C HAPTER 29. N ON - DISCRIMINATION OBJECTIVE Discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion or religious belief, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, birth or other status is prohibited by all the global and regional instruments on human rights. In addition, there should be specific protection for the rights of minorities as groups, as a safeguard for their identity and culture. The objective of this chapter is to emphasize that these provisions apply also to prisoners. This chapter should be cross-referenced with chapter 20 of the Manual, dealing with religion. ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES All persons are equal before the law and are entitled, without discrimination, to equal protection of the law. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and persons from ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities have the right to their own culture, religion and language. A prisoner who does not adequately understand or speak the language used by the authorities is entitled to receive relevant information promptly in a language which he understands. Prisoners who are foreign nationals shall be allowed reasonable facilities to communicate with appropriate diplomatic representatives. Prisoners who are refugees or stateless persons shall be allowed reasonable facilities to communicate with the diplomatic representative of the State which takes charge of their interests or any national or international authority whose task it is to protect such persons. These principles should be presented visually and remain on display throughout the session. BASIS IN INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS Exercise: Using the Compilation of Instruments, the trainees should work in pairs in order to discover the basis for each of these principles. It is important to cross-reference these instruments with chapter 20 of the Manual, where they were mentioned in the context of the right to freedom of religion. IMPLICATIONS It is important to convey to the trainees that they hold considerable power within a prison regime, where the risk of discrimination is present every day. They must be sensitive to the vulnerability of all detainees, but more to some than others. Awareness of the problem of discriminatory behaviour is the first step towards preventing it. 137