Essay: Human rights

Noting with deep concern the issue of the violation and improper fulfilmentof the rights of female prisoners,
Recalls article three of the UNDHR stating that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”,
Affirmingthe united nations resolution “A/RES/65/229” which states how “the United Nations standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice primarily related to the treatment of prisoners, in particular the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners,1 the procedures for the effective implementation of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners,2 the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment3 and the Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners”,
Declaring that the “Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners” lays down a comprehensive for the rights of prisoners,
Affirming the gender-specific and gender-sensitive needs and rights of female prisoners and their dichotomy from that of male prisoners as laid down by the UNODC “Handbook for Prison Managers and Policymakers on Women and Imprisonment”,
Noting the rights and principles enshrined in certain international instruments including the universal declaration of human rights, UNODC’s handbook for policy makers and prison management and the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and the convention against torture and other cruel and inhumane or degrading punishments or treatment,
Recallingthe resolution 58/183 of 22 December 2003, in which included important stake holders such as governments, regional bodies,l human rights institutions and non-governmental organizations to stress upon the issue of women in prison, including the children of women in prison in an attempt to highlight issues and come up with solutions,
Mindful also of the resolution 63/241 of 24 December 2008, in which it called upon all States to address the issue of the repercussions of parental detention and imprisonment on children to come up with and promote good endeavors contingent to the physical, emotional and psychological state of babies and children affected by parental detention,
Noting further the issue of capital punishment and the controversy surrounding its implementation within states,
Aware of the fact that the exponential growth of the female prison population cannot not be catered to by existing prison facilities,
Recognizing that a large population of female transgressors does not pose a risk to society and, as with all offenders, their imprisonment may result in their social reintegration as challenging,
Welcoming collaboration and support between the World Health Organization and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,
Seeking aid from specialized institutions of the United Nations and relevant regional to engage in the implementation of the established policies,
Emphasizing on the need to address the gender-sensitive rights of female prisoners by each member state to the best of their abilities under the umbrella of the F.R.E.E framework proposed in the committee by China,
Reiterating the need to intensify efforts to ensure rights of female prisoners across the world in a multitude of prison systems and having access to these very rights without gender discrimination and gender- based bigotry,
Deeply concerned with the need to identify the rights of female prisoners and how there is a dichotomy of those with male prisoners,
Emphasizingon the issue of transmission of diseases within prisons systems such as HIV/AID’s, Hepatitis C and Tuberculosis,
Desiring the attention of the committee towards addressing the issue of motherhood within prison systems,
Believes that regardless of what types of guards are present within the prison systems, there is a need for proper gender sensitive training for these very guards,
Deeply concerned with the classification systems within prisons as they result in misclassification and prisoners not being able to be treated In a manner proporionate to their offenses and crimes,
Notes with the concern the issue of legality of arrest and belives that there should be yard-sticks prior to the arrest outlining the legal and moral principles which should be followed during the arrest,
Seeking the attention of the committee towards understanding the unfeasbility of having only female prisons guards because completely isolation from the alternate gender ,
Recognizing the issue of solitary confinement and its negative socio-psychological and medicinal ramification especially on pregnant women and the mentally disturbed,
1. Emphasizes on the need to recognize the fundamental gender specific rights of female prisoners which can be classified under the F.R.E.E framework as follows:
i. The right to proper legal representation and immunity from legal exploitation and coercion,
ii. The right to have safeguards and protection from all means of sexual abuse through any, and all, means,
iii. The right to have access to proper medical facilities and access to medical including adequate pre and post-natal health services for pregnant women and the right to an abortion and protection from generalized blanket policies,
iv. The right to have access and contact to family members and children including visits and phone calls,
v. The right to have access to constructive awareness against the use and abuse of both substance and contraband,
vi. The right to have safety from Capital Punishment,
vii. The right to have protection from punitive solitary confinement,
viii. The right to have access to proper social, political and psychological rehabilitation programs;
2. Understands that the rights of female prisoners are over-arching with those of male prisoners however there is a dichotomy between the two on the following grounds:
a. gender specification:
i. pregnancies and maternal care,
ii. the need for proper pre and post-natal aid,
iii. the possibilities of abortions,
iv. the need for proper hygienic conditions,
v. more susceptible to sexual abuse ,
vi. the possibility of motherhood within prison systems,
b. stigmatization, discrimination and bigotry against female prisoners,
c. existing prison systems:
i. Mismatch in the demand and supply of prison facilities solely dedicated for harboring female prisoners due to the growth of the female prison population,
ii. Over-crowding within prison systems,
iii. Existing prison facilities by default favor male prisoners,
iv. Prison facilities situated in reclusive locations barring contact with family members,
v. Correctional officers exploiting the needs of female prisoners in exchange for sexual favors;
3. Understands the issue of the transmission of diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis C and Tuberculosis and further elucidates the instruments of transmission as:
a. Promiscuous sexual behavior via:
i. Sexual assault and,
ii. Sexual exploitation resulting in the transfer of STD’s such as HIV,
b. Abuse of Drugs using infected hypodermic needles resulting in the transfer of diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C,
c. Limited availability of medical facilities which inoculates a ‘snow ball’ effect resulting in an exponential rise in spread of diseases,
d. Confiscation of medicinal drugs by correctional officers under the guise of confiscation of contraband ,
e. Overcrowding in prisons and lack of ventilation resulting in the spread of tuberculosis,
f. Poor diagnosis and screening of blood to identify females suffering from diseases,
g. Lack of solitary isolation resulting in the spread of contagious diseases,
h. Inadequate access to food and nutrition reducing the natural immunity of female prisoners,
i. Amalgamation of natural factors such as stigmatization, gender inequality and general association with poor and marginalized sectors of the community,
j. Transmission of diseases such as Hepatitis C and HIV/AID’s during the pre-natal stage from the mother to the fetus,
k. Incompletion of treatment due to logistical issues such as the transfer of prisoners and / or release before the course of the treatment is completed,
l. The act of improvised tattooing using unhygienic an improvised instruments, resulting in the transmission of Hepatitis C and HIV, such as:
i. Guitar strings,
ii. Sewing Needles,
iii. Unsanitary inks and tattooing mediums,
iv. Unsterilized knives;
4. Recommends the following ancillary framework under the name of Women’s Health Operation(W.H.O) under the ambit of the F.R.E.E framework to be adopted because it comprehensively suggest feasible solutions to the issue of health care such as :
a) Preventing sexual violence and assault by:
i. Ensuring female prisoners are primarily situated in female prisons,
ii. Restricting access of male staff members in female prisons,
iii. Ensuring trained correctional officers on spot to prevent assaults and impetuous behavior,
iv. Establishing proper gender sensitive disciplinary sanctions, penal codes and accountability tribunals to prevent assaults via correctional officers,
b) Providing non-discriminatory health services to female prisoners such as:
i. Establishment of a designated HIV/ AID’s treatment clinic,
ii. Providing antiretroviral treatments, preventing and treating tuberculosis, other opportunistic infections and other blood borne infections such as hepatitis B and C,
iii. Proper blood screening and diagnosis of diseases,
iv. Access to contraceptives ,
v. Access to sterile injecting equipment and safe tattooing materials,
vi. Treatment of diseases via trained medical personnel by collaborating with the world health organization,
vii. Care during pregnancy and delivery in appropriate settings and anti-retroviral therapy to HIV-positive pregnant women to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT),
viii. Providing access to reproductive health and family planning services,
ix. Care for children, including those born to HIV-infected mothers,
x. Providing post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to women having been exposed to a risk,
c) Prevention of overcrowding in prisons and ensuring proper ventilation systems to prevent the transmission of tuberculosis,
d) Providing appropriate diet and nutritional supplements,
e) Ensuring proper monitoring of treatment and drug input to ensure the completion of drug courses even if female prisoners are transferred to other facilities,
f) Ensuring participation of female prisoners in awareness and education campaigns being organized by UN bodies(WHO), Non-governmental organizations and peer educators to help in combatting diseases and to ensure capacity building awareness for both prisoners and staff members,
g) Ensuring proper monitoring and evaluation of diseases to fill evidence gaps and to help in effective policy reviewing and making;
5. Draws attention towards the issue of “sexual abuse” and further declares the following as instruments through sexual abuse takes places:
a) Sexually provocative slander and sexually explicit verbal humiliation and debasement,
b) Inappropriate exposure during private practices such as bathing by both the correctional officers and neighboring inmates,
c) Inappropriate touching during searches and ‘strip-down searches’ especially by correctional officers against those women who are in solitary confinement,
d) Sexual exploitation by correctional officers and prison staff in exchange for access to basic commodities such as food and water by female prisoners,
e) Sexual assault/ rape by both correctional officers and neighboring inmates especially against prisoners who are either pregnant, transgender, mentally ill and homosexual;
6. Recommends the implementation of the Safeguard Against Female Exploitation(S.A.F.E) framework to combat the issue of sexual violence and abuse:
a) Ensuring gender-sensitive management of prisons,
b) Reforming prisons systems and making sure that female prisoners are accommodated within those facilities which are exclusively designated for female prisoners,
c) Ensuring that guards and correctional officers are females and to try to limit the access and interaction of male staff members with female inmates,
d) Establishment of a proper gender-sensitive legislative penal code outlining certain rules and highlighting consequences of transgressions for correctional officers and establishing a code of conduct for inmates themselves,
e) Setting up a proper accountability tribunal for reporting of incidents and then taking appropriate action against both correctional officers and inmates,
f) Female correctional officers need to be exposed and aware of types of harassment and should be aware of the rights of female prisoners,
g) Ensure that managerial positions in female prisons are occupied by females themselves to prevent the establishment of a male-dominated hierarchical system which may be disadvantageous to female prisoners,
h) Encouraging female prisoners to come forward and report incidents by guaranteeing them security and confidentiality in exchange for their testimony if being faces by ulterior pressure or coercion,
f) Ensuring safety specifically for the ‘soft target’ population of prisoners such as the pregnant, transgender, mentally ill and homosexual,
g) Oversee proper classification of prisoners and make sure that prisoners are not placed in high security prisons(contingent to their crimes)and that their classification is line with their own crimes and ensure mentally challenged prisoners are not placed in higher security prisons,
h) Ensuring proper surveillance of inmates and correctional officers,
i) Ensure that prisoners have access to proper gender sensitive psychological, emotional and medicinal rehabilitation facilities to prevent post-conflict trauma and mental illnesses;
7. Calls upon china and united states to:
i. To provide minorites with more rights such as faloun gong ,
ii. To strentghen legislation;
8. Calls upon muslim countries to:
i. Concede to abortion for minorites;
9. Notes that the issue of motherhood within prison is a major problem for both mother and child because:
a) Females are susceptible to diseases during the pre-natal stage,
b) There’s overcrowding and unhygienic conditions are prevalent within prisons,
c) There’s limited access to proper nutrition and dietary requirements for both mother and child,
d) Absence of routine checkups and proper pre and post-natal medical attention and facilities,
e) Absence of proper abortion policies and forced conformation to blanket policies barring female prisoners from the option of an abortion,
f) Body restraints, “man-handling” and solitary confinement are used on female prisoners,
g) Poor hygienic conditions and unsatisfactory medical equipment present at the time of delivery yielding health complications and miscarriages,
h) Separation of mother and child post-delivery resulting traumatic stress for both,
i) Lack of a child-friendly environment plus inadequate nutritional supplements for the child,
j) Lack of recreational facilities,
k) Limited contact of mother and child if proper child housing facilities are not available,
l) Child protection not appropriate and children are sometimes subjected to punishment due to their mother’s incarceration,
m) Prisons are situated in reclusive areas resulting in limited visits for children living outside of the establishment yielding mental stress for both mother and child,
n) Results in the breakup of the family system and family units,
o) Children are transferred to foster care or other relatives as mothers who are incarcerated are usually the soul breadwinners of the community,
p) Traumatizes children and makes them much more susceptible to crime and morally questionable endeavors,
q) Permanent psychological and emotional damage to children of mothers who are incarcerated;
10. Recommends the following ancillary framework under the ambit of the F.R.E.E framework to combat the issue of motherhood within prisons:
a) Pre-natal stage:
i. Designating a pregnancy unit and cell for female prisoners as a nursing home ensuring them a clean and hygienic environment,
ii. Access to proper nutritional and dietary supplements for the development of both mother and child,
iii. Ensuring leniency towards pregnant female prisoners by allowing them exemptions from daily chores and exercises,
iv. Ensuring that pregnant female prisoners have access to proper medical facilities to resort to if complications arise,
v. Ensuring collaboration with NGO’s such as Amnesty International who have worked to combat the issue of motherhood within prisons,
vi. Allowing pregnant female prisoners increased contact with family members as a source of increased moral support during pregnancy,
vii. Ensuring proper protection for pregnant female prisoners as they are much more susceptible to sexual assault,
viii. Barring the act of female prisoners being sentenced to solitary confinement,
ix. Allowing female prisoners the right to have an obortion along with providing them with necessary medical facilities and post-abortion medicinal aid,
x. Allow female prisoners to be transferred to hospitals if their health deteriorates or if faced with a medical emergency,
xi. Ensuring that female prisoners are not shackled nor are they restrained or are in any form of bondage which may threaten the life of the mother and child,
b) Post-natal stage:
i. Registration of the child however the term “prison baby” to not to be added to the record,
ii. Ensuring access to immediate health care for the child and making sure that there’s a well-stocked nursery for the child’s care,
iii. Proper and regular vaccination and medical checkups should be conducted for both mother and child,
iv. Female prisoners to have special allocated and designated time for breast-feeding while ensuring privacy,
v. Child to be in proximity with the mother,
vi. Establishing a family cell whereby the mother and child can stay together,
vii. Ensuring a safe and healthy environment for the development of the child along with having access to recreational facilities,
viii. Ensuring that the nutritional and dietary needs of both the child and mother are fulfilled,
ix. Children to have immunity from ill-treatment and not to be treated as prisoners,
x. Trained personnel to be present within nurseries to facilitate mothers,
xi. Making sure that all prison policies that are formed are in the favor of the child,
xii. Ensuring that the child and mother remain together for a set number of years to ensure proper psychological and emotional development of the child under the care of the mother,
xiii. Children not born to mothers in prisons should have separate allocated times and should have regulated visiting hours;
11. Condemns the practice of solitary confinement to be used against prisoners as it has pernicious socio-psychological and medicinal ramifications on female prisoners such as :
a) Mental illnesses across a wide spectrum including:
i. Depression
ii. Anxiety
iii. Paranoia
iv. Hallucinations
v. Schizophrenia,
b) Increasing tendency of prisoners to commit self-harm and mutilation,
c) Makes female prisoners much more susceptible to sexual abuse and involuntary exposure since there is little or no accountability for correctional officers appointed for these facilities,
d) Results in a misuse of restraints and chemical agents which are otherwise prohibited but are casually used on prisoners in punitive isolation due to the perceived intensity of their crime,
e) Re-traumatizes survivors of sexual abuse as most female prisoners belong to marginalized segments of society and have previously been abused in one form or the other,
f) Increases complications for pregnant women as there is little or no access to medical care, poor hygienic conditions are prevalent and pregnant prisoners are kept in bondage which results in an exponentially high child mortality rate,
g) Severs bonds between mothers and children living within prisons inoculating a large degree of mental stress for both mother and child,
h) Results in ill-treatment of mentally challenged prisoners takes place as because they are mentally unstable, they seem to be “dangerous” and hence are misclassified and placed in solitary confinement which only exacerbates their mental illness and condition,
i) Female prisoners speaking up for their rights and against human right’s violations are subdued and purposefully placed in solitary confinement order to ensure that the corrupt hierarchy of the status quo is maintained;
12. Supports the following ancillary framework under the name of Humanitarian Exercise Liberating Prisoners(H.E.L.P) in regards to solitary confinement:
a) Effective managerial reform on the following lines:
i. Ensuring that female prisoners are properly classified contingent to the threat they pose and that certain special cases such as mentally ill patients are not misclassified and placed in higher security prison facility due to their mental disease,
ii. Ensuring a proper system of investigation to make sure that the prisoners who are being sentenced to solitary confinement have actually committed the crime the are being accused of In the first place,
iii. Ensuring the established of a code of conduct as mentioned earlier for the correctional officers to prevent them from wrongfully placing female prisoners in solitary confinement,
iv. Ensuring a system of transparency and reporting of any wrongful misplacements which are conducted by correctional officers while ensuring the safety and confidentiality of female prisoners,
v. Ensuring a system of accountability for those correctional officers who do transgress beyond the code of conduct and wrongfully place female prisoners in solitary confinement,
vi. Reports of reported incidents should be compiled for semi-annual reviews to use as a benchmark and yard-stick for further policy making and policy implementation,
vii. Providing female prisoners ,who are mentally, with proper mental aid and medical health
viii. Adopting clemency and alternatives to solitary confinement exclusively for pregnant prisoners to prevent complications during the pre-natal stage;
b) Reforming the stringent execution of solitary confinement
i. Decreasing the severity of the punishment based on precedents which have been set on the basis of the ramifications of solitary confinement,
ii. Shifting the focus of the punishment from being less “solitary” to more of being restricted and allowing prisoners some contact with the outside world such as having access to reading material
iii. Allowing weekly visits from family members and allowing contact via phone calls
iv. Setting a designated time for female prisoners to meet up with their children and have supervised hours for female prisoners to spend time out of the compound with their children
v. Ensuring that female prisoners are overseen by a proper psychological monitoring team to ensure that they don’t fall prey to mental illnesses and face psychological backlashes
vi. Ensuring that female prisoners have adequate living space and aren’t crammed up in tiny spaces rendering them immobile
vii. Allowing them some time for physical exercise to ensure mobility and reduce sense of isolation and enduring mental sanity
viii. Send female prisoners sentenced to solitary confinement to live out their sentences in groups in order to decrease their sense of isolation and loneliness
ix. Ensuring that female prisoners are sentenced to a set time period with the guarantee of being retracted from solitary confinement;
13. Recommends the following ancillary framework under the F.R.E.E framework to ensure proper legality of arrest on the following lines:
i. Prior to conviction, there must be proper evidence as to whether or not the crime was actually conducted on not
ii. Prisoners should be convicted on the degree of their crime
iii. Proportionality should be adopted as a guiding principle in the justice system
iv. Ensuring a system of impartiall legal trials and impunity from legal exploitation
v. A court sanctioned order should be the passed to ensure authenticity of the arrest
vi. Ensuring that female prisoners have acccess to an attorney of law at a feasible cost given how a large proportion of female prisoners belong to a marginalized segment of the community
vii. Maintaining a certain level of morality and ethics whilst making the arrest
viii. A system of retribution to be established if a prisoner is wrongfuly convicted through means such as monetary gain etc;
14. Encourages the committee to look favorably upon the ancillary framework under the umbrella of F.R.E.E which to solve the issue of misclassification by ensuring:
i. An individualized approach whereby prisoners are divided into groups and sent to proportional facilites on the basis of their crimes
ii. Providing varying degreees of security to these groups based on the intesenity of their crimes
iii. Development of proper infrastructural facilites within the prisons to prevent the issue of lack of vacancy as it results in misclassfications
iv. Approiate legislative policies houkd be present to ensure that mentally ill patients are not misclassified
v. education of correctional officers on the dynamics of mental illnessses so they are aware
vi. Presensce of psychologists to facilitate the correctional officers in dealing with mentally ill patients
vii. the establishment of a no-tolerance policy In regards to mentally ill prisoners so they are not wrongfully placed in maximum security regimes
viii. ensuring gender specific evaluation of these prisoners as a buffer to help assess and evaluate the extent of their illness which helps in coming up with tailor-made rehabilitation programmes respectively
15. endorses this ancillary framework under the umbrella of the F.R.E.E framework to reform the execution of the death penalty:
i. establishing an independent court called the C.P.C( capital punishment court) within each state which is responsible for montoring executions via properly sanctioned court orders
ii. amalgamating a pool of properly trained attorneys well versed in the principles of fairness and impartiality
iii. every capital defendant should have the right to the designated attorneys and if they cant afford one, they will be provided one by the state
iv. every state should primarily highlight their own “severe” crimes which should be punishable by capital punishment as china has done for crimes such as Rape, Treason against the state, Espionage, Murder of another individual etc
v. ensuring a system of impartiality and fairness within the local courts and jurisdictions who sanction the order for capital punishment to prevent people from being racially profiled against
vi. retain the use of DNA testing when the defendant has been sentenced to capital punishment to ensure the authenticity of the sentencing and prevent wrongful conviction of the defendant
vii. the C.P.Cshould encourage the gathering of evidence after the trial has started to strengthen authenticity of the sentetncing
viii. ensuring that the trial judge is properly qualified and well aware of the responsibility and power in his/her hands
ix. establishing a system of accountability whereby judges may be held legally responsible for malpractice, abuse of power and racial discrimination
x. annual review of these policies and evaluation for effectiveness to be conducted by the state.
 
1. Affirms that there is a dire need for a framework to cater to the problems of female prisoners which pertains mainly to the basic exigencies that they require in prisons (AREV) which entails:-
a. Accountability in terms of the guards,
b. Rehabilitation for all females ,
c. Education as an inherent right for all inmates,
d. Vocational training for the female inmates so that integration into society is not difficult
2. Calls upon the Standard Minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners to be a set criteria for legislation regarding female prisoners and in addition there must be new laws urging states to set a minimum cell size to prevent the issue of overcrowding which is a conundrum faced by many prisoners, eventually resulting in the rapid spread of disease due to close contact and suggests the FRIDIM framework for countering overcrowding which:-
a. Funding of prisons in developing countries so as to expand the pool of resources including beds, medical equipment and food,
b. Reducing high rate of pre trial detention by improving access to justice,
c. Investing in non custodial alternatives for example community service,
d. Diverting minor cases out of criminal justice system altogether,
e. Investing in long term strategies for crime prevention and reduction such as:-
i. Informing individuals of their rights,
ii. Educating individuals of the consequences of any form of criminal activity,
iii. Ensuring impartial trials for crimes especially in terms of women,
f. Making special or all arrangement for vulnerable groups such as children, mothers with dependent children, and people with mental illnesses.
3. Recommends the committee to establish a tripartite approach when considering the legitimacy of arrest, mainly comprising of a system where:-
a. female offenders are tried by female judges
b. there is a proper investigation on the background of the female before arrest making sure that
i. there is a reasonable conviction by a proper court
ii. there has been non compliance to the laws
iii. there is reasonable suspicion of an offence being committed
iv. a court has demanded educational supervision
c. the extent of punishment is proportional to the crime
4. Reaffirms that there is a need to establish a proper funding mechanism to ensure not only that female prisons receive an adequate budget in order to improve their infrastructure facilities but also to clinically allocate specific amounts to different exigencies in the prison including but not limited to the hygiene facilities, health products, testing and blood screening of patients, special requirements for mothers through :-
a. A multilateral agreement being p5 and G8 countries, and any other economically strong country which volunteers to uptake responsibility and help the developing countries
b. Funding through the World Bank
c. Transparency of the funding to be carried out as outlined by the CTF(Committee for Transparency of Jails)
5. Emphasizes the need for a gender cognizant prison design system as opposed to a gender neutral one as the circum stances of female prisoners greatly differ from female prisoners given that most of them are victims of domestic violence and abuse prior to their arrest, their psychosomatic condition must be considered as well
6. Calls upon A/R/69/229 which recognizes the synergy between international funding and development at all levels, thus establishing that all developed nations should aid developing countries to strengthen and expand their prison systems
7. Suggests the establishment of a committee (CTF) to oversee the distribution and utilization of funds in female prisons so that there is no misallocation of funds and the requirements of the prisons are adequately fulfilled
8. Draws attention to the plethora of diseases which are spreading uncontrollably in prisons and calls upon the World Health Organization to carry out annual checks in state prisons to ensure that disease contact control and diagnosis is taking place efficiently and for there to be strict action against correctional facilities here this policy is not enacted
9. Further calls upon the committee to establish proper ground rules to minimize sexual exploitation and assault of female prisoners by first distinguishing between the perpetrators who carry out acts of sexual violence which mainly include the prison guards and violent female inmates
10. Suggests that recruiting female guards exclusively for female prisons is the appropriate gender specific approach required to counter the harrowing atrocities committed by male guards during strip searches and mandatory drug testing which has a negative impact on the already sensitive psychosomatic state of female inmates
11. Encourages the establishment of rehabilitation schemes specifically for female prisoners which are designed to cater to the psychological needs of females and include proper psychiatrists who individually cater to female prisoners as oppose to the current status quo where a gender neutral approach is taken which results in rehabilitation program exclusively being designed for males and catering to violence which is mainly carried out by males instead of suppression of emotions such as Prison Contemplative Programs
12. Further reminds the committee to establish a code of conduct for guards so that they are held accountable for any malpractice or mistreatment of the inmates
13. Encourages all prison facilities to have a multidisciplinary surveillance system in all cells which is only accessible to the authorities because in the current status quo the burden of proof for sexual assault against female prisoners is too great and in most cases they are unable to take their cases to court
14. Draws attention to the egregious hygiene conditions in prisons which lead to a plethora of air borne and water borne diseases which must be countered which effective hygiene programs such as the filtration of drinking water before providing it to the inmates and regular cleaning of cells to prevent saprophytic and parasitic microorganisms from growing and spreading disease
15. Draws the attention of the committee to the sub par medical facilities within prisons and a lack of trained medical professionals thus calling for new legislation which urges doctors to work in prisons for a year following their residency as it is their responsibility as citizens to cater to the institutions of society which include prisons as they encompass the legal system
16. Emphasizes the fact that most female inmates have been incarcerated for non violent offences thus suggesting that their sentences are also short and hence they must be reintegrated back to society for which they have to be provided adequate employment opportunities, vocational training and education schemes in prisons
17. Expresses its concern on the legitimacy of capital punishment as it undermines the principles of the criminal justice system and as it is an obligation of the state to develop a paternalistic role and uphold the sacrosanct right to life the maximum punishment for prisoners can extend to life imprisonment and recognizes the following problems stemming from capital punishment:-
a. Public losing faith in the criminal justice system
b. Setting a counter deterrent since the state commits the same act and indirectly condones what it criminalizes its people from doing
c. Trust deficit between the people, impruisoned individuals anf the government
18. Encourages the establishment of separate facilities for the children of inmates which are divorced from the prison system as primary and secondary socialization in a prison facility leads to the stigmatization of children and makes it difficult for them to be integrated into society
19. Emphasizes the significance of ratifying the existing treaties such as the Convention On the rights of the Child and the Convention on the elimination of discrimination against women
20. Suggests the formation of the Committee for Transparency of Jails (CTF) which is as follows:-
a. To comprise of government officials that are independent of the prison structural hierarchy such as the guards and supervisors
b. To have regular monthly checks and rounds to ensure:-
i. Proper communication with the female inmates to gather information, any query or any complaint that the women inmates might have
ii. The proper utilization of funding to resources being allocated to the inmates
iii. To ensure health standards making sure that any equipment used in any procedure is sterilized and not reused
iv. To ensure that female inmates are being provided with all their basic necessities and requirements when they ask for it such as sanitary towels, pads, tampons etc,
21. Endorses the following framework to deal with the issue of sexual abuse:-
a. Having separate cells for female and men inmates, if separate prisons cannot be afforded,
b. Having separate prisons for females and males, to ensure minimum interaction between possible perpetrators and the female prisoners
c. Appointing female guards to supervise the female inmates within close proximity whereas, male guards stay at a distance or men in general assume administrative posts
22. Calls upon the governments to have proper jail classification systems which ensure that violent, non violent, adult and juvenile prisons are kept separated from each others,
23. Endorses the SPFC framework for abortion:-
a. Supervision of the abortion by licensed physicians and medical practitioners
b. Precaution being taken by the medical practitioners ensuring:-
i. Use of sterile and unused medical equipment
ii. The procedure to take place in primary health care facilities that are recognized and registered or in proper hygienic areas in the prison
iii. No mandatory waiting period to be before the abortion
c. The abortion to take place in the first 12 weeks of the pregnancy
d. The choice of the mother to be the deciding factor
24. Suggests awareness campaigns to inform female inmates of their rights within the prison and the existing laws that they can use for their defense by:-
a. Educational progammes and seminars within the prison facilities
b. The team to be comprising of government officials who are trained to csterspecifically to inmates and are cognizant of the psychological trajectory of these very individuals so that they are able to deal with them in a proper way without fuelling any violent acts
25. Suggests the following framework to rehabilitate these imprisoned women back into the society after their time in prison:-
a. Awareness programs through seminars within the society to counter the stereotypes and stigmas against incarcerated individuals especially females
26. Endorses the AREV system of ensuring that there is a sufficient mechanism to be officiate the education system with regards to:
a) Accountability in terms of providing proper education and a curriculum which does not instill a sense of discrimination among the offenders
b) Rehabilitation programs to be provided in the education system which encompasses the rights of inmates