ESSEX PAPER 3: INITIAL GUIDANCE ON THE INTERPRETATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN NELSON MANDELA RULES requires the human contact to be face to face and direct (without physical barriers) and more than fleeting or incidental, enabling empathetic interpersonal communication. Contact must not be limited to those interactions determined by prison routines, the course of (criminal) investigations or medical necessity.  Rule 5 provides another indicator for interpretation, stipulating as a general principle that ‘[t]he prison regime should seek to minimize any differences between prison life and life at liberty’. The experts stressed that the provision needs to be interpreted in good faith and conscious of its intent and purpose. They emphasised that, therefore, it does not constitute ‘meaningful human contact’ if prison staff deliver a food tray, mail or medication to the cell door or if prisoners are able to shout at each other through cell walls or vents. In order for the rationale of the Rule to be met, the contact needs to provide the stimuli necessary for human well-being, which implies an empathetic exchange and sustained, social interaction. Meaningful human contact is direct rather than mediated, continuous rather than abrupt, and must involve genuine dialogue. It could be provided by prison or external staff, individual prisoners, family, friends or others – or by a combination of these. The Essex group recalled that the absolute prohibition of solitary confinement had already been incorporated into standards for juveniles,329 and for pregnant women, women with infants and breastfeeding mothers in prison.330 Rule 45(2) reiterates the prohibition of solitary confinement in other UN standards, referring to the Bangkok Rules and the Beijing Rules. For children, segregation has been found to be particularly traumatic,331 and the imposition of solitary confinement on children, of any duration, has been considered to constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment or even torture.332 The Essex group noted a Council of Europe Recommendation, whereby young adults under the age of 21 would be treated in a way comparable to the treatment of juveniles considering their level of maturity and responsibility for their actions.333 The prohibition of solitary confinement enshrined in the Bangkok Rules is based on evidence that the practice has a particularly harmful impact on the mental well-being of women prisoners, due to women’s strong need for close contact with their children, as well as the health of pregnant women and women who have recently given birth, who need to receive appropriate pre- and post-natal care in suitable surroundings.334 Rule 67 of the UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty. 329  Rule 22 of the UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules). This is reflected also in Principle 22(3) of the Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas which states that ‘It shall be strictly forbidden to impose solitary confinement to pregnant women; mothers who are living with their children in the place of deprivation of liberty; and children deprived of liberty’. 330  Council of Europe, Commentary to the European Rules for juvenile offenders subject to sanctions or measures, CM(2008)128 addendum 1, p. 34. 331  UN Human Rights Council, 28th Session, Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Mendez, 5 March 2015, A/HRC/28/68, paras. 44, 86(d). Furthermore, research has indicated that solitary confinement, as a disciplinary measure, does not reduce violence among juvenile offenders detained in the youth prison. Special Rapporteur on Torture report 2011, A/66/268, with reference to Robert Wildeboer, ‘The Impact of Solitary Confinement in a Youth Prison’, Inside and Out, Chicago, 2010. 332  Council of Europe, Council of Europe Recommendation Rec(2003)20 concerning new ways of dealing with juvenile delinquency and the role of juvenile justice, Rule 11. 333  Penal Reform International and Thailand Institute of Justice, Guidance Document: United Nations Rules on the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (The Bangkok Rules), London and Bangkok, October 2013, p. 66. 334  Penal Reform International and the Essex Human Rights Centre | 89