FACTSHEET explicit standards, for example regarding sick or injured detainees, persons with disabilities, minority groups or indigenous peoples.58 What could monitoring bodies check? • Are instruments of restraint used on children? Which devices are these, and who authorises their application? Do the reported cases indicate that application would be avoidable by use of other means? • Are women in advanced pregnancy shackled or otherwise restrained? How do authorities handle transfers to hospital for delivery? • Is an unequivocal prohibition in place regarding the use of shackles on women during labour, during birth and immediately after birth? Are personnel aware of the respective prohibition in the UN Bangkok Rules? • Are restraints applied in a discriminatory manner against certain detainees or groups? ” The revised Standard Minimum Rules provide that the prison administration ‘should seek access to, and provide training in the use of, control techniques that would obviate the need for the imposition of instruments of restraint or reduce their intrusiveness’. Furthermore they call for special physical training to enable staff to restrain aggressive prisoners.63 The importance of training on the use of physical restraints has been stressed by the UN Committee against Torture,64 and in the Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas.65 What could monitoring bodies check? • Does training include skills for the peaceful settlement 3.7. Training The revised Standard Minimum Rules require training before entering duty as well as in-service training courses and specify the minimum elements of such training. These explicitly include security and safety, the concept of dynamic security, use of force, and instruments of restraint.59 The Basic Principles for Law Enforcement Officials also require training to include issues of police ethics and human rights, including the peaceful settlement of conflicts, methods of persuasion, negotiation and mediation.60 In fact, a ‘dynamic security’ approach, combining positive staff-prisoner relationships with fair treatment and purposeful activities, and techniques of mediation and de-escalation, has been shown to be a more effective means to ensure order in custody as it allows for the anticipation of problems and security risks.61 “ indication of a build-up of tension at an individual or a group level. This is where the benefits of dynamic security will become apparent. 62 The first message which staff must learn is that prevention is always better than cure. It is extremely rare that a major incident will occur without any advance warning. In almost all cases there will be some prior of conflicts, methods of persuasion, negotiation and mediation? • Do training curricula include the use of restraints? • Is the curriculum based on the international standards outlined in this Factsheet? • Do staff receive practical training in using minimal force? How many of the staff in the place of detention have undergone such training? When was the last refresher session? 4. What can monitoring bodies do? Given the effect on detainees on a regular basis and the high risk of misuse of instruments of restraint, monitoring bodies may want to consider a comprehensive assessment of regulations, policies, devices in use, and application in practice. Members of monitoring bodies will need to make themselves familiar with different types of restraints, their intended purpose and their (health) risks, in general and relating to specific situations or individuals. For example, restraint chairs have been documented to have lethal consequences when combined with the use of drugs/ medication, mental illness or violent altercations.66 58. See also UNODC Handbook on Prisoners with Special Needs, 2009, p74. 59. Revised Standard Minimum Rules, Rules 75, 76. 60. Article 20, Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. 61. See PRI/APT, Balancing security and dignity in prisons: a framework for preventive monitoring, 2013. 62. Coyle A, A Human Rights Approach to Prison Management, 2009. 63. Revised Standard Minimum Rules, Rules 49 and 82 (2). 64. UN Committee against Torture, Concluding observations on Germany, 12 December 2011, CAT/C/DEU/CO/5, para. 16. 65. Principle XX. 66. ‘Death in the Restraint Chair’, Association of Alternative News Media, 17 September 2004. Available at: http://www.altweeklies.com/aan/death-in-therestraint- chair/Story?oid=139208 <accessed 22 October 2013> 8 | Penal Reform International | Instruments of restraint: Addressing risk factors to prevent torture and ill-treatment