understand and preferably in their language; a failure to respect religious and cultural
habits, even when these comply with international human rights standards; physical
and psychological abuse; enhanced searching and interview protocols; systematic
classification into higher security arrangements (such as solitary confinement); and
unwarranted disciplinary punishments in prison. States should put measures in
place to ensure that detainees and inmates from minority communities are granted
access to justice and that the reasons for their detention and imprisonment, as well
as their treatment while in custody, can be challenged effectively before a court or
with a national human rights institution. States should also collect disaggregated
data on their prison population and, if warranted, devote resources to understand
the causes of minority overrepresentation in prisons.51
States should ensure that the conditions of detention and imprisonment for persons
belonging to national minorities meet the following standards:
i. Detention by law-enforcement agencies
States should ensure that basic standards are not lowered when persons
belonging to minority communities are detained by law-enforcement agencies.
Monitoring of detention facilities by independent bodies, such as national
human rights institutions, civil society organizations, national preventative
mechanisms and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), should
be encouraged. Persons belonging to minority communities who have been
arrested should be promptly informed of their rights, the reason for their arrest
and the charges against them in a language they understand, and preferably
in their language. They should have access to a lawyer and a doctor, and they
should be allowed to notify a third party of their choice that they are being
detained. A record should be kept for each person detained that includes all
aspects of their detention and actions taken during custody.
Questioning during detention should be conducted in accordance with the law
and existing regulations, and it should be respectful of the cultural and religious
habits of persons belonging to minority communities. Minority detainees
should be questioned in the presence of officers from minority backgrounds
where possible, and female officers should be present when minority women
are questioned. When questioning persons belonging to national minorities,
officers should use a language they understand or an interpreter. Standards
regarding the permissible length of interrogations, rests between and breaks
during interrogations, and places where are interrogations may be conducted
51
See footnote 29.
The Graz Recommendations on Access to Justice and National Minorities
35