laws and regulations that lead – or might lead in the future – to conditions or treatment amounting to torture or other ill-treatment. Terminology matters Individuals targeted or impacted by prison-based measures to prevent or counter VERLT are not a homogenous group. They may include individuals suspected or convicted of terrorism-related offences, as well as those suspected or convicted of other offences who are wrongly or rightly perceived to be affiliated with terrorist or violent groups, and also individuals who are considered by authorities as being “at risk” of or “vulnerable” to being drawn into VERLT. For the purposes of this guide, these individuals will be referred to as 12 “(suspected) violent extremist prisoners.” Methodology and structure This guide draws on existing tools on VERLT in prisons and the management of (suspected) violent extremist prisoners and builds on past activities and publications of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Penal Reform International (PRI) on protecting human rights while preventing and countering terrorism and VERLT, on torture prevention and on prison management. Thorough desk research conducted to provide a basis for the content of the guide has been elaborated by a consultative process involving detention monitors and penitentiary representatives, by way of a dedicated expert meeting, interviews, a call for information and peer-review. The analysis relies on relevant OSCE commitments, international human rights law and standards from the UN – in particular, the Revised UN Standard Minimum Rules 13 for the Treatment of Prisoners (hereafter “the UN Nelson Mandela Rules”) – from the Council of Europe, the European Union (EU) and the Inter-American system, including 14 those commitments and standards specific to women, children and foreign nationals. This document also includes references to monitoring reports already published by international and national bodies that address the issue of VERLT in prisons or relevant cross-cutting issues. 12 13 14 UNODC refers to “violent extremist prisoners”, the Council of Europe uses the phrase “violent extremist offenders”, and the European Union’s Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) uses the term “violent extremist and terrorist offenders”. UN General Assembly, Resolution 70/175, “United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules)”, 17 December 2015. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as “every human being below the age of eighteen years, unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier”, “Convention on the Rights of the Child” (CRC), adopted by UN General Assembly Resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989 and entered into force 2 September 1990, Article 1. Although children are referred to throughout this guide, it is recommended, in line with General Comment 24 from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, that the child justice system is applied “to persons aged 18 and older whether as a general rule or by way of exception. This approach is in keeping with the developmental and neuroscience evidence that shows that brain development continues into the early twenties.” UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, “General Comment No. 24 (2019) on Children’s Rights in the Child Justice System”, CRC/C/GC/24, 18 September 2019, para. 32. 11