ESSEX PAPER 3: INITIAL GUIDANCE ON THE INTERPRETATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN NELSON MANDELA RULES against Torture, for instance, has emphasised the fact that the confidentiality of medical data persists beyond the transfer and/or release of an inmate.206 It was highlighted that measures must be taken to ensure that a prisoner taking any form of medication is provided the respective medicine during transfer and upon arrival at the new facility. Foreign national prisoners The experts analysed Rule 62 in the light of the importance of contact with the outside world for foreign national prisoners, although the Rule was not itself revised in the course of the review.207 Alongside Rule 62, the experts flagged the relevance of Rules 2(2), 54, 55 and 80(1) for foreign national prisoners. Given the high number of foreign national prisoners in many countries, practical guidance on how to effectuate the revised standards for this group is of particular interest.208 As a starting point, the experts noted the relevance of Rule 2(2) in the context of foreign national prisoners, stipulating that ‘taking account of individual needs of prisoners, in particular vulnerable categories’ does not constitute discrimination. The participants emphasised that access to rights such as legal aid, complaints procedures and procedural safeguards depend on prisoners being provided with the means to exercise them, including the ability to understand them and to communicate. The written information prisoners ought to receive upon admission according to Rules 54 and 55 (prison law and regulations; rights including legal advice and legal aid, requests and complaints; obligations and disciplinary sanctions) therefore needs to be available ‘in the most commonly used languages in accordance with the needs of the prison population’. Should a prisoner not understand any of these languages, interpretation assistance should be provided (Rule 55(1)). Creative solutions may be required, such as the availability of telephone interpreters. The experts also highlighted that solutions imply the recruitment of prison staff taking into account fluency in the languages common in a country’s prison population, as captured in Rule 80(1).209 Good practice in reducing the common isolation of foreign national prisoners has been enshrined in the Council of Europe recommendations, suggesting that they be ‘allocated to prisons where there are others of their nationality, culture, religion or who speak their language’. It is also recommended that special attention is paid ‘to the maintenance and development of their relationships with the outside world, including contacts with family and friends, consular representatives, probation and community agencies and volunteers’.210 Recommendation 22.2. explicitly states that foreign prisoners ‘shall be allowed to use a language of their choice during such contacts’ unless there is ‘a specific concern in individual cases related to safety and security’. (See detailed provisions UN Committee against Torture, Observations of the Committee against Torture on the revision of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMR), 16 December 2013, CAT/C/51/4, para.21 206  See also UN Bangkok Rules, Rule 2(1) last sentence, which captures information about and the opportunity to access consular representatives upon admission. 207  The Council of Europe, for example, has adopted specific recommendations concerning foreign prisoners (Council of Europe, Recommendation CM/Rec (2012)12 of the Committee of Ministers to member States concerning foreign prisoners, 10 October 2012 (CoE Recommendation on foreign prisoners)). 208  Rule 80(1): The prison director, his or her deputy, and the majority of other prison staff shall be able to speak the language of the greatest number of prisoners, or a language understood by the greatest number of them. 209  CoE Recommendation on foreign prisoners, CM/Rec (2012)12, 16.3. and 22.1. 210  Penal Reform International and the Essex Human Rights Centre | 59