BackRepresentatives of the National Preventive Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture (KMPT) on 8 August 2020 talked to 33 people detained in connection with the events which had taken place on 7 August 2020 in Warsaw after the arrest of the activist of the "Stop Bzdurom" group. They conducted ad hoc visits to 6 premises for detainees in Warsaw and Piaseczno. The purpose of the visits was to examine the situation of persons detained by the police, the conditions of their detention in the context of the implementation of the so-called minimum antitorture guarantees.
The key points of the KMPT's observations were:
- The KMPT representatives talked to 33 out of 48 persons detained in connection with the case of protests after the arrest of the activist of the "Stop Bzdurom" group.
- The detainees pointed to inadequate police action and the chaos that prevailed in the police stations
- Had it not been for the personal involvement of lawyers, many people would not have had an opportunity to seek legal aid
- Some were interrogated at night, had no access to food or drink
- Among the detainees there were also i.a. people on their way back from shopping
The information received by the KMPT representatives shows that the attitude of officers towards detainees was very diverse. Some people reported that police officers had performed their tasks professionally. There were even opinions that some police officers had been embarrassed to take action. However, there were also voices pointing to biting, homophobic and transphobic comments: "an activist from Wielkopolska - how much do they pay you to come?"; when asked about soap in the PdOZ - “you are looking for hotel standards", in the case of a trans-girl only masculine pronouns were used.
The KMPT has long postulated that everyone should be examined by medical doctors after they have been detained, but in this case only some people had such an opportunity. The examination was always carried out in the presence of officers, some detainees were handcuffed even during the examination. Some of the people who are taking medication on a continuous basis were not examined by medical doctors. A transgender person was denied access to testosterone, which he should have taken on the day of his booking in the PdOZ, as recommended by his doctor.
Source: Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights
