E. M onitoring places of detention Abuse of detainees is almost universal. Monitoring places of detention measures compliance with international human rights standards and can prevent abuse. Failure to comply with international standards, especially those set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and its Optional Protocol, and the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, is not necessarily wilful on the part of prison officials. The sad truth is that concern for prisoners’ rights is not usually a high priority for Governments because it is not usually a high priority for most citizens. Inadequate detention facilities are often the result of inadequate resources, frequently beyond the control of prison officials. National human rights institutions have a general obligation to monitor places of detention to ensure humane treatment. Article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights requires “all persons deprived of their liberty”64 to be treated humanely. This extends beyond prisoners to all persons deprived of liberty. “Inhumane treatment” is also broader in meaning than “torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” according to article 7 of the same Covenant. Monitoring should be based on realistic benchmarks against which progress will be measured with prison officials and those responsible for allocating the budgets, including officials in finance ministries and parliamentarians. “Places of detention” is not limited to prisons and jails. The term also covers other facilities such as immigration detention centres and medical centres (including for persons with mental disabilities). However, because of the special and urgent protection issues that arise in detention facilities, these are the focus here. That said, NHRIs should never ignore their wider mandate or the potential for abuse that exists in other types of facilities. It is important that the institution’s legal authority to monitor should be set out in law. Institutions should have the powers to: enter any place of detention without prior warning; see official records and take copies as required; see and take statements from prisoners alone and in unsupervised situations, and to request that a given detainee should be presented. These powers will ensure that monitors can access the information they require to properly assess the situation. “Deprivation of liberty” is “any form of detention or imprisonment or the placement of a person in a public or private custodial setting which that person is not permitted to leave at will by order of any judicial, administrative or other authority” (Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, art. 4.). 64 120