligations under international law, especially the Convention. Furthermore, please indicate what training is given to law enforcement officers in this area; the number of persons who have been convicted under legislation adopted to combat terrorism; the legal remedies and safeguards available in law and in practice to persons subjected to antiterrorism measures; and whether there have been complaints of the non-observance of national and international standards in applying measures to combat terrorism and, if so, what the outcome was.

29.Given that the prohibition of torture is absolute and cannot be derogated from, including within the framework of measures related to states of emergency and other exceptional circumstances, please provide information on any steps taken by the State party during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that its policies and actions comply with its obligations under the Convention. In addition, please specify the measures taken in relation to persons deprived of their liberty and in other situations of confinement, such as in homes for older persons, hospitals or institutions for persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, and institutions for juveniles.

General information on the human rights situation in the country, including new measures and developments relating to the implementation of the Convention

30.Please provide detailed information on any other relevant legislative, administrative, judicial and other measures taken to implement the provisions of the Convention or the Committee’s recommendations since the consideration of the State party’s previous periodic report in 2019, including institutional developments, plans and programmes. Please indicate the resources allocated and provide statistical data. Please also provide any other information that the State party considers relevant.