FACTSHEET bodies, and identified as a significant contributor to overincarceration and overcrowding.7 3. Types and situations of risk A range of standards linked to arrest and pre-trial detention are safeguards in their own right, while at the same time protecting arrestees and remand prisoners from torture and other ill-treatment. These include: protection against arbitrary arrest; prompt information about the reasons for arrest and detention; prompt registration of the arrest including precise information about the reasons; identity of the law enforcement officials and the place of detention; prompt access to a judge; habeas corpus; trial without delay; presumption of innocence; separation of pre-trial detainees from convicted prisoners; regular review of the legality of pretrial detention; and access to the outside world, including access to independent doctors and family visits. 3.1. Insufficient safeguards during arrest The moment of arrest is a particularly dangerous situation in the context of torture and ill-treatment as law enforcement officials may coerce a statement or confession in order to justify the arrest, before the arrestee has had a chance to seek legal representation. Most occurrences of torture take place during police detention prior to a detainee’s appearance before a judge. In many jurisdictions, this risk is exacerbated by the long periods for which an arrestee can be held at a police station without being brought before a judge, and by provisions preventing access to a lawyer during the first day(s) after arrest. Main references • International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), Articles 9 and 14 • Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (1988) • UN Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems (2012) • UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (The Tokyo Rules) (1990) • Revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (1955) – Section C – Prisoners under arrest or awaiting trial, Rules 111-1208 • UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers (1990) • UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (The Bangkok Rules) (2010), Rules 57 et sqq • UN International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (for registration/ documentation) (2007) • European Convention on Human Rights, Articles 5 and 6 • American Convention on Human Rights, Articles 7 and 8 Kazakhstan: Moment of arrest In March 2012, the Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan had to rule on the interpretation of Article 16 (2) of the Constitution, according to which a person may only be detained for a period of 72 hours before being brought before a judge. There had been differing opinions on what triggers the start of this time period, with the prevailing interpretation being that it should start from the arrival of the suspect in a detention centre or the registration of the detainee. However, such an interpretation would mean that authorities could determine – and manipulate – access to safeguards, by delaying the transfer or registration of the arrestee and thereby undermining their protection. In part based on a submission by Penal Reform International Central Asia, the Constitutional Council established10 that ‘arrest’ refers to the moment when a person is apprehended.11 • Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas African Charter of Human People’s Rights (Banjul Charter), Articles 6 and 7 • African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Guidelines for Pre-Trial Detention9 Lack of information about the nature and cause of the charges, in a language the arrestee understands, further reduces their ability to withstand pressure and coercion, and increases the risk of an infringement of the right to silence. 7. See Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human rights implications of overincarceration and overcrowding, 10 August 2015, A/HRC/30/19, para. 39. 8. The revised United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), adopted by the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on 22 May 2015, endorsed by the Economic and Social Council on 9 September 2015, E/RES/2015/20 and adopted by UN General Assembly Third Committee on 5 November 2015, A/C.3/70/L.3 (at the time of printing this Resolution was pending adoption by the plenary of the UN General Assembly.) 9. Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention in Africa, adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) during its 55th Ordinary Session in Luanda, Angola, from 28 April to 12 May 2014. http://www.achpr.org/files/specialmechanisms/prisons-and-conditions-of detention/guidelines_arrest_police_custody_detention.pdf <accessed 3 December 2015>. 10. Decision of the Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan, 13 April 2012 # 2. Full text (in Russian) available at: http://www.codices.coe.int/NXT/gateway.dll/ CODICES/precis/eng/asi/kaz/kaz-2012-3-001?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0 <accessed 17 November 2015>. 11. See Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, Use of terms, lit. (a), adopted by General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988. 2 | Penal Reform International | Pre-trial detention: Addressing risk factors to prevent torture and ill-treatment

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