A/64/215 B. The right of detainees to human dignity 47. The Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations which was adopted in reaction to the systematic denial of human dignity during the Nazi Holocaust, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, make an explicit link between human rights and human dignity. The dignity of human beings is the moral and philosophical justification for human rights and is grounded in the uniqueness of human beings, their free will, their capacity for moral choice and their individual autonomy. Any deprivation of personal liberty, even if justified for certain reasons, such as the investigation of crime and the punishment of convicts, carries the risk of directly interfering with human dignity, as it severely restricts individual autonomy and makes detainees powerless. This is the reason why international human rights law establishes strict limits on the power of States to deprive human beings of personal liberty and guarantees the right to human dignity for all detainees. According to article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention. All grounds for the deprivation of liberty must be established by law, and the respective domestic procedures shall be strictly followed. Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a judge and shall be entitled to a trial within a reasonable time or to release. Pretrial detention shall not be the general rule but the exception, and release may be subject to bail or other guarantees to appear for trial. Any detainee has the right to lodge habeas corpus proceedings before an independent court, which shall order his or her release if the detention is not lawful. According to article 14, paragraph 2, of the International Covenant, everyone charged with a criminal offence, including any pretrial detainee, shall have the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law. Article 10 of the International Covenant stipulates that “all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person”. Pretrial detainees shall be separated from convicted prisoners, and juveniles from adults. The “penitentiary system shall comprise treatment of prisoners the essential aim of which shall be their reformation and social rehabilitation”. This important special provision on the right of detainees to human dignity supplements the absolute prohibition of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in article 7 of the International Covenant and the specific obligations of States laid down in the Convention against Torture by requiring States, and above all prison authorities, to take positive measures to ensure minimum guarantees of humane treatment for persons in their custodial care. 4 This particular obligation to fulfil and protect the various human rights of detainees, above all their rights to food, water, health, privacy, equal access to justice and an effective remedy against torture and other human rights violations, derives from the simple fact that detainees are powerless and can no longer protect __________________ 4 12 See HRI/GEN/1/Rev.9 (vol. I), sect. II, Human Rights Committee general comment No. 21 (1992), para. 3; see also Manfred Nowak, United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: CCPR Commentary, 2nd rev. ed. (Kehl/Strasbourg/Arlington, N.P. Engel Verlag, 2005), p. 241 et seq. 09-43792