The Council of Europe expressed in a report published Wednesday (October 28th) of its
"concern"
at the conditions of detention in
police
custody in Poland, calling on Warsaw to
"better train"
the police after allegations of violence during arrests.
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In this report, the Council's European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), a delegation of which visited several police establishments and remand centers in Poland in September 2019, is
"deeply"
concerned
about
" the total lack ”
of progress in
“ fundamental guarantees against ill-treatment ”
.
According to the CPT,
“Poland has done nothing to implement
(these) previous recommendations” made in 2018 in order to guarantee
“access to sufficient care and
legal
aid”
for people in police custody.
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During police custody in Poland, access to a lawyer remains
"very exceptional, even for minors"
, further deplores the CPT.
The Committee, which indicates that
"most"
of the people interviewed by its delegation affirmed to have been
"correctly"
treated, however affirms to have received
"allegations of excessive use of force"
on behalf of the police officers during arrests, even then. that people no longer offered any resistance.
Polish police officers should receive a
"very firm reminder
(...)
that all forms of ill-treatment (...) are illegal and will be punished accordingly"
, believes the CPT, which calls on Warsaw to
"remedy the excessive use of to force ”
during arrests and to
“ better train ”
the police.
While cooperation with the Polish authorities during the visit was
"most of the time
(...)
excellent"
, the CPT, on the other hand, deplores the
"insufficient level of cooperation"
with the central authorities, its delegation in particular not having was able to present his preliminary observations to the Minister of the Interior and the Administration.
For thirty years, the CPT has been carrying out visits to prisons, police stations, detention centers and psychiatric hospitals in the 47 member states of the Council of Europe in order to combat torture and ill-treatment.