-21 2.2. Main critical issues European prison administrations massively use - to different degrees - solitary confinement. International human rights bodies such as the European Committee against the Prevention of Torture (CPT) or the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT) place it at the top of their agenda due to the: • The detrimental effect it has on the physical and mental health of isolated detainees; • The increased risk of becoming victims of violence and torture due to frequent separation of solitary confinement sections from the rest of the institution; • The decreased frequency of visits by directors and prison staff in general to these sections; • The inhuman or degrading treatment or even the torture that prolonged isolation may constitute in itself; • The material conditions of the cells and other spaces, which are generally severely degraded compared to the rest of the institution; • The risk of a de-facto, non-formalised isolation, which may be combined with special regimes, such as high-security regimes; • The criticalities of procedural safeguards.11 2.2.1. Duration The maximum duration of solitary confinement varies greatly from country to country, from a few days to more than one month. There are many countries (e.g. France and Denmark) where the limit is set well beyond the 15 days identified by the Mandela Rules (SMR). Many jurisdictions prohibit the practice of imposing several disciplinary sanctions of solitary confinement in a row - but not all of them, and sometimes the time between one sanction and another is too short. In some jurisdictions, due to the length of solitary confinement exceeding two weeks, when the staff observe that the detainee is not able to bear it anymore, they break up the 11. Among the documents that address the theme of solitary confinement with a global view, see this text prepared by Penal Reform International and the APT, in particular on pp. 13-17. Penal Reform International and the Association for the Prevention of Torture, Balancing security and dignity in prisons: a framework for preventive monitoring, second edition, 2015, available at: http://www. tortureprevention.ch/content/files_res/thematic-paper-4_balancing-security-and-dignity-in-prisons-en-1.pdf Monitoring Solitary Confinement in Prison