Like law-enforcement agencies, the judiciary and correctional services, enforcement
agencies should reflect the diversity of the population, not least to lend additional
legitimacy to the execution of decisions by courts or tribunals (see Recommendation
5).
9.
States should ensure that persons belonging to national minorities
held in detention or imprisoned are treated with humanity and respect
for their identity.
In common with all members of society, the way minorities are treated during their
time in detention or in prison may have a significant impact on whether they are
able to defend their rights, access justice and, where relevant, rehabilitate after they
are released from prison.50 States should ensure that persons belonging to minority
communities are not singled out for harsher treatment when they are detained or
imprisoned. They should not be held unnecessarily in police custody or pre-trial
detention for long periods of time. They should not be subjected to arbitrary or
collective arrests, or torture and other inhumane treatment, including to extract
confessions. States should ensure that their families are not blackmailed to secure
their release, a more lenient sentence or better detention conditions, and their
lawyers should not be physically assaulted, intimidated or arrested. Discriminatory
and abusive behaviour shown by prison staff or other inmates towards prisoners
belonging to minority communities constitutes a denial of justice too. It can also feed
a deep sense of injustice among minority communities. Ill-treatment can increase
alienation on the part of individuals who suffer abuse and their communities. In
particular, it adds to the risk of conflict if minority communities come to believe
that the State turns a blind eye to or even sanctions their mistreatment by lawenforcement agencies and correctional services.
The closed environment of prisons and (to a lesser extent) police detention can
amplify the discrimination and stigmatization that national minorities may already
face in society at large. Minority women may be particularly at risk on account of
their membership of a minority community and their gender. Generally, persons
belonging to national minorities risk being subjected to one or a combination of
the following while in prison or detention: worse treatment or conditions than those
for other groups; an unwillingness to communicate with them in a language they
50
34
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976), article 10.1.
The Graz Recommendations on Access to Justice and National Minorities