UN experts urge states to do more to respect rights of detainees

UNITED NATIONS - A group of 13 independent UN experts Monday urged that the human rights of the millions of detainees worldwide be respected, as the world body begins a week-long campaign aimed at stepping up pressure on States, parliaments and other bodies to abolish, or at least reduce, arbitrary and unlawful detention.

“Deprivation of liberty as such, whether lawful or not, makes persons extremely vulnerable to a broad range of human rights violations,” the experts said in a statement issued on Monday at the start of Dignity and Justice for Detainees Week - a global initiative launched by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The initiative, which runs until Oct 12, also seeks to ensure that conditions in prisons and other places of detention are brought in line with minimum international standards.

The experts, all mandate holders of the Special Procedures of the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, visit places of detention in many countries and receive information from all around the world.