NCJ Number
193946
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 64 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2002 Pages: 68-72
Date Published
2002
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article reviews international conventions and regional treaties on the treatment of inmates.
Abstract
Many countries look beyond their borders and consider international conventions they have signed or regional treaties they have ratified regarding the treatment of inmates. Forty-three European countries, for example, are bound by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. This convention established the inalienable rights and freedoms of each citizen and requires all states that have ratified the convention to guarantee these rights. For many non-European countries, United Nations conventions and standards regarding the treatment of inmates constitute an external reference point. Countries try to follow the international community for a number of reasons. Sometimes they want to gain international approval. Other times, they are in the process of moving from a dictatorship to a democracy. The basic premise underlying the entire international framework is Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states: “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.” Thus, the philosophy of human rights says that nothing can place a human beyond the reach of certain protections. Analyses of United Nations and regional conventions and standards suggest certain key requirements and approaches in the treatment of inmates. One important element is that punishments consisting of deprivation of liberty shall have as an essential aim: the reform and re-adaptation of inmates. Other international instruments address inhumane types of punishment, the treatment of children, the use of medical personnel, and torture. In regard to torture, the only region in the world with a supranational inspection mechanism is Europe. As a result of many years of operation of the European human rights machinery, there are clear indications how European inmates should be treated. Countries aspiring to join the Council of Europe or the European Union accept that they should bring their prison conditions up to European standards. A great deal of good would come from cross-fertilization between the U.S. system of detailed oversight and court system intervention, and the standard-setting approach of the international system. 23 Notes