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Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 59
- Paragraph text
- States frequently detain children who are refugees, asylum seekers or irregular migrants for a number of reasons, such as health and security screening, to verify their identity or to facilitate their removal from the territory. Sometimes, children may be inadvertently detained because there is a failure to distinguish between child and adult migrants, such as when children are unable to prove their age. The Special Rapporteur has previously noted with concern that unaccompanied child migrants are systematically held in detention at police stations, border guard stations or migration detention centres instead of being held in reception centres, which are in practice often not numerous enough or are overcrowded (see A/HRC/16/52/Add.4, paras. 68-69). Most of the unaccompanied minors are not adequately informed about asylum procedures or their rights, do not have access to legal counsel or guardians, and are generally ignorant of the system. Furthermore, the procedure to identify minors and to assess their age and vulnerability appears to be completely inadequate, as many children reported being registered as adults (see A/HRC/16/52/Add.4, paras. 68-73 and CAT/C/USA/CO/3-5, para. 19).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 61
- Paragraph text
- In addition, many child migrants suffer appalling and inhuman conditions while detained including overcrowding, inappropriate food, insufficient access to drinking water, unsanitary conditions, lack of adequate medical attention, and irregular access to washing and sanitary facilities and to hygiene products, lack of appropriate accommodation and other basic necessities. In some cases, detention centres refuse to keep migrant children with their families also being detained, and have denied migrant children's right to communicate with their families. Such practices effectively isolate child detainees from social support groups.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Movement
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Of particular concern are a lack of specialist care, including access to gynaecologists and obstetric health-care professionals; discriminatory access to services like harm-reduction programmes; lack of private spaces for medical examinations and confidentiality; poor treatment by prison health staff; failures in diagnosis, medical neglect and denial of medicines, including for chronic and degenerative illnesses; and reportedly higher rates of transmission of diseases such as HIV among female detainees. The absence of gender-specific health care in detention can amount to ill-treatment or, when imposed intentionally and for a prohibited purpose, to torture. States' failure to ensure adequate hygiene and sanitation and to provide appropriate facilities and materials can also amount to ill-treatment or even torture. It is essential to engage in capacity-building and adequate training for detention centre staff and health-care personnel with a view to identifying and addressing women's specific health-care and hygiene needs.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Water & Sanitation
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 32
- Paragraph text
- Upon interception or rescue, migrants and refugees tend to be criminalized and detained in substandard and overcrowded conditions amounting to torture or ill-treatment. Unsanitary conditions and inadequate medical care, including lack of access to reproductive care, affect women in particular. Many facilities fail to separate female and male prisoners, leading to heightened risks of sexual violence from other detainees or guards (A/HRC/20/24). Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender migrants are also vulnerable to abuse on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Health
- Humanitarian
- Movement
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- LGBTQI+
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Gender perspectives on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment 2016, para. 70q
- Paragraph text
- [With regard to women, girls, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons in detention, the Special Rapporteur calls on all States to:] Ensure that migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are individually assessed, including with respect to their need for protection, and that adequate screening and assessment procedures are in place to identify victims of torture and ill-treatment; provide opportunities for safe, voluntary and dignified disclosure of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex status; and ensure that measures taken by migration authorities do not retraumatize victims;
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Girls
- LGBTQI+
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Impunity as a root cause of the prevalence of torture 2010, para. 80
- Paragraph text
- The Optional Protocol does not prescribe a specific form for national preventive mechanisms but leaves it to States parties how to "maintain, designate or establish … one or several independent national preventive mechanisms". However, the Optional Protocol and the related Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions (The Paris Principles) prescribe clear minimum criteria for national preventive mechanisms. Any national preventive mechanism is to be provided with a broad mandate to regularly visit all places of detention with a view to examining the treatment of detainees, to make recommendations to the relevant authorities and to submit draft legislative proposals and observations. It must have unrestricted access, without prior notification, to all places of detention and enjoy the right to hold private interviews with detainees. It must be granted full institutional, functional, personal and financial independence from the State authorities, be pluralistically composed to have the "required capabilities and professional knowledge" and provide for a balanced gender and adequate minority representation.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Overview of main observations of five years fact-finding and research 2010, para. 64
- Paragraph text
- Deprivation of personal liberty, which is one of the most precious human rights, is an indispensible tool of criminal justice. However, what is often forgotten, is that detainees should continue to enjoy all other liberties and human rights, unless further restrictions are absolutely necessary for upholding prison discipline or for similar justified reasons. As the Special Rapporteur described in his most recent report to the General Assembly, the reality in most countries is totally different. Since it is an essential element of fact-finding during country missions to visit prisons, police lock-ups, closed psychiatric institutions and other places of detention, the Special Rapporteur had a fairly comprehensive insight into the conditions of detention around the world. In many countries, he was shocked by the way human beings are treated in detention. In this regard, he is most concerned about the structural deprivation of most human rights, notably the rights to food, water, clothing, health care and a minimum of space, hygiene, privacy and security necessary for a humane and dignified existence. It is the combined deprivation and non-fulfilment of these existential rights which amounts to a systematic practice of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and, around the world, there is an urgent need to ensure more respect for detainees and improve conditions of detention: the respect shown for the detainees is a mirror of a country's general human rights culture.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Overview of main observations of five years fact-finding and research 2010, para. 74
- Paragraph text
- In most countries, conditions of detention in police custody, pretrial detention, other detention facilities and sometimes in correctional institutions for convicted prisoners, amount to inhuman or degrading treatment. Detainees, whether deprived of their liberty for justified or less justified reasons, belong to the most vulnerable and forgotten sectors of our societies. In practice, they are deprived of most of their liberties and human rights, including the right to an adequate standard of living, food, water, health, education and privacy.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2010
Paragraph
Overview of working methods and vision 2011, para. 66
- Paragraph text
- In previous reports , conditions of detention have been documented extensively based on information received from various sources, in particular, factual observations made as a result of fact-finding missions. The Special Rapporteur is deeply concerned by the large number of places of detention that do not meet minimum international standards. He plans to engage with States that permit such conditions as well as with those that lack the ability or resources to institute minimum standards. He will seek to address the systematic deprivation of the most basic human rights standards relating to conditions of detention, including those related to food, water, clothing, health care and minimum space, as well as hygiene, privacy and security necessary for a humane and dignified existence, as conditions that in and of themselves can constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Food & Nutrition
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Review of the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners 2013, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- Finally, the Special Rapporteur emphasizes that health professionals must not, under any circumstance, consent or acquiesce to torture or other ill-treatment, let alone take active part in any such ill-treatment (Principles of Medical Ethics, principles 2 and 3, and the Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects). Such prohibition extends to such practices as examining detainees to determine their "fitness for interrogation", as well as to providing medical treatment to ill-treated detainees so as to enable them to withstand further abuse (E/CN.4/2003/68, para. 26 (n)). It is important that the Rules exclude the involvement and role of health-care personnel in any disciplinary or security-related measures (Rule 32 (1)). Medical personnel shall, nonetheless, closely monitor the mental and physical health of inmates undergoing punishment and visit them as deemed medically necessary or upon the request of the person deprived of liberty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Review of the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners 2013, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- The Special Rapporteur notes that while the Rules recognize and address specific needs of different categories of prisoners (such as women, juveniles, persons with disabilities and foreign nationals), it fails to require the extension of special protection measures to other disadvantaged groups of detainees or prisoners. It is essential that the Rules adopt special measures aimed at protecting the rights of other disadvantaged groups of prisoners, in accordance with well-established international standards and norms (see UNODC/CCPCJ/EG.6/2012/2, p. 21). Special care must be taken to ensure that segregating members of these groups does not further marginalize them from the rest of the community or expose them to further risk of torture or ill-treatment (see, for example, the Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, principle 9 (a)).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Persons on the move
- Persons with disabilities
- Women
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Review of the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners 2013, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- With respect to prisoners who use drugs, and in the context of revising Rule 22 (1), the Rules should provide for an obligation to ensure that all harm-reduction measures, including evidence-based measures for the prevention and treatment of HIV and hepatitis C, needle and syringe exchange programmes and evidence-based substance abuse treatment, are available to people who use drugs at all stages of their detention.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Review of the standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners 2013, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- Furthermore, because of disability or literacy problems, many detainees or prisoners are disadvantaged and unable to adequately fill out complaint forms. As stated by the European Court of Human Rights in Ciorap v. Moldova, the onus is on the State to ensure that prisoners' rights and obligations are communicated effectively to them. Rule 35 should provide for the obligation to make such information available in both written and oral form, in Braille and easy-to-read formats, and in sign languages for deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals, and to display it prominently in all places of deprivation of liberty.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Role of forensic and medical sciences in the investigation prevention torture and other ill-treatment 2014, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- Forensic and medical reports of sufficient quality require standardized medico-legal evaluation report forms in accordance with Istanbul Protocol guidelines. They include standardized screening formats and formats for full Istanbul Protocol evaluations. Forensic experts must have unrestricted access to relevant evidence, including crime scenes, material evidence, witnesses and relevant documents, including interrogation logs and medical records. In detention facilities it is important that all medical examinations are performed with audio, video and photographic equipment. Medical and psychological reports should record the identity of the health professional and the findings of the examination. The provision of forensic science services across the criminal justice system is regulated by professional and ethical standards. Associations organizing the relevant professional groups on the international and national levels can play an important role in recommending a universal model and holding their members to such standards.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Role of forensic and medical sciences in the investigation prevention torture and other ill-treatment 2014, para. 71
- Paragraph text
- Recommendation regarding medical ethics: Ensure that all health professionals working with detainees are made aware of their ethical obligations, including the need to report torture and other ill-treatment, to maintain confidentiality and to seek the consent of victims prior to examination; and ensure that national legislation is clear that health professionals must abide by their ethical obligations at all times.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Torture, ill-treatment and coercion during interviews/ Universal protocol for non-coercive, ethically sound, evidence-based and empirically founded interviewing practices 2016, para. 43
- Paragraph text
- It is well established that the term "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" must be interpreted to extend the widest possible protection against abuses (see the Body of Principles). When persons are deprived of liberty, the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment overlaps with and is supplemented by the principle of humane treatment of detainees (see A/68/295). The European Court of Human Rights, in Bouyid v. Belgium, has highlighted the inherent link between concepts of degrading treatment or punishment and human dignity, finding that treatment that "humiliates or debases an individual, show[s] a lack of respect for or diminish[es] his or her human dignity, or arouses feelings of fear, anguish or inferiority capable of breaking an individual's moral and physical resistance" may be characterized as degrading. Any act by law enforcement that diminishes a person's human dignity, including the use of physical force when not strictly necessitated by his or her conduct, violates the prohibition of torture and ill treatment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Torture, ill-treatment and coercion during interviews/ Universal protocol for non-coercive, ethically sound, evidence-based and empirically founded interviewing practices 2016, para. 45
- Paragraph text
- International and regional human rights mechanisms have to date developed an extensive body of jurisprudence on practices that amount to physical or psychological torture or ill-treatment, including but not limited to punching, kicking, beatings, electrocution, forms of suffocation, burns, use of firearms, mock executions, threats of reprisals against relatives, death threats, restraints in very painful conditions, rape, sexual abuse and humiliation, sleep deprivation, prolonged stress positions, prolonged solitary confinement, incommunicado detention, sensory deprivation, exposure to extreme temperatures or loud music for prolonged periods, dietary adjustments, blindfolding and hooding during questioning, prolonged questioning sessions, removal of clothing, deprivation of all comfort and religious items and exploitation of phobias during questioning (see A/HRC/13/39/Add.5; A/52/44; CCPR/C/USA/CO/3/Rev.1; CAT/C/USA/CO/2; and CAT/C/KAZ/CO/3). Deplorably, such illegal methods have often been combined with poor conditions of detention - which can alone amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in themselves - to exert additional psychological pressure on detainees to reveal information. The Special Rapporteur recalls that the physical environment and conditions during questioning must be adequate, humane and free from intimidation, so as not to run afoul of the prohibition of torture or ill-treatment.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Families
- Persons on the move
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Torture, ill-treatment and coercion during interviews/ Universal protocol for non-coercive, ethically sound, evidence-based and empirically founded interviewing practices 2016, para. 79
- Paragraph text
- Given that particular groups are more vulnerable during questioning, the protocol should contain specific provisions for, among others, children, women and girls, persons with disabilities, persons belonging to minorities or indigenous groups and non-nationals, including migrants (regardless of migration status), refugees, asylum seekers and stateless persons. The vulnerability of persons should be promptly identified for special consideration of their needs to be reflected in the conduct of interviews and implementation of additional safeguards.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Movement
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Persons on the move
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
18 shown of 18 entities