A/67/279 extreme temperatures; inadequate nutrition and sanitation arrangements; limited or non-existent contact with family members and/or lawyers; excessive use of handcuffs or other types of shackles or restraints; physical or verbal abuse; lack of appropriate health care (physical and mental); and denial of access to books, newspapers, exercise, education, employment, or other types of prison activity. 43. Regional courts have confirmed the existence and destructive nature of the death row phenomenon. In the landmark decision Soering v. United Kingdom (1989), the European Court of Human Rights held that the death row phenomenon as practised in the State of Virginia in the United States of America violated the prohibition of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. 22 The Court was presented with facts detailing the extensive period of time people spend on death row in extreme conditions and the ever-mounting anguish of awaiting execution. The European Court in subsequent decisions reaffirmed this view. 44. In the inter-American system, there have been significant findings of mistreatment of those on death row. With regard to detention conditions, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights held, in Lallion v. Grenada (2002), 23 that the conditions on death row in Grenada failed to respect the physical, mental and moral integrity required under article 5, paragraph 1, of the American Convention on Human Rights. In Aitken v. Jamaica (2002) 24 the Commission held that the detention conditions, when considered in the light of the lengthy period of nearly four years for which the petitioner had been detained on death row, had failed to satisfy the standards of humane treatment under article 5, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the aforementioned Convention. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights stated, in Hilaire, Constantine and Benjamin et al. v. Trinidad and Tobago (2002) 25 that the death row phenomenon was a cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and was characterized by a prolonged period of detention while awaiting execution, during which prisoners sentenced to death suffered severe mental anxiety in addition to other circumstances, including, among others: the way in which the sentence was imposed; lack of consideration of the personal characteristics of the accused; the disproportionality between the punishment and the crime committed; the detention conditions while awaiting execution; delays in the appeal process or in reviewing the death sentence during which time the individual experienced extreme psychological tension and trauma; the fact that the judge did not take into consideration the age or mental state of the condemned person; and continuous anticipation by the prisoners about what practices their execution may entail. The Inter-American Commission has consistently concluded, across different working mechanisms and in countries throughout the region, that the conditions afforded to prisoners on death row are most often inhumane and that a prolonged stay on death row and the anxiety created by the threat of death, as well as other conditions, __________________ 22 23 24 25 10 Judgement of 7 July 1989 in Soering v. United Kingdom, Application No. 14038/88, Series A, No. 161, para. 111. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Report No. 55/02, Merits Case 11.765, Paul Lallion (Grenada, 21 October 2002), paras. 86-90. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Report No. 58/02, Merits Case 12.275, Denton Aitken v. Jamaica, 21 October 2002, paras. 133 and 134. Judgement of 21 June 2002 in Hilaire, Constantine, Benjamin et al. v. Trinidad and Tobago, Series C, No. 94, paras. 167 and 168. 12-45812