| 2016 | Whenever the cell is equipped with sanitary facilities, they have to be placed in a way that guarantees that using them will not be embarrassing for the prisoner. For this reason, the NPM recommends that all visited units guarantee that sanitary annexes are fully partitioned and separated from the rest of the cell. During their visits to penitentiary units, they paid particular attention to single cells in which the sanitary annex was not covered at all. As a result, it was possible to observe prisoners using a toilet through CCTV system or via the hole in cell doors. Secondly, the NPM called upon the authorities of 8 out of 20 visited penitentiary units to introduce curtains separating prisoners taking baths in the bathrooms. | Report details |
| 2017 | The NPM pointed out that prisoners’ access to toilets may also differ depending on the number of people held in a cell. In practice, a prisoner placed in a cell designed for two persons has easier access to a toilet than a prisoner who is held in a cell designed for a dozen of prisoners. According to the NPM, equipping such cells with only one toilet makes it impossible for prisoners to use them at any time and contributes to conflicts between prisoners. Further, the NPM indicated that, in most of the visited units, prisoners had a possibility of taking baths two times a week or even every day which is in line with the Constitution. | Report details |
| 2019 | In some penitentiary facilities sinks in cells were located outside a toilet zone without any separator from the remaining part of the cell. (…) According to the Commissioner for Human Rights, in the cells in which a sink is located outside a separated toilet zone and it is the only device of that type in a cell, intimacy of inmates who want to wash themselves is not ensured. | Report details |
| 2022 | According to the NPM, hygienic and sanitary conditions in most penitentiary units need to be improved. In prison of the closed type, toilets are located in the cells. However, in cells with multiple inmates (7 and more inmates) there is a problem with access to the toilet as required. In addition, not in all penitentiary units the sanitary corners are fully enclosed and it happens that the washbasins are located outside the sanitary corner, which makes it difficult to perform hygienic activities in privacy conditions (the use of the bath is possible 2 times a week). In older penitentiary units, there are some baths with traces of dampness on the walls. Unfenced (uncovered) shower stalls are also a problem. | Report details |
| 2022 | In the context of hygiene care, an important aspect is the issue of hygiene packages received by detainees once a month. In the opinion of the NPM – and of the detainees themselves – these packages are clearly insufficient. In a situation where detainees do not have the possibility to receive assistance from outsiders, a problem arises, as the Prison Service is not willing to make more hygiene products available in every such situation. As emphasised by the NPM, the problem described above occurs each time in all the visited units. An additional issue raised during the visits to women's wards is the insufficient number of sanitary pads received from the Prison Service (10-20 per month). It is also worth drawing attention to the systemic problem described, inter alia, in the NPM report on the visit to Penitentiary Facility in Herby; from the interviews conducted with convicted women (or women in pre-trial detention), it appears that it is rare to receive an additional packet of sanitary pads.
It is also worth noting that access to the bathhouse is sometimes difficult, e.g. in one of the visited units the detainees, in order to go to and from the bathhouse, have to go outside which, in the autumn and winter period, may pose a risk of falling ill. For this reason, some interviewees indicated that they deliberately do not use the bathhouse and only wash in the sanitary corner so as not to risk catching a cold. | Report details |
| 2023 | Another problem that has not been fully addressed remains the issue of uncovered or inadequately covered sanitary corners. During the visits carried out in 2022, this was the case, for example, in transit and isolation cells. In one prison, as many as 79 cells had sanitary corners that were not fully enclosed. In the opinion of the KMPT, these solutions violate the fundamental right of the inmate to guaranteed intimacy when performing physiological activities. It should be noted that, in accordance with national law, sanitary facilities shall be situated in such a way as to ensure their unobstructed use. Moreover, in accordance with international standards, prisoners should have access to sanitary facilities that ensure privacy. | Report details |