1. PRISON MANAGEMENT CONTEXT: PROTECTION AGAINST REPRISALS [1.14] Rule 57(2) of the Mandela Rules places an obligation on prison authorities to take effective measures to protect complainants against any risk of retaliation, intimidation or other negative consequence as a result of having submitted a request or complaint. Beneficiaries of protective measures include the prisoner, but also family members and other individuals who are entitled to issue complaints on behalf of a prisoner according to Rule 56(4). 1 The UN Special Rapporteur on torture has emphasized that “[m]easures in this regard include the transfer of the complainant or the implicated personnel to a different detention facility or the suspension from duty of the personnel.”64 The UNCAT has also recommended “[p]rotective measures including relocation, on site security, hotlines, and judicial orders of protection to prevent violence and harassment against complainants, witnesses, or close associates of such parties”.65 38 1.6. TRANSFERS 166 The subject of the transfer and transportation of prisoners was not revised as part of the SMR review. However, changes in areas such as safety and security, the use of restraints and provisions on health-care have a bearing on transfers and are therefore included in this guidance document. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? 167 All the fundamental protections in the Mandela Rules apply to prisoners at all times, including during transfer and transportation. These periods of detention are often overlooked and the dangers underestimated, despite the heightened risk of torture or other ill‑treatment during periods of transfer. Prison transfers might also be applied discriminatorily or with the deliberate intent of harming or punishing prisoners, or to impact their family members. 168 The increased risk of ill‑treatment during transfer stems from the lack of oversight of conditions of detention and treatment during the process, including access by monitoring bodies. In addition, prisoners usually have no means of contacting the outside world during the transfer itself and there may be no other persons present to witness ill‑treatment. The safeguards in place in detention facilities, including with regards to the separation of different categories of prisoners, may also be less strictly applied during transfers, and those in charge of transporting prisoners may not have been vetted and trained to the same standards as regular prison staff. 169 The period of transfer can also be a particularly stressful time for prisoners, including if they are being taken to court hearings, to hospital or to an unknown and potentially distant detention facility. 170 On the other hand, authorities and staff also face heightened risks during transfers, such as prisoner escapes or attacks on the vehicle during transit, particularly if the staff-prisoner ratio for the transfer is low. 64. Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture, A/68/295, op. cit. note 57, para. 77. 65. UN Committee Against Torture, CAT/C/51/4, op. cit., note 63, para. 55. Guidance document on the Nelson Mandela Rules