DETENTION MONITORING TOOL FACTSHEET In particular, State authorities are obliged to carry out an independent, impartial, prompt and effective investigation into the circumstances and causes of any serious incident; to provide reparation and redress to victims and/or their families, including adequate financial compensation and provision of medical care and rehabilitation; and to hold to account individual perpetrators of unlawful killings or serious bodily harm, ill-treatment or disappearances. The revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules)4 introduce in Rule 71 an explicit obligation of prison directors to report the following incidents to a judicial or other competent authority that is independent of the prison administration and mandated to conduct prompt, impartial and effective investigations into such cases: • any custodial death, disappearance or serious injury • any complaint or indication of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment The UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) include additional guidance on providing support for women who, in the course of a medical screening, are found to have been a victim of violence, including sexual abuse – whether before or during custody5 – as well as women who complain of any form of abuse.6 State authorities do not only have the responsibility to react adequately after a death, serious injury or similar has happened, but are also under a positive obligation to prevent by various measures the occurrence of avoidable death or injury, torture or ill-treatment, and disappearances in custody.7 These responsibilities extend to private companies in cases where custodial duties are outsourced by the State. While torture and enforced disappearances are legally defined in international human rights Conventions,8 other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, serious injuries or custodial deaths lack standardised definitions. This factsheet is intended to give guidance to monitoring bodies in assessing whether the prison authorities have fulfilled all the obligations that arise in cases of serious incidents, i.e. primarily recording and reporting these cases in a timely manner, preserving evidence, and cooperating with the investigation. In addition, the basic elements of an effective investigation are summarised. 2. What are the main standards? The obligation to carry out effective investigations into the death or serious injuries of persons in State custody, as well as into any allegations or other indications of torture or ill-treatment, is an integral part of the right to life and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as enshrined in international and regional human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.10 Moreover, the UN Convention against Torture and other international instruments contain explicit regulations on the responsibility of State parties to promptly and impartially investigate any complaint or reasonable grounds for believing that an individual has been subjected to torture11 or to enforced disappearance.12 To ensure compliance with the obligation to carry out effective investigations, certain legal and practical prerequisites have to be in place. In particular: • persons in custody, as well as their family members, must have unrestricted access to internal and external independent complaints mechanisms,13 as well as to legal advice14 • prison staff, and in particular medical professionals working in prisons, must be alert to signals of possible ill-treatment15 • a complaint of torture or disappearance or any death or serious injury in custody must be recorded16 • detected injuries must be accurately documented and any other evidence preserved17 • the competent authorities must be notified promptly18 • safeguards against reprisals must be in place19 Certain groups in detention are more at risk of being subjected to torture, other forms of ill-treatment and/or inter-prisoner violence. These include, among others, women, children, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) prisoners, members of minority groups or persons with disabilities. In self-governed prisons where prison facilities (or part of them) are under the control of groups of detainees and/or gangs, there are high rates of violence among prisoners (in particular vulnerable persons), leading to serious injuries, ill-treatment and deaths.9 2 | The investigations into such serious incidents in custody should be carried out by a body that is independent of the authorities that are possibly implicated in the death, injury, ill-treatment or disappearance. Further, the investigations have to be promptly commenced and carried out with expedience, and the authority must possess the necessary competences and resources to carry out an effective investigation and investigate each case thoroughly. Finally, victims have a right to be involved in the investigations.20 Penal Reform International and Association for the Prevention of Torture | Incident management and independent investigations

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