5. CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations states that foreign nationals who are arrested or detained need to be given notice “without delay” of their right to have their embassy or consulate notified of that arrest. The International Court of Justice has clarified that “without delay” does not necessarily mean immediately upon arrest, but that “there is nonetheless a duty upon the arresting authorities to give that information to an arrested person as soon as it is realized that the person is a foreign national, or once there are grounds to think that the person is probably a foreign national”.312 However, prisoners should be consulted before any contact with such representatives is made; they can also waive their right to contact consular representatives. 79 Refugees or stateless people in prison should be allowed facilities to communicate with any national or international authority whose task it is to protect them, in particular the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), since contact with a consular representative is not appropriate for them. 80 Prison authorities should inform foreign nationals of their right to tell their families, legal and consular representatives or others about their imprisonment, and to assist them if they so wish to. 81 Prisons should keep records of consular visits and of any decisions to waive the right to contact consular representatives. 82 Foreign national prisoners are likely to require additional help and support in maintaining family links. Those who are unable to communicate regularly with family and friends can benefit from other visitors who speak their language. Particular attention should, therefore, be paid to helping foreign nationals establish and maintain such contact, including providing support and information to family members on the logistics of visiting the prison.313 83 Special attention should be paid to helping foreign nationals maintain regular and meaningful contact with their children outside prison. Among other things, such contact will enable them to discuss possible short- and long-term childcare arrangements. 84 Foreign nationals and others who do not know any of the main languages used in the prison should be able to communicate to the outside world in a language of their choice, unless there are specific safety or security concerns that would justify preventing them from doing so.314 Language limitations should not be used as an indirect way of restricting foreign nationals’ communication with the outside world, and any monitoring should be proportionate to security concerns. 85 Information on the prison visiting rules should be available in other languages, including for the benefit of prison visitors. 86 Prison authorities should allow for flexibility in visiting hours for foreign nationals to take into account the long journeys that some of their visitors may have made. If there are designated times for making phone calls, then there needs to be flexibility for foreign nationals to allow for time differences.307 87 Consideration should be given, where possible, to providing video conferencing and other forms of remote communication with friends and family living far from the prison. 5 78 130 Prisoners with mental or physical health conditions 88 Ease of access to visiting areas should be considered when planning a prison visit to take into account the needs of prisoners or visitors with physical disabilities. 89 Special attention should be paid to establishing and facilitating contact with the outside world for prisoners with mental health conditions. Such prisoners may be unable to establish contact themselves or may not understand the procedures for contact and should therefore be supported to the greatest extent possible. Those with no family or friends to visit them may benefit from receiving visits from volunteers from the community. 312. Case Concerning Avena and Other Mexican Nationals: Mexico v. United States of America, International Court of Justice, 31 March 2004, para. 87-88 at www.icj-cij.org/en/case/128/judgments. 313. Recommendation CM/Rec(2012) 12 of the Committee of Ministers to member States concerning foreign prisoners, Council of Europe, 10 October 2012, Section 22.1. 314. Ibid, Section 22.2. Guidance document on the Nelson Mandela Rules