Published on 23 September 2024
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 6356/21
Daniel Rafał GABRYSZEWSKI against Poland
and 2 other applications
(see list appended)
communicated on 4 September 2024
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The applications concern strip searches the applicants had to undergo while imprisoned. None of the applicants were classified as “dangerous detainees” and they lodged applications, complaints and appeals with various bodies of the prison system and the judiciary but all of them were dismissed (see the appended table for details).
The applicants complain, under Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention, that the unjustified strip searches constituted degrading treatment and violated their right to respect for their private lives.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Have the applicants been subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, in breach of Article 3 of the Convention (see, for example, Roth v. Germany, nos. 6780/18 and 30776/18, §§ 70-72, 22 October 2020)?
Reference is made to the applicants’ allegations concerning the circumstances of the strip searches which were carried out without any apparent justification and in some cases were numerous and routine.
2. Do the relevant facts of the applications relating to the strip searches give rise to a violation of the applicants’ right to their private life contrary to Article 8 of the Convention (see, Milka v. Poland, no. 14322/12, §§ 41-50, 15 September 2015; Dejnek v. Poland, no. 9635/13, §§ 70-77, 1 June 2017; and Bojar v. Poland [Committee], no. 11148/18, §§ 8-18, 11 May 2023)?
APPENDIX
No.
Application no.
Case name
Introduction date
Applicant’s name
Year of birth
Place of residence
Representative’s name
Location
Place of detention
Alleged number of strip searches
Period in question
Circumstances of strip searches as submitted by the applicant
Domestic remedies used
1.
6356/21
Gabryszewski v. Poland
30/11/2020
Daniel Rafał GABRYSZEWSKI
1982
Łódź
Dawid CUPIAŁ
Warsaw
Łódź Remand Centre
41
19/07/2018 ‑ 04/08/2020
After coming back from court hearings; after every received visit of his lawyer.
Numerous complaints and appeals lodged, between 25/07/2018 and 28/09/2020 with the Director of the Łódź Remand Centre, the Łódź Regional Inspectorate of the Prison Service, the Central Board of the Prison Service, the Łódź Regional Court – Penitentiary Division and the Commissioner for Human Rights. All of them were dismissed.
2.
15885/21
Nowak v. Poland
30/12/2020
Kamil NOWAK
1992
Hajnówka
-
Łódź Remand Centre
not specified precisely (circa 100)
26/04/2017 ‑ 13/06/2020
After coming back from court hearings; after received visits of family members and of his lawyers.
Complaint of 13/06/2020 lodged with the Łódź Penitentiary Court was dismissed on 27/07/2020.
3.
35397/22
Buczek v. Poland
24/08/2022
Przemysław BUCZEK
1994
Biłgoraj
-
Opole Lubelskie Prison
5
22/03/2022 - 13/04/2022
Frequent, random searches over a short period upon transfer to a new detention facility.
Complaints of 05/04/2022 and 13/04/2022 lodged with the Lublin Penitentiary Court were dismissed on 05/05/2022.