Briefing
Detention Monitoring Tool: Pre-trial detention
Pre-trial detention is a high risk situation for torture and ill-treatment. Pre-trial detention increases the risk of a confession being coerced by torture and confession and exposes detainees – still innocent until proven guilty – to violence and abuse from guards or other prisoners. High rates of pre-trial detention contribute to overcrowding, which in turn exacerbates poor prison conditions and increases the risk of ill-treatment. This Factsheet
- lists the relevant international standards
- identifies types and situations of risk (eg lack of safeguards during arrest, excessive use and length of pre-trial detention, risks during transfer)
- provides checklists of questions that monitoring bodies can ask for each risk factor
- suggests what monitoring bodies can do.
The Factsheet is part of PRI/APT’s Detention Monitoring Tool, which aims to provide analysis and practical guidance to help monitoring bodies, including National Preventive Mechanisms, to fulfil their preventive mandate as effectively as possible when visiting police facilities or prisons. The Tool seeks to support such bodies in addressing systemic risk factors that contribute to an environment where torture or other ill-treatment occurs.
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