4. RESTRICTIONS, DISCIPLINE AND SANCTIONS Reducing the negative impact of solitary confinement and other sanctions 64 Prison authorities should make every effort to alleviate the potential detrimental impact of confinement (Rule 38(2)) by providing alternative social contact and by ensuring compensatory measures once the period of isolation is over. 65 Disciplinary sanctions or restrictive measures must not include the prohibition of family contact. 66 All efforts should be made to enable those undergoing solitary confinement to participate in other aspects of prison life, including work, educational and recreational activities. CONTEXT: MEASURES TO ALLEVIATE THE IMPACT OF CONFINEMENT [4.5] Measures to alleviate the potential detrimental impact of confinement, as noted in Rule 38(2) might include, for example: – Increased contact with the outside world; – improved access to vocational, educational and recreational activities; – Allowing isolated prisoners to exercise or participate in recreation activities together; – Providing segregated prisoners who wish to work with the opportunity to do so, either inside their cell, or, where possible, at a designated area alongside others; – Allowing prisoners in longer-term segregation to express themselves through art; – Providing access to a gym; and – Providing musical instruments and craft materials.  Prevention and reintegration Prison authorities should aspire to prevent or eliminate the use of isolation by focusing on the root causes of incidents that lead to its use. When a prisoner has been held in solitary confinement, the emphasis, from the outset, must be on returning and reintegrating her or him with the general prisoner population. 68 Prisoners who have been in solitary confinement should be encouraged to undergo a debriefing with staff and be provided with extra care and support with a view to preventing the need for solitary confinement to be used on them again in future. 69 After a longer period of isolation, a phased return to the general prison population should be arranged. Experience has shown that problems can arise when prisoners are directly released into the general prison population from solitary confinement. 70 The Mandela Rules do not regulate cases where a prisoner requests to be separated from the general prison population (voluntary separation). It is recommended that, in those cases, authorities should first seek to understand the reasons why the prisoner wants to be separated and try to resolve the issue by other means. If there are fears for that individual’s safety, then authorities should consider if they can provide the prisoner with a safe environment without isolating her or him. If isolation is deemed the only possible avenue, it should be used only for the period of time necessary to resolve the situation. 4 67 110 The planning and design of isolation cells 71 UNOPS has provided some minimum requirements for the planning and design of isolation cells and notes that the “inclusion of isolation cells in the design of the prison should be justified by the risk profile of the prisoners, and not assumed as a matter of course. Especially in low security prisons, isolation cells may not be necessary.”255 In the design of isolation cells, the Technical Guidance for Prison Planning points out that all other minimum aspects of cell accommodation apply, “including specifications for space, lighting and ventilation, heating 255. Technical Guidance for Prison Planning, UNOPS, op. cit., note 84, p. 111. Guidance document on the Nelson Mandela Rules