1. PRISON MANAGEMENT When determining the allocation of a prisoner, authorities should consult with prisoners themselves about where they consider their homes or their places of social rehabilitation to be, especially given that individual living arrangements may vary. The European Prison Rules (EPR) stipulate explicitly, in Rule 17.3, that “[a]s far as possible, prisoners shall be consulted about their initial allocation and any subsequent transfer from one prison to another”. It may be that, for some, their place of social rehabilitation is not their previous home, but another place that would best aid their rehabilitation. Consideration should also be given to the best arrangements for those who do not have a permanent place of residence. 98 Decisions on prisoner allocation are not always made at the level of the prison administration. However, in their communications with judicial authorities, prison officials can emphasize the importance of allocating a prisoner close to home. They must also consider the location of family or other contacts when making decisions on transferring a prisoner. 99 The availability of appropriate rehabilitation programmes and services should also be taken into account when allocating a prisoner. For example, those who have specific health-care needs, including mental health needs, should be located in prisons where the necessary care is available, while those with specific rehabilitation needs should be allocated to prisons where such programmes are available. Likewise, those with physical disabilities should be allocated to the prisons most suited to their needs, while also taking into consideration the location of family and friends. 100 Even if prison authorities are not responsible for decisions on allocation, they can still play an important role in advising other relevant authorities on the most appropriate allocation for individual prisoners. 101 In exceptional situations, security considerations may override the preference for allocating a prisoner close to her or his home or place of social rehabilitation. This could be, for example, due to high level gang affiliations or if the safety of staff or their family members is at risk from doing so. 102 In order to allocate prisoners close to their home or place of social rehabilitation, it is important to record relevant information in the prisoners’ files. More information on prisoner file management can be found in Chapter 1, paragraph 01–63 of this guidance document. 1 97 Women 103 Rule 4 of the Bangkok Rules specifically states that the allocation of women prisoners should take into account their caretaking responsibilities, the individual woman’s preference and the availability of appropriate programmes and services. This is particularly important because women are usually the main care-givers in their family and are more likely to be located far from their families due to the smaller number of women’s facilities. 104 In instances where fathers are the main caretakers of children, the principle applies “equally to male prisoners and offenders who are fathers”, as stated in paragraph 12 of the preliminary observations to the Bangkok Rules. 105 Special consideration should be given to the rights of children, and their best interests, when it comes to the allocation of their care-givers. As the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) has noted, “[t]he rights of affected children should be regarded as a relevant factor in determining the security policy concerning incarcerated parents, including with regard to the proportionality of the measures in relation to areas that would affect the interaction with affected children”.44 Children in prison 106 Children in prison have a specific need to be located close to their families and friends, yet, as with female prisoners, they may be located far from these contacts in countries where there are fewer dedicated facilities to accommodate them. 44. Report and Recommendations of the Day of General Discussion on “Children of Incarcerated Parents”, Committee on the Rights of the Child, 30 September 2011, para. 14 at www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/docs/discussion/2011CRCDGDReport.pdf. Guidance document on the Nelson Mandela Rules 27