3|T  he decision to place prisoners and detainees in solitary confinement The extreme nature of solitary confinement and its potentially harmful effects on prisoners’ physical and mental wellbeing require prison authorities to be particularly cautious in imposing it, even for short periods of time. By extension, long-term prison regimes based entirely on solitary confinement run contrary to two of the primary goals of imprisonment, namely rehabilitation and social reintegration. This chapter examines the different uses of solitary confinement and some of the human rights provisions and recommendations that apply to them. Where current human rights standards and provisions are lacking, it seeks to explore how they may be developed and strengthened. 3.1 W  hen and why are prisoners and detainees placed in solitary confinement? Where prisoners and detainees are held in solitary confinement, whether in an especially designed free-standing isolation unit or in a designated segregation wing in a general population prison, this is typically on one of the following official grounds: Punishment: punitive segregation is used as a form of punishment for prisoners’ misconduct whilst in custody, and is typically imposed for a set, limited period of time, following some form of a disciplinary hearing within the prison. Segregation is considered as the most severe form of punishment for the most serious prison offences. Cell fittings in punitive segregation units are often minimal, and prisoners are allowed fewer provisions and personal belongings than those afforded to prisoners in ‘normal location’. Prisoners held in punitive isolation typically only leave their cell for a one-hour period of solitary exercise a day, but in some jurisdictions, exercise as well as access to family visits, are restricted even further. Legislation in some jurisdictions also permits courts to impose periods of solitary confinement as a part of the sentence for certain crimes. In Peru, for example, under the rule of its former president, Alberto Fujimori, those convicted of crimes against the State were automatically placed in solitary confinement for the first year of their imprisonment. In Pakistan, the Penal Code allows for convicted prisoners to be sentenced by the court for up to three months in solitary confinement at the beginning of their sentence (Pakistan Penal Code, Act XLV of 1860). Protection: protective segregation is used for holding vulnerable prisoners separately from the general prison population for their own protection, either at the prisoner’s request or at the discretion of staff. Vulnerable prisoners may include, for example, sex offenders, police informants, Sourcebook on solitary confinement: The decision to place prisoners and detainees in solitary confinement 25