Adopted by the 45th World Medical Assembly,
Budapest, Hungary, October 1993
and editorially revised at the 170th Council Session, Divonne-les-Bains,
France, May 2005
The prison systems in many countries mandate body cavity searches
of prisoners. Such searches, which include rectal and pelvic examination,
may be performed when an individual enters the prison population
and thereafter whenever the individual is permitted to have personal
contact with someone outside the prison population, or when there
is a reason to believe a breach of security or of prison regulations
has occurred. For example, when a prisoner is taken to Court for
a hearing, or to the hospital for treatment, or to work outside
the prison, the prisoner, upon returning to the institution, may
be subjected to a body cavity search that will include all body
orifices. The purpose of the search is primarily security and/or
to prevent contraband, such as weapons or drugs, from entering the
prison.
These searches are performed for security reasons and not for
medical reasons. Nevertheless, they should not be done by anyone
other than a person with appropriate medical training. This non-medical
act may be performed by a physician to protect the prisoner from
the harm that might result from a search by a non-medically trained
examiner. In such a case the physician should explain this to
the prisoner. The physician should furthermore explain to the
prisoner that the usual conditions of medical confidentiality
do not apply during this imposed procedure and that the results
of the search will be revealed to the authorities. If a physician
is duly mandated by an authority and agrees to perform a body
cavity search on a prisoner, the authority should be duly informed
that it is necessary for this procedure to be done in a humane
manner.
If the search is conducted by a physician, it should not be done
by the physician who will also subsequently provide medical care
to the prisoner.
The physician's obligation to provide medical care to the prisoner
should not be compromised by an obligation to participate in the
prison's security system.
The World Medical Association urges all governments and public
officials with responsibility for public safety to recognize that
such invasive search procedures are serious assaults on a person's
privacy and dignity, and they also carry some risk of physical
and psychological injury. Therefore, the World Medical Association
exhorts that, to the extent feasible without compromising public
security,
- alternate methods be used for routine screening of prisoners,
and body cavity searches be used only as a last resort;
- if a body cavity search must be conducted, the responsible
public official must ensure that the search is conducted by personnel
with sufficient medical knowledge and skills to safely perform
the search;
- the same responsible authority ensure that the individual's
privacy and dignity be guaranteed.
Finally, the World Medical Association urges all governments
and responsible public officials to provide body searches that
are performed by a qualified physician whenever warranted by the
individual's physical condition. A specific request by a prisoner
for a physician shall be respected, so far as possible.
The World Medical Association adopts this statement for the purpose
of providing guidance for National Medical Associations as they
develop ethical guidelines for their physician members.
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