From Persecution to Prison - Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of ...

Standards relevant to this study are categorized below.Humane TreatmentThe fundamental right of detained persons to be treated in a manner thatis humane and that preserves human dignity is firmly rooted in widely recognizedhuman rights instruments. The Universal Declaration providesthat “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degradingtreatment or punishment.” 281 Moreover, the Civil Rights Covenantinvokes a more sweeping principle, that “all persons deprived of their libertyshall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignityof the human person.” 282 The Torture Convention prohibits cruel,inhuman or degrading treatment. 283 UNHCR’s Executive Committee hasemphasized that, when detention is necessary, conditions must behumane. 284 These core human rights obligations are echoed in the Body ofPrinciples, Standard Minimum Rules and the UNHCR Guidelines (whichspecifically refer to the Body of Principles and Standard MinimumRules). 285The Body of Principles not only makes it clear that,”[n]o circumstancewhatever” can justify torture or degrading treatment, but defines such treatmentto extend the widest possible protection against abuses, whether physicalor mental. It includes the holding of a detained or imprisoned person inconditions which deprive him, temporarily or permanently, of the use of anyof his natural senses, such as sight or hearing, or of his awareness of placeand the passing of time. 286 The UNHCR Guidelines require that the“[c]onditions of detention for asylum seekers should be humane with280See, HR Sub-Commission on Detention of Asylum Seekers, citing the Body of Principlesand Standard Minimum Rules in the context of states international obligations regardingdetention.281UDHR, Article 5; Body of Principles, Principle 6, provides, “No person under any form ofdetention or imprisonment shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degradingtreatment or punishment.” In a footnote to Principle 6, Article 16(1) of the ConventionAgainst Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment [TortureConvention] (Adopted Dec. 10 ,1984, G.A. Res. A/Res39/46 (1984)) similarly requires thatdetainees must not be subjected to any form of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatmentwhile in detention.282Civil Rights Covenant, Art. 7.283Torture Convention, Art. 3.284UNHCR ExComm Conclusion 44, para. (f), stresses that “conditions of detention ofrefugees and asylum seekers must be humane.”285The Body of Principles and Standard Minimum Rules are the product of UN processesand are authoritative interpretations of binding law, in a way similar to the UNHCR Guidelines(See, previous subsection, International Law on Detention of Asylum-Seekers and note194). The Guidelines’ reference to the Principles and Rules further enhances their authorityin the situations discussed here.286Body of Principles, Principle 6 (emphasis added).168 FROM PERSECUTION TO PRISON