United Nation Mechanism related to Prisoners’ Treatment and Conditions

At the United Nations level there are both binding and non-binding instruments applicable to prisoners’ treatment or dealing with issues related to the prison services.

The main binding instruments are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Both International Covenants are generally applicable to prisoners following the principle of universality of human rights. Amongst others, prisoners have the right to dignity and privacy; the right to education; health care and food.

The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter Convention against Torture) is to a certain extent applicable to prison services as acts of torture and ill treatment are often committed in prisons. Provisions as to the criminalisation of torture and accountability of perpetrators, as well as the requirement to develop a framework, legislative and administrative, for the prevention of torture are examples of provisions applicable to prison services. The implementation of the Convention against Torture is monitored by the Committee against Torture which is mandated to evaluate states periodic reports and individual communications against state parties. The newest development in relation to the protection of torture is the development of an optional protocol to establish inspections mechanisms at national and United Nations’ level. The optional protocol is the result of a long process and it was approved by the General Assembly in 2002.

As far as non-biding instruments are concerned the most important is the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (1955). The Standard Minimum Rules is a far-reaching document providing rules and guidelines in the main areas of prison services. It provides for basic rules for the management and treatment of prisoners, including material conditions (food, clothing and personal hygiene), access to health care, disciplinary proceedings and prison activities (educational, vocational training, etc). Even though the range of areas included in the Standard Minimum Rules is great in scope, it does not aim at creating a set of rigid rules or a prison model (rules 1 to 3). The Standard Minimum Rules provides only basic and minimum requirements for the operation of any prison system: the necessary conditions for a prison system to achieve minimally humane and effective standards.

Other important non-binding documents are the Body of Principles for the Protection of all Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (1988), the Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners (1990) and the Principles of Medical Ethics relevant to the Role of Health Personnel, particularly Physicians, in the Protection of Prisoners and Detainees against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1982)

Some of the United Nations Human Rights Commission special mechanisms can, to a certain extent, also be used for the advancement of the protection of prisoners. For the prison services’ area, the Special Rapporteur on Torture would be the most relevant special mechanism as its mandate includes visits to places of detention in the countries where the Special Rapporteur has chosen to undertake a field mission.

Analysis provided by: Barbara Nazareth Andrade de Oliveira, Legal Expert.