Strip-Search Safeguards
Appropriate measures should be taken to ensure that minimum safeguards are in place where a detainee is to be strip-searched. These include informing a detainee as to the necessity for the strip-search and requesting his/her co-operation. Those conducting a strip-search should always bear in mind the need to respect the detainee's dignity, particularly having regard to any cultural sensitivities. Searches should be conducted by, and in front of the minimum number of persons necessary and screens or other measures should be taken to shield a detainee from as many of those attending as possible. Those persons should be of the same gender as the detainee unless none are available.
Response
Accepted
Response
AcceptedSir Thayne Forbes has made just nine recommendations, and he acknowledges the progress that the Ministry has made since 2004 to improve all aspects of the prisoner-handling system—from policy and doctrine to unit-level instructions and procedures as well as training and oversight—and to ensure it complies with domestic and international law. I accept all nine recommendations in principle. I have commissioned urgent work on their practical implications—in particular, we will need to ensure that they will not prevent the armed forces from carrying out vital tasks—and I will announce to the House my detailed conclusions as soon as I can.