When you come to this page, you may want to look for information about the benefits of separating prisoners from the general public. Unfortunately, we cannot find information related to separating prisoners from the general public, instead, we find the benefits of separating prisoners from other prisoners.
Benefits of Separating Prisoners from Other Prisoners
Here are some benefits of separating prisoners from other prisoners:
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- Prevent terrorist activity or the spread of radical views
- Prevent other prisoners from being influenced to commit terrorist acts.
- Separate prisoners who may be trying to radicalize other prisoners.
- Protect staff and prisoners as well maintain order in prison.
- Provide separated prisoners with chances to de-radicalize and reform.
Separation of Detainees – Key Elements
The main purpose of separation is to ensure the protection and safety of persons deprived of their liberty. Also, it is a measure to preserve the principle of the presumption of innocence of untried persons and to give the most appropriate prison conditions for each category of detainees.
As a matter of principle, women should be separated from men, minors should be separated from adults, and untried detainees should be separated from convicted detainees. Migrants detained in connection with their migrant status should be separated from convicted persons and held in situations as far removed from a prison regime as possible. Persons imprisoned for debt and other civil prisoners should be separated from persons imprisoned for criminal offenses.
The principle of separation must result in the existence of units strictly separate from each other within the same facility, or of special institutions for the groups concerned. Separation measures do not lead to restrictions of access to services and care, or to the deterioration of material conditions of detention for the persons concerned.
Other separation criteria is able to be justified to protect detainees in conditions of particular vulnerability due to their health condition, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity. In such cases, separation must not be systematic, must take into account the consent of the persons concerned, and must not amount to solitary confinement or to restrictions in accessing services and cares provided by the institution.
The Principle of Separation
Separation is a measure applied to assist in protecting the physical and mental integrity of detainees, to better monitor them individually, and to contribute to their rehabilitation. Also, it facilitates proper prison management. International standards obviously stipulate that women must be separated from men, minors must be separated from adults, untried persons must be separated from convicted detainees, and civil detainees must be separated from detainees imprisoned for criminal offenses. The separation between untried and convicted detainees depends on the principle of the presumption of innocence. Also, it helps to render effective the different prison regimes that must apply to these two categories of detainees about matters such as contact with the outside world, work, or access to vocational training.
The principle of separation is able to be guaranteed by allocating special facilities for the groups concerned, like women prisons, or by allocating units separate from each other within the same institution. In the absence of specific institutions due to a shortage of material resources or an insufficient number of the inmates concerned to justify their creation, persons in the mentioned categories must be held in a separate building within the prison grounds or in a strictly separate wing with no possible access to other parts of the institution. For this case, separation has to be guaranteed in regard to cells and dormitories, also to public areas such as prison shops, workshops and exercise yards. During movements inside the prison, measures must be taken to avoid contact between the separated categories of detainees. In any case, separation measures do not lead to deterioration in the treatment or material conditions of the persons concerned.
Separation Due To Specific Risk Situations
Certain detainees are able to be exposed to the risk of violence and abuse by fellow detainees because of their age (young or older inmates), ethnicity, health condition, sexual orientation, or gender identity. To minimize these risks or eliminate the exposure of these detainees to violence, the authorities have to take protective measures which can result in their physical separation, for instance by moving them to different cells, units, or even to other institutions in several cases.
These measures must not be systematic or discriminatory to certain groups. And, their appropriateness must be periodically assessed. Measures solely intended to protect certain people must always be implemented with their informed consent to avoid arbitrary or discriminatory action against them. The detainees concerned are occasionally placed in units for fragile persons. Such units have to ensure for them access to the same care, services and benefits offered to the rest of the detainee population.
Additionally, the material conditions of detention must be at least as good as in the rest of the institution. Every effort must be made to make sure that this type of separation does not contribute to stigmatization of the detainees concerned. Eventually, this kind of separation must not result in the solitary confinement of detainees in situations of vulnerability. Detainees living with AIDS or HIV should not be separated from the rest of the prison population solely on the basis of their AIDS or HIV status.
Groups in Situations of Vulnerability
Based on the principle of separation, women should be separated from men. This measure is mainly intended to protect them from all forms of verbal or physical abuse, especially sexual violence. Whenever possible, women must be held in separate institutions. In institutions open to female and male inmates, the premises allocated to women must be entirely separate. In several specific contexts, the authorities can make arrangements to allow couples, where the female and male partners are deprived of their liberty, to participate together in organized activities. Such activities, specially designed to improve the quality of life of the people concerned, have to ensure the protection of the participants (especially for women) and must be adequately supervised.
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