Chapter 8 • International Legal Standards for the Protection of Persons Deprived of Their Liberty This chapter will first deal with the notion of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment, and will in particular deal with the problems caused by solitary confinement and, more specifically, incommunicado detention. It will also briefly explain the particular problems to which vulnerable groups such as children and women are subjected while detained. The rights both of children and of women in the administration of justice will, however, also be dealt with in some detail in Chapters 10 and 11 respectively. This chapter will then consider aspects of detention such as accommodation, exercise, the health of detainees and prisoners and their contacts with the outside world through visits and correspondence. Thirdly, the chapter will deal with the complaints procedures which must be available at all times to all persons deprived of their liberty. Lastly, the chapter will provide some advice on how judges, prosecutors, and lawyers may work more effectively for the eradication of torture and other unlawful treatment of detainees and prisoners. 1.1 Use of terms In this chapter the terms “detainee” and “detained person” mean any person deprived of his or her personal liberty except as a result of conviction for an offence, while the expressions “prisoner” and “imprisoned person” mean any person deprived of his or her personal liberty as a result of conviction for an offence. It should however be noted that in the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, the term “prisoner” is used in a generic sense covering both untried and convicted persons, a fact that must be borne in mind whenever these rules are being quoted or otherwise referred to. 2. The Prohibition of Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 2.1 Introductory remarks Not only are the right to life and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment to be found in all major general human rights treaties and numerous other human rights instruments, but these norms also run like a thread through international humanitarian law. For instance, according to common article 3(I)(a) to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which concerns armed conflicts not of an international character, “violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture” shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to “persons taking no active part in the hostilities”. Further, article 75(2)(a) of Protocol Additional I and article 4(2)(a) of Protocol Additional II to the Geneva Conventions, which respectively relate to international and non-international armed conflicts, similarly proscribe “violence to the 318 Human Rights in the Administration of Justice: A Manual on Human Rights for Judges, Prosecutors and Lawyers