Human Rights Commissioner Maria Stylianou Lottides on Wednesday called for an end to the practice of police carrying out searches of prisons and prisoners without informing them as to the reasons why.
She said her office had launched an investigation into an incident which took place in the central prison in July, wherein the police searched all the wings of the prison without having obtained a warrant.
As such, she said, the prisoners “had neither knowledge of the reason for the search to be carried out, nor the basis on which it was carried out”.
She said the investigation found that the prison’s directorate currently has the power to conduct such searches, and that the searches had been carried out with the stated aim of “ensuring the safety of both the prisoners and the prison’s staff”.
To this end, she said her intervention on the matter therefore “does not question the necessity of carrying out regular checks in the prison, nor does it question the prison’s directorate’s authority to do so”, but rather suggests that prisoners have a right to know the reasons behind any given search.
“Prisoners have the right to be informed of the procedure and the conditions under which a search is being carried out in their cell, and they have the right to be present when it is being carried out, unless there are exceptional reasons to the contrary,” she said.
Additionally, she called for prisons to keep a “detailed register” of the searches carried out, and that prisons train staff regarding “measures to ensure safety and not violate prisoners’ rights” while searches are being conducted.
She said the government should therefore draw up a protocol regarding training to be given to police and prison employees regarding how searches are carried out.
