Rights of Prisoners as a Valuable Group in the Society- International Perspective

INTRODUCTION

“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened."― John F. Kennedy

The concept of democracy believes in equality not only between the State and its citizens but among the citizens as well.  How the society works and its transformation thereof concerning the various notions of societal implications on law gives us an obvious scenario of the most vulnerable groups in the world. One of them is the prisoners.  It is undeniable that these people are incarcerated because of their acts, but this does not make it a point of acceptance that they should be deprived of any of their rights. They possess various rights and various reformative measures that the governing bodies in different countries exercise on them. Prisoners are those who are made to survive in a controlled environment and are believed to be easily accessible for the people taking guarantee of their survival. This makes them the most vulnerable group of individuals. Therefore, the author in this article analyzes the situations that make the prisoners unguarded physically and mentally. This article would further highlight the international perspective, the rights of prisoners in the current legal framework, and how the prison reforms are functioning as a whole.

PROBLEMS FACED BY THE PRISONERS:

We notice that most of the world's prison systems are irrevocably obsolete, and the majority of prisoners come from poor backgrounds. Considering the General Theory of Crime" by Gottfredson and Hirschi and the "Chemistry of Crime" by Marcus Felson, it is an accepted fact that the causation of crime depends on the delinquency rates, social behavior, absence of a social guardian, etc. Such factors give rise to the social repercussions of a crime. This makes us believe that socially and economically backward groups are more prone to commit a crime than people with a good sustainable environment. Such an act of violating the contextual, cultural, or social norms, whether folkways, mores, or codified law, is also called a "deviant behavior.”

Whatever model of criminal justice a country may follow, there is always a situation where the prisoners are at risk of greater danger due to poor infrastructure, aggressive guards, or lack of resources.

Various situations in which the prisoners struggle to get through are:

1. It is a pretty strenuous task to walk with the prison reforms toe-to-toe, but that assures the defenders that the people shying themselves behind bars are sustaining well.

2. Prisoners struggle to defend themselves through legal or financial aid, which is initially the authority’s job to provide them with the same. This is a fundamental human right that the prisoners have, irrespective of the country they belong to.

3. The moment they are put behind bars, their confinement compromises their ability to exercise free choice, which adds to their vulnerability.

4. The prisoners' behavior pattern before and after their incarceration implies what things they are deprived of even in a situation of confinement where their propensity to accept their fate changes.

5. Sometimes, the prisoners are wholly subject to the will of the State and are utterly defenseless against external and internal forces, from polar vortexes to incompetent wardens. This also makes mentally lag a peace of mind for accepting any reformative measure.

6. Mental illness and anxiety are primary reasons why people in various countries tend to commit crimes and eventually land up in prisons. Lack of necessities and the struggle to survive with such mental health battles make prisoners await trial instead of being sent to treatment centers. Additionally, studies show that most mentally ill prisoners are incarcerated for preventable, minor crimes. Many of these crimes are related to homelessness or a lack of essential treatment and resources. Slums in Caracas, Peshawar, or Khartoum and states like Seattle and King County have relaxed the incarnation and arrest of individuals for all “homelessness-related crimes.” This was done with the goal of “eliminating racial disproportionality” and ensuring that policies “do not penalize homelessness and poverty.”

RESEARCH ON THIS VULNERABLE GROUP: AN ANALYTICAL APPROACH

The Belmont Report identified three basic ethical principles critical to any research conducted with human subjects and, in particular, prisoners: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. These concepts were introduced to study and research on the prisoners and their changing behavior. Respect of persons means recognizing their individuality and allowing them the freedom of choice, beneficence means balancing the potential risks with the help of research that they might face during their journey, and justice means proper selection in case of risks and benefits.

Various esteemed research boards have considered this of great importance that the individual's consent and competency to participate in such an activity should be considered. The research permitted in this contemporary situation is studies of the causes, effects, processes of incarceration or criminal behavior; studies of prisons as institutions or prisoners as incarcerated persons; research on conditions significantly affecting prisoners as a class; and research on practices that have the intent and probability of improving the health or well-being of the subject.

Though the main motive of IRB (International Research Board) behind this research activity is to actively involve not only the prisoners but also individuals who are committed to the facility of incarceration as well as individuals detained in jails awaiting arraignment, trial, or sentencing, there has been a debate about this initiative all over. This has raised various concerns, like the incarcerated may be pressured to participate in a clinical trial. Thus, specific protocols and protections are federally required to protect prisoners from coercion into research participation. Even though the whole process of ethical research on the prisoners as subjects aims to analyze their vulnerability and induce improvements, they are still in jeopardy of receiving a disproportionate share of the risk associated with human subjects’ research. One such example was given by Allen Hornblum, a former member of the Philadelphia Prison Board of Trustees, that even doctors carrying out clinical trials with the subject get so consumed in the scientific quest that the whole situation gets abused and the test subject remains unprotected. This is because of the lack of an ethical research framework.

RIGHTS OF PRISONERS AROUND THE WORLD:

The prisoners' rights and the reforms made for their survival were realized after a significant ignorance of civil and liberal during the World Wars. This created an enormous impact on international law with relation to the prison reforms. During that period, discrimination based on racial, religious, and political discrimination was prevalent. Situations back then were coupled with extreme violence, detention, and murder of prisoners. And since then, many changes have been made in this regard, and prisoners’ rights were no exception.

Various instruments introduced for the same and the foremost amongst them were as follows:

1. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)was drafted to protect the Human Rights and freedom of the Europeans. Concerning this convention, a case can be taken if any individual feels that his/her rights have been violated.

2. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), monitored by the United Nations Human Rights Committee, runs intending to regulate the functioning of Human Rights in every State.

3. The Third Geneva Convention defines humanitarian protections for prisoners of war. Those rights include the rights to humane treatment, which prohibits specifically violence causing death or seriously endangering health,

4. The Amnesty International in 1955 issued and declared specific standards for the protection of prisoners such as:

5. Men and Women to be detained in separate institutions.

6. Equality and no discrimination on any ground.

7. Young and adult prisoners to be detained separately.

8. Convention/Rule in case of degrading the punishment or any cruel behavior.

9. Constant availability of a qualified medical officer specialized in Psychiatry.

10. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a movement initiated by the UN, was a big step forward concerning the protection of Human Rights. This Declaration deals with the right to life, liberty, and security of person; the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment; the prohibition of arbitrary arrest; the right to a fair trial; the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty; and the prohibition of retroactive penal measures.

These were some significant recommendations that laid down an everlasting impact on the treatment of prisoners. These instruments worked with a humanitarian approach to treat this vulnerable group in an atmosphere where their rights are not denied.

AN URGE TO CHANGE:

After a brief perusal of the conditions of prisons and the prisoners thereupon, the following are few suggestions that can be implemented in the existing structure for their reformations-

1. Prison crowding is one of the major problems why the prisoners, staff, and the prison system suffer. To reduce such a crowd, strict measures have to be implemented to classify prisoners according to their risk factors. This would make the administration easy, and it would relieve the prisoners of their feeling of hostility towards other inmates.

2. As discussed above, lack of legal representation makes the prisoner defenceless and therefore appearing before the court seems to become impossible for him considering the present review process by the system. The detainees’ should be reviewed regularly, legal aid should be provided, and speedy release should be encouraged.

3. The hygiene conditions need improvement inside the prisons. Prisoners should be provided with nutritious food to prevent their health from deteriorating.

4. Various collaborations with social service centers, NGOs should be encouraged to boost the morale of the prisoners. Trainees should be appointed regularly for communication workshops to train the prisoners on issues such as anger management, human relationships, etc.

5. Idleness can promote stress and anxiety issues. Therefore to curb such mental problems, various activities like crop cultivation, exhibitions, religious activities should be conducted to reduce idleness among prisoners and make them more active.

6. Prisoners awaiting trials should be allowed to meet experts such as consultants, lawyers, therapists to promote a reformative system of justice.

CONCLUDING REMARKS-

Among the vulnerable groups that we know of, i.e., children, pregnant women, elderly, we notice how prisoners become defenseless once their rights are threatened. This creates legal fury and harms the prisoners' mental competency, which eventually becomes a question on the prevalent human rights. There is a need to understand that the people living outside those four walls are responsible for advocating for the rights of individuals behind those bars and surviving within few walls. When the UN introduced The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners in 1955, it completely shifted its focus towards prisoners getting a life full of dignity by providing them proper livelihood even in custody and to avoid committing institutional neglect in such manner. To be well acquainted with such vulnerable groups' rights and make them aware of the same is the responsibility that we must as citizens carry with us.

The opinions/analysis expressed in this blog are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the SCLHR or its members.

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