A/70/212
penalty. 75 The issue of possible discrimination in later decisions about early release
has been less studied but is no less relevant.
G.
Conditions in pretrial detention and in prison
54. Minorities face discrimination in pretrial detention and in post-conviction
imprisonment, whether because their treatment or conditions are poorer than those
for other groups, or because authorities fail generally to respect standards that are
especially important to the minority relating to: religious and cultural practices,
customs as regards food, relations with families, and assistance of an interpreter, for
example. 76
55. Authorities must be aware of and respond to the risk of stigmatization or other
discriminatory abuse on the part not only of prison staff, but of other inmates as
well. 77
56. International standards recognize that proactive measures designed to protect
and promote the rights of prisoners with special needs are required. 78 As recognized
by the Luanda Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pretrial
Detention in Africa, this requirement should be understood to include vulnerable
minorities. 79 Such measures, including special programmes for minority women and
children in custody, should be developed in consultation with the affected priso ners
and minority communities. 80
57. Failure to accommodate a convicted minority prisoner ’s particular needs may
cause so much additional suffering, compared with that of non -minority prisoners in
an equivalent position, as to render the punishment discriminatory and a violation of
__________________
75
76
77
78
79
80
16/27
E.g., Human Rights Committee, CCPR/C/USA/CO/4 (2014), para. 6; CERD/C/ISR/CO/13
(CERD, Israel, 2007); A/HRC/11/2/Add.5 (report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,
summary or arbitrary executions, 2009); CERD/C/PRT/CO/12-14 (CERD, 2012), para. 16;
A/HRC/24/52/Add.1 (Human Rights Council, 2013); A/HRC/27/68 (WGPAD report on access to
justice, 2014), para. 57; European Court of Human Rights, Paraskeva Todorova v. Bulgaria,
No. 37193/07 (2010); United States Sentencing Commission, Life Sentence in the Federal
System, February 2015, pp. 7 and 1 (available from http://clemencyreport.org/wp-content/
uploads/2015/02/Federal-Life_Sentences-report-USSC.pdf); and global panel on discrimination
and the death penalty, including a focus on minorities (New York, United Nations 2014)
(available from http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/watch/moving-away-from-the-death-penalty%E2%80%93-discrimination-against-marginalised-groups-ohchr-global-panel/3504361070001)
(accessed 20 June 2015).
CERD General Recommendation 31 (2005) paras. 26 (d)) and 38 (a); Standard Minimum Rules
for the Treatment of Prisoners (revised 2015), rules 2 and 4 (2) and Body of Principles for the
Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, principle 5. See, e.g.,
HM Inspectorate of Prison, “Muslim prisoners’ experience: a thematic review”, June 2010
(https://www.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmiprisons/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2014/04/
Muslim_prisoners_2010_rps.pdf); and Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons
Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, principles XI, XII.
Irish Penal Reform Trust, “Travellers in the Irish prison system: a qualitative study”, 2014.
Available from http://www.iprt.ie/files/IPRT_Travellers_Report_web.pdf); and Principles and
Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, principle II .
Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (revised 2015), rule 2 (2).
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Luanda Guideline 26.
Measures for women offenders (the Bangkok Rules) (2010), rules 54 and 55.
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