CURRENT PRACTICE – ADDRESSING OVERCROWDING In March 2020, in its capacity as NPM, the Cyprus ombuds institution addressed a letter to the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance. The statement contained a list of guidelines and specific recommendations, in accordance with the CPT’s Statement of Principles, relating to the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and requested the government to adhere to them. Following the letter, the Ministry of Justice proceeded to amend the relevant law and, as a result, 137 detainees received early release from the Nicosia Central Prison. A number of detainees were placed under the Open Prison Scheme, while others started serving the remainder of their sentence at home, under electronic surveillance/monitoring (trackable bracelet). These measures contributed significantly to the decongestion of the overcrowded prison facility. 80 B. MORE RESTRICTIVE DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY REGIMES: RISKS AND CHALLENGES 1. RIGHT TO CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD A person deprived of liberty is already in a situation of isolation from loved ones and from the outside world. In their efforts to prevent contamination, authorities have Restrictive preventive measures exacerbate this reali- put in place a wide range of restrictions for persons de- ty, with potentially devastating impact on their physical prived of liberty. The suspension of family visits, as well as and mental health. Such isolation can have particularly social, professional and religious activities greatly reduce serious consequences for people in situations of par- detainees’ interaction with the outside world, leading to ticular vulnerability, such as children or those with psy- experiences of isolation that can have a serious and last- chosocial disabilities. There are also contexts in which ing impact on the individuals.81 Moreover, contact with a detainee’s subsistence relies in part or in whole on the outside world is a key safeguard against torture and family support and contributions (e.g., where practices provides opportunities for reporting ill-treatment. require that families provide food or hygiene products). 82 As this negatively affects one of the main fundamental Often, people entering a place of deprivation of liberty in rights of people deprived of liberty – the right to have the midst of this pandemic have been placed in preven- contact with the outside world at regular intervals – it is tive isolation or quarantine from the general population. key that those restrictions are temporary and accom- Such isolation is sometimes abused, constituting de fac- panied by sufficient compensatory alternatives. 84 NPMs to solitary confinement.83 In certain contexts, restrictive should assess the impact that such measures may have measures in detention, together with the suspension of over time, and in particular for people in situations of judicial hearings, present a threat to legal and proce- particular vulnerability (e.g., people with disabilities, the dural safeguards against torture and other ill-treatment, socially isolated and the elderly). and arbitrary detention, as well as fair-trial rights. 80 In open prison schemes prisoners are trusted to serve their sentences with minimal supervision and perimeter security and are often not locked up in their prison cells. Prisoners may be permitted to take up employment while serving their sentence. 81 See, Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, A/HRC/38/36, 2018, para. 91. 82 OSCE/ODIHR and PRI, Guidance Document on the Nelson Mandela Rules, Chapter 5, para 13-15. 83 Such confinement shall not be used as a punitive or disciplinary measures, and cannot exceed 15 days. See Nelson Mandela Rules 43, 44. 84 Nelson Mandela Rules, Rule 58 23