Review of the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners 2013, para. 48

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The Special Rapporteur recalls that inter-prisoner violence may amount to torture or other ill-treatment if the State fails to act with due diligence to prevent it (A/HRC/13/39/Add.3, para. 28). As stated by the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the State assumes a heightened duty of protection by severely limiting an inmates' freedom of movement and capacity for self-defence (A/61/311, para. 51). Despite the unambiguous wording of the Convention against Torture, there is a lack of awareness of the obligation of prison administration to intervene in inter-prisoner violence. The Special Rapporteur on torture notes that acquiescence in inter-prisoner violence is not simply a breach of professional responsibilities but that it amounts to consent or acquiescence to torture or other ill-treatment.
Legal status
Non-negotiated soft law
Body
Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Document type
Special Procedures' report
Means of adoption
N.A.
Topic(s)
  • Civil & Political Rights
  • Governance & Rule of Law
  • Violence
Year
2013
Paragraph type
Other
Paragraph number
48