Notes 1 Prison segregation should be distinguished from isolation or seclusion for medical purposes or in psychiatric settings, which are not discussed in this publication. The Sourcebook focuses mainly on adult, male prisoners and does not address issues relating specifically to other groups, such as women or young offenders. 2 The exercise period usually lasts for one hour, which is the minimum required by international law, but in some jurisdictions it may last up to two hours. 3 For an excellent account of the thinking behind the isolation prisons of the 19th Century see Evans, R. (1982) The Fabrication of Virtue: English prison Architecture 1750-1840. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. See also: Morris, N. and Rothman, D., eds. (1998) The Oxford History of the Prison: The Practice of Punishment in Western Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press; Rothman, D.J. (1980) Conscience and Convenience: The Asylum and its Alternatives in Progressive America. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 4 See Human Rights Watch report: Locked Up Alone: Detention Conditions and Mental Health at Guantanamo, June 2008. 5 Human rights laws include: treaty law (treaties, conventions, covenants), which is legally binding on States which are parties to it and on State agents, including prison officials; customary law, which reflects long established practices that are accepted as unwritten laws, and; human rights declarations, recommendations, principles, codes of conduct and guidelines, which are not in themselves legally binding but nonetheless reflect international norms and customs. 6 For a more general discussion of human rights and prisons see: Andrew Coyle (2002) A Human Rights Approach to Prison Management, International Centre for Prison Studies, London; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2005) Human Rights and Prisons, Professional Training Series No.11, available online at: www.ohchr.org 7 The Body of Principles was adopted the UN General Assembly in December 1988. It contains 39 principles reaffirming that prisoners and detainees retain their human rights when detained, and lists some of the procedural and substantial principles which should direct the operation of all places of detention universally. Other relevant human rights instruments include the Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners (adopted in 1990, affirming that prisoners retain their fundamental human rights); UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials; Principles of Medical Ethics; and, in situations of armed conflict, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977. 8 General comment 20/44 of 3 April 1992. 9 See Reyes, H. The worst scars are in the mind: psychological torture, International Review of the Red Cross, Volume 89 No. 867 September 2007 pp 591-617. 10 United Nations Human Rights Committee General comment 21/44 of 6 April 1992, para. [3]. 11 Adopted by the First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held in Geneva in 1955, and approved by the Economic and Social Council by its resolutions 663 C (XXIV) of 31 July 1957 and 2076 (LXII) of 13 May 1977. 12 The brief discussion in this chapter is based on European instruments and bodies, but similar provisions are made in other regional instruments including the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR) which proclaims in its Article 5 that “(1) Every person has the right to have his physical, mental and moral integrity respected. (2)No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person”. 13 Ireland v UK A25 (1978) at par. 162 14 The Greek Case, 5.11.69, Yearbook of the European Convention on Human Rights, Vol. 12,1969, p186. 15 Dougoz v. Greece, no. 40907/98, 46, ECHR 2001-II 16 Council of Europe, Recommendation No R(87)3, revised and replaced by recommendation (2006)2. Sourcebook on solitary confinement: Introduction 7