5. CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD and visitors, while also respecting the right to privacy and family life. Prison authorities will benefit from consulting prisoners and their visitors with a view to improving the visiting environment. 43 The prison visiting environment should be reasonably comfortable and as close to normal life as possible. Thus, authorities should consider, among other things, seating arrangements, décor, lighting, heating and ventilation. They should provide access to toilets for both prisoners and visitors. They could also make water and/or other refreshments available during visits. 44 Staff should receive training on how to interact positively with prison visitors, including children. If visitors experience hostility from staff members, this will inevitably impact staff-prisoner relations. PROMISING PRACTICE: PROMOTING THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN OF PRISONERS IN ITALY [5.10] The Italian organization Bambinisenzasbarre Onlus signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Italian Ministry of Justice and the Italian Ombudsman for Children in 2016 to establish a Charter of Rights of Children of Imprisoned Parents.287 Following signature of the Memorandum, Bambinisenzasbarre Onlus developed a training programme with the Italian Penitentiary Department and the General Training Directorate to promote and sensitize prison staff who are assigned to meet with families. The training courses are designed to improve the relationship between prison staff, prisoners, their family and children, and to develop professional standards on the duties and behaviour of staff towards family members. 287 Restrictions and monitoring of visits Prison authorities’ role in encouraging contact with the outside world must be balanced against the risk of particular visits. The term “under necessary supervision” (Rule 58) “implies an assessment, evaluating the risk for the specific visit and the specific type of communication (…) In the context of most visits, supervision will in particular imply visual control”.288 In low security settings visual supervision may be sufficient and it will not be necessary to conduct an individual assessment for every visit. 46 Supervision during visits may be necessary, for example, where there are child protection concerns, to prevent crime or to prevent the smuggling of prohibited items and escape. For pre-trial detainees, it might also be necessary to prevent them from influencing witnesses. 47 All restrictions and monitoring must be informed by individual risk assessments. As UNODC points out, “[t]o subject high-risk prisoners to severe contact restrictions as a general policy (as opposed to restrictions based on the results of individual risk assessments) is counterproductive to the rehabilitative aims of imprisonment”.289 The EPR specify that visits can only be restricted or monitored if, and as far as they are, “necessary for the requirements of continuing criminal investigations, maintenance of good order, safety and security, prevention of criminal offences and protection of victims of crime”. The EPR also specify that “such restrictions shall nevertheless allow an acceptable minimum level of contact”.290 48 All forms of restrictions and monitoring should be proportionate to security concerns, and must be applied fairly and without discrimination. This applies to prison visits as well as supervision of phone calls, letters and electronic means of communication. 49 UNODC has stated that “[m]onitoring should be proportionate to the threat posed by a particular form of communication and should not be used as an indirect way of restricting communication”.291 The use of restrictions and the means of supervision employed should be monitored to ensure the system is fair and not subject to abuse. 50 Prisoners should be informed upon admission that their means of communication with family and friends might be subject to monitoring. It is also good practice to display a notice near all telephones about potential monitoring. 5 45 287. The text of the Memorandum can be accessed here: www.bambinisenzasbarre.org/text-rights-charter-of-children-of-prisoners. 288. Essex paper 3, Penal Reform International and the University of Essex, op. cit., note 4, p. 47. 289. Handbook on the Management of High-Risk Prisoners, UNODC, op. cit., note 42, p. 128. 290. European Prison Rules, Council of Europe, op. cit., note 74, Rule 24 (2). Guidance document on the Nelson Mandela Rules 125