A/64/215 C. Human dignity: deprivation of liberty but not of liberties 49. Three categories of human rights of detainees can be distinguished based on their respective availability, accessibility and adaptability in the context of the particular circumstances of detention: (a) Certain rights, which detainees have forfeited as a result of their lawful deprivation of liberty (category A); (b) Relative rights, which may be restricted for justified reasons (category B); (c) Absolute rights plus certain other rights, which detainees enjoy in full equality with other human beings (category C). 50. Category A encompasses the right to personal liberty (art. 9, para. 1, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), although detainees of course enjoy all special rights of detainees laid down in paragraphs 2 to 5 of article 9. In addition, the lawful deprivation of the right to personal liberty also leads to the forfeiture of the right to liberty of movement (art. 12) and all its components, such as the right to choose one’s residence and the right to leave one’s country. 51. Regarding category B, most human rights are relative rights, i.e., they may be restricted for justified reasons and are subject to the principle of progressive realization. Because of their deprivation of liberty, detainees are usually not in a position to enjoy these rights on an equal footing with other human beings. On the other hand, due to the powerlessness of detainees, prison authorities have a particular responsibility to ensure by means of positive measures that detainees can enjoy these rights as effectively as possible. One of the guiding principles of the Standard Minimum Rules is the minimization of differences between prison life and life in liberty, 7 a principle reinforced by the Robben Island Guidelines, which stipulate that conditions of detention should be in conformity with international standards and provide for steps to be taken against overcrowding and for the separation and appropriate treatment of different groups of detainees, such as pretrial and convicted detainees, women and juveniles. 8 Similarly, the revised European Prison Rules stipulate that “life in prison shall approximate as closely as possible the positive aspects of life in the community”. 9 The best practice the Special Rapporteur found during his fact-finding missions in this respect is the “principle of normalization” applied by the prison authorities in Denmark and Greenland. 10 Most prisons are open prisons, where prisoners are free to walk around, to engage in meaningful work and education programmes, to do sports and recreational activities and to feel as least restricted in their freedom and privacy as possible. They usually live in single rooms with all necessary facilities but are not locked in these rooms, even during the night. A corollary of the rehabilitative aim of imprisonment, in accordance with article 10, paragraph 3, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is that prisoners should receive treatment __________________ 7 8 9 10 14 See Rule 60, para. 1, of the Standard Minimum Rules applicable to convicted prisoners: “The regime of the institution should seek to minimize any differences between prison life and life at liberty which tend to lessen the responsibility of the prisoners or the respect due to their dignity as human beings”. Paras. 33 to 37 of the Robben Island Guidelines. Rule 5 of the European Prison Rules. See A/HRC/10/44/Add.2; see also the report of the Special Rapporteur on the Indonesian prison system, which system in principle is based on the same premises (A/HRC/7/3/Add.7, para. 33). 09-43792