United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners: The Mandela Rules

• In Event: Historical Perspectives and Trends of Prisons and Inmates

Abstract

The lecture will try not only to show what the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners are, now titled Mandela Rules (named after one of the most famous prisoners of our contemporary history, imprisoned for twenty-seven years, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle for freedom, equality and democracy, and became President of South Africa), but also to make a small tour through their history and highlight their importance to the administration of prisons and the treatment of prisoners, in order to promote respect for their human rights. The lecture will explain how these rules can encourage the effort to overcome the bad conditions of the majority of prisons, aiming to reduce the gap between the minimum model that they pursue and the sad penitentiary reality of the members of United Nations.

Author

• César Oliveira de Barros Leal, Federal University of Ceará, Brazil