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• The person is detained in conditions which are compatible with
respect for his/her human dignity
• The methods of execution of the measures do not subject him/her
to distress or hardship of an intensity exceeding the unavoidable
level of suffering inherent in detention;
• The detainee’s health and well-being are adequately secured.
Similarly, where there is a particular risk for other prisoners, prison staff or
other persons working in or visiting the prison or the risk of self-harm, the
authorities are required to adopt protective measures to ensure the safety
of the concerned individuals. Protective measures may include: facility
arrangements (e.g. providing single cells to prisoners under threat or to
violent prisoners), technical measures (e.g. real-time camera monitoring,
locks and special walls) as well as organisational measures (including
the transfer of prisoners within the same or to other facilities, special
prisoner regimes, exclusion from or restriction of activities, disciplinary
measures, irregular checks, including during the night, and special
training for officials). They are often applied to prisoners who are in a
situation of particular vulnerability in detention, such as foreign prisoners
and minorities, prisoners suspected or convicted of sexual offences,
and prisoners who have previously collaborated with law-enforcement
authorities. If the authorities fail to take any such preventive measures, a
violation of the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment may be found.
STANDARDS IN FOCUS
In Rodić and Others39 v Bosnia and Herzegovina and D.F. v Latvia,40
the ECtHR found a violation of Art 3 ECHR due to the fact that the
applicant was not adequately protected from inter-prisoner violence.
The Court reaffirmed the following State obligations:
• State authorities must ensure that foreign prisoners, minorities and
prisoner who have previously collaborated with law-enforcement
39. ECtHR, Rodić and Others v Bosnia and Herzegovina No 22893/05 27, May 2008, paras 69-7; see also
ECtHR, ‘Factsheet: Detention Conditions and Treatment of Prisoners’ (2020) § 237.
40. ECtHR, D.F. v Latvia, No 11160/07, 29 October 2013.
Monitoring Prison Violence
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