Committee on Human Rights
In light of the European Prison Rules being under revision, what further steps should the European Union take to improve detention facility conditions for detained and sentenced persons and increase their prospects for rehabilitation and reintegration?
Submitted by:
According to the report made by the Council of Europe, on January 31 2018 there were 1,229,385 prisoners held in different institutions across the Council’s member countries[1]. Due to varying conditions among the facilities in the Member States, including as the lack of staff specialised at rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates, overcrowding of the prisons and the absence of unified and binding EU policy, the chances of a prisoner successfully rehabilitating or reintegrating back into the society are low, despite having served the sentence or remaining in detention only - for example, In Ireland after 4 years from prison release, over 49% of the released prisoners had re-offended[2] proving that measures taken for rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates were not successful. Limited chances for reintegration of prisoners pose a threat both for them and the society.
Definition of Key terms
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Sentenced persons are people who have been convicted for an offence and are in turn deprived of their liberty, for example serving time in prison;
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Detained persons are people who are deprived of their liberty before they have been convicted- for example is waiting for the judge’s verdict;
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Recidivism is the likelihood of the convicted to reoffend; sometimes used as a measure of reintegration;
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Rehabilitation is the process of coming back to health or normal life after events such as trauma or imprisonment by for example attending therapy or counseling;
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Reintegration is the process of reintegrating a person back into society.
Relevance of the Topic
All European citizens, including detained and sentenced people, are granted with basic human rights by the power of the European Convention of Human Rights. Nonetheless, the varying conditions in different facilities among Europe often fail to provide the aforementioned fundamental rights to its inmates.
Cases of physical violence, sexual harassment, dismissing medical needs and overpopulation can be noticed among prisons in the EU. 29.7% of the Prison Administrations in the EU are experiencing overcrowding, which is a phenomenon dangerous for both the prisoners and staff working in detention facilities.[3] Overcrowding can lead to violence, abuse and spread of diseases- notification rates for TB in detention facilities are between 11 and 81 times higher than among the rest of the population.[4] Death by suicide in such institutions accounts for average 15.6 percent of deaths.[5]
Once someone faces imprisonment, the detaining institutions offer the perspective of rehabilitation and reintegration of the detained and sentenced people. However given the lack of efficacy in their programmes, imprisoned people end up having vocational trainings unsuited for the job market, limited possibility to get a job in prison, low wages for in-prison-jobs, as well as lack of schooled mental health professionals, so as to help them deal with prison trauma. All these incidents limit the chances for ex-prisoners to safely and successfully return to their communities.
Key Conflicts
The European Prison Rules are putting the prisoner’s human rights, well-being and rehabilitation as a main focus of serving a sentence or staying in detention, however they do not have legally binding power. As such, the Member States can, but do not have to adhere to the recommendations included in this document. This, among other factors, leads to varying conditions across the facilities in the EU, many of which threaten human rights of their residents. Noting how the public’s opinion is divided on whether prison should revolve around rehabilitation or punishment, politicians refrain from exercising such approaches in order to not seem soft on criminals in the latter half of the public's eyes.
Many countries deem short-term, quick results sufficient and have resorted to a wider use of pre-trial detention and increasing sentences that result in unsustainable penal systems. [6]The aforementioned is a "suitable to all" approach that claims different criminals with a variety of charges can be rehabilitated under the same system. However, this often leads to finances insufficient for warranting acceptable conditions, overcrowded facilities and the inability to monitor and aid every prisoner in need after their release.
Since the conditions and practices among different facilities vary so much, the question lies in whether the detention policies should be handled on an EU scale. The differences for example pose problems with transferring international prisoners between countries, as standards of the host country can sometimes be higher than in the recipient country. Because of the possibility of an inmate’s rights being violated, the transfer of that person is then stopped, slowing down or stopping the legal proceedings.[7]
Overcrowded facilities where human rights are being broken are not creating a proper environment for reintegration and rehabilitation of prisoners. Even though there are methods of improving a country's penal system by for example adding more social rehabilitation-centered approaches, investment is required to put those approaches to use and not every Member State can afford that.
Stakeholders
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is an international court which has developed case-law, meaning that each case of alleged violations of rights is judged individually. Exemplary factors considered in the decision-making process can be both the living conditions, even if not intended to harm a person, as well as physical or verbal abuse.[8] The rulings of the Court are binding.
European Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) is responsible for assessing and coordinating the actions that the Council of Europe takes in connection with crime prevention and crime control. This body also organises conferences of directors of prison administrations among the Member States, for example the High Level Conference ”Responses to Prison Overcrowding”.
Member States’ governments are responsible for controlling and maintaining the conditions in their imprisonment facilities, along implementing social reintegration and rehabilitation programmes for the prisoners. They also decide whether or not to implement the European Prison Rules into the workings of their subordinate prison facilities.
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) acts as an independent preventative measure, which monitors the conditions in imprisonment and detention facilities and behaviour of supervisory authorities in such places, as well as overlooks complaints regarding alleged abuse. The conditions noted are being compared to the standards set by this committee in the form of European Convention for Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Existing Measures and Current Legislation
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is an international treaty issued by the Council of Europe which sets basic human rights worldwide. It includes binding laws such as for example the obligation of respect for human rights, the right to liberty, the right to privacy or the prohibition of torture, all of which can be found violated in some imprisonment facilities.
The revised United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, commonly known as the Mandela Rules, contain the minimum standards and key principles regarding the treatment of prisoners and detained persons. This unbinding document serves as guidelines which elaborate for example on basic conditions of female inmates, safety or protection of basic human rights in detention facilities regardless of race.
European Prison Rules are recommendations created by the Council of Europe in line with the UN’s Mandela Rules. The recommendations focus on imprisonment as a chance to rehabilitate rather than only a punishment. Similarly to the UN’s document, European Prison Rules contain standards which should be met in every facility, such as those regarding the conditions of imprisonment, legal advice available for the prisoners or the need for education and rehabilitation in detention facilities. The document itself is not binding for the Member States.
European Convention for Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment is a document which has created the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) and regulates its proceedings.
Social reintegration programmes are aimed at allowing offenders to successfully return to the community and avoid further crime; three main types include prison-based rehabilitation, reintegration and aftercare programmes delivered upon release and non-custodial, community-based programmes[9]. The standards regarding those differ among countries because of for example the differences in financing of those facilities.
Food for thought questions
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How can the EU encourage the Member States’ governments to adhere to the revised European Prison Rules?
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Should the EU find a boundary between a learning experience and punishment in terms of prison system? If no, how can it keep a balance between those two?
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How can the EU ensure equal access to proper rehabilitation and reintegration programmes among all the facilities?
Links to further research and materials
Revision of the European Prison Rules and related commentary:
Perspectives on European Jail Management and Human Rights Protection:
UN CUSTODIAL AND NON-CUSTODIAL MEASURES Social Reintegration- an overview on the issue of social reintegration of prisoners:
[1]Aebi, M. and M.Tiago, M. (2018). Prisons and Prisoners in Europe 2018: Key Findings of the SPACE I report
[2] Wp.unil.ch. (2019). Recidivism studies | Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics.
[3] Aebi, M. F., Tiago, M. & Burkhardt, C. (2016). SPACE I – Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics: Prison populations. Survey 2015. Strasbourg: Council of Europe
[4] . Prison conditions: key facts - Penal Reform International. Penal Reform International. (2019)
[5] Banks, M. (2019). Council of Europe releases new prison statistics. [online] Theparliamentmagazine.eu
[6] Shaw, M. (2008). Reducing the Excessive Use of Pretrial Detention. 1st ed. Open Society Justice Initiative, p.1.
[7] Prison conditions: key facts - Penal Reform International. Penal Reform International. (2019)
[8] OVERVIEW OF THE CASE-LAW OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS. (2016). aolf Legal Publishers (WLP).
[9] Chin, V., Dandurand, Y. et. al, (2018). Introductory Handbook on the Prevention of Recidivism and the Social Reintegration of Offenders CRIMINAL JUSTICE HANDBOOK SERIES. United Nations.