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rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory ...
of
civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...
and
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
prisoner A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...
s are governed by both national and international law. International conventions include the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, fre ...
; the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
' Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, the
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment or shortly Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) is the anti-torture committee of the Council of Europe. Founded to enforce the Europ ...
, and the
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights treaty of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. Parties to the convention are required to promote, ...
.


Rights and advocacy by country


Asia

* Prisons in India * Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran ** Committee for the Defense of Prisoners' Rights (Iran) ** 2010 Iranian political prisoners' hunger strike for prisoners' rights *
Human rights in China Human rights in mainland China are periodically reviewed by the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), on which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and various foreign governments and ...
**
Penal system in China The penal system in China is mostly composed of an administrative detention system and a judicial incarceration system. As of 2020, it is estimated that 1.7 million people had been incarcerated in China, which is the second-highest prison populat ...
**
Laogai ''Laogai'' (), short for ''laodong gaizao'' (), which means reform through labor, is a criminal justice system involving the use of penal labor and prison farms in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and North Korea (DPRK). ''Láogǎi'' i ...
** Xinjiang re-education camps ** Notable prisons: ***
Qincheng Prison The Ministry of Public Security Qincheng Prison () is a maximum-security prison located in Qincheng Village, Xingshou, Changping District, Beijing in the People's Republic of China. The prison was built in 1958 with aid from the Soviet Unio ...
***
Tilanqiao Prison The Tilanqiao Prison (), formerly known as the Ward Road Gaol or Shanghai Municipal Gaol, is a former prison in Hongkou District of Shanghai, China. Originally built in the foreign-controlled Shanghai International Settlement, following the Chin ...
* Penal system of Japan *
Malaysian Prison Department The Malaysian Prison Department ( ms, Jabatan Penjara Malaysia), is a department controlled by the Malaysian Minister of Home Affairs responsible for prisons where offenders sentenced by the courts are held. These jails also act as detention a ...
**
Caning in Malaysia Caning is used as a form of corporal punishment in Malaysia. It can be divided into at least four contexts: judicial/prison, school, domestic, and sharia/syariah. Of these, the first is largely a legacy of British colonial rule in the terri ...
**
2020 Malaysia movement control order The 2020–21 Malaysia Government Movement Control Order ( ms, Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan Kerajaan Malaysia), commonly referred to as the MCO or ''PKP'', was a series of national quarantine and '' cordon sanitaire'' measures implemented by t ...
* Human rights in North Korea **
Prisons in North Korea North Korean prisons have conditions that are unsanitary, life-threatening and are comparable to historical concentration camps. A significant number of prisoners have died each year, since they are subject to torture and inhumane treatment. Publ ...
**
Kwalliso North Korea's political penal labor colonies, transliterated ''kwalliso'' or ''kwan-ri-so'', constitute one of three forms of political imprisonment in the country, the other two being what David Hawk translated as "short-term detention/for ...
***
Hoeryong concentration camp Hoeryong concentration camp (or Haengyong concentration camp) was a prison camp in North Korea that was reported to have been closed in 2012. The official name was Kwalliso (penal labour colony) No. 22. The camp was a maximum security area, comp ...
*
Prisons in Pakistan Prisons in Pakistan and their administration, is a Provincial competency under the Constitution of Pakistan. Pakistan has the 23rd largest prison population in the world and the 5th largest death row population. Around 64.5% of prisoners are awaitin ...
* Re-education camp (Vietnam)


Europe

*
Prison conditions in France A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...
* Prisons in Germany * Human right of prisoners in Israel **
Palestinian prisoners of Israel Palestinian prisoners of Israel (or as used by the Israel Prison Service: Security prisoners) refers in this article to Palestinians imprisoned in Israel in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The future of Palestinian prisoners de ...
* Crime in Italy ** Article 41-bis prison regime *
Human rights in Russia Human rights in Russia have routinely been criticized by international organizations and independent domestic media outlets. Some of the most commonly cited violations include deaths in custody, the widespread and systematic use of torture by ...
** Prisoners' Union ** Human rights in the Soviet Union **
Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...
*
United Kingdom prison population The United Kingdom has three distinct legal systems with a separate prison system in each: one for both England and Wales, one for Scotland, and one for Northern Ireland. Numbers of prisoners The total UK prison population was 83,618 (0.088% of th ...
** Preservation of the Rights of Prisoners **
Hirst v United Kingdom (No 2) ''Hirst v United Kingdom (No 2)'' (2005is a European Court of Human Rights case, where the court ruled that a blanket ban on British prisoners exercising the right to vote is contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights. The court did not ...
** Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Bill **
1981 Irish hunger strike The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special C ...
* Children of Prisoners Europe


North America

* Incarceration in Canada ** Correctional Service of Canada **
John Howard Society The John Howard Society of Canada is a Canadian non-profit organization that seeks to develop understanding and effective responses to the problem of crime and prison reform. It is named after John Howard, a philanthropist and early English pr ...
*In the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
: **
Human rights in the United States In the United States, human rights comprise a series of rights which are legally protected by the Constitution of the United States (particularly the Bill of Rights), state constitutions, treaty and customary international law, legislation ena ...
**
Incarceration in the United States Incarceration in the United States is a primary form of punishment and rehabilitation for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the largest prison population in the world, and the highest per-capita incarceratio ...
**
Prisoner rights in the United States All prisoners have the basic rights needed to survive and sustain a reasonable way of life. Most rights are taken away ostensibly so the prison system can maintain order, discipline, and security. Any of the following rights, given to prisoner ...
*** Decarceration in the United States *** Prisoner abuse in the United States *** Felony disenfranchisement in the United States *** Penal labor in the United States ***
Prison rape in the United States Prison rape commonly refers to the rape of inmates in prison by other inmates or prison staff. In 2001, Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 4.3 million inmates had been raped while incarcerated in the United States. A United States Departm ...
*** Organ donation in the United States prison population *** Mentally ill people in United States jails and prisons ** Notable groups: ***
November Coalition The November Coalition is a non-profit grassroots organization, founded in 1997, which fights against the War on Drugs and for the rights of the prisoners incarcerated as the effect of that war. It publishes a bulletin called ''Razor Wire''. Tyro ...
***
Critical Resistance Critical Resistance is a U.S. based organization that works to build a mass movement to dismantle what it calls the prison-industrial complex (PIC). Critical Resistance's national office is in Oakland, California, with three additional chapters ...
and Incite! ***
Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee The Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC) is a prison-led section of the Industrial Workers of the World. Its purpose is 'a union for the incarcerated,' with the goal of abolishing prison slavery, as well as fighting to end the exploita ...
*** Black and Pink **Notable events: *** 1971 Attica Prison riot *** 1973 Wapole Prison uprising ***
Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse During the early stages of the Iraq War, members of the United States Army and the CIA committed a series of human rights violations and war crimes against detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, including physical and sexual abuse, tortu ...
***
Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Gua ...
*** Orleans Parish Prison abandonment during Hurricane Katrina *** 2013 California prisoner hunger strike *** 2016 U.S. prison strike *** 2018 U.S. prison strike **
Chain gang A chain gang or road gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include repairing buildings, building roads, or clearing land. The system was not ...
**
Convict leasing Convict leasing was a system of forced penal labor which was practiced historically in the Southern United States, the laborers being mainly African-American men; it was ended during the 20th century. (Convict labor in general continues; f ...


Oceania

*
Punishment in Australia Punishment in Australia arises when an individual has been accused or convicted of breaking the law through the Australian criminal justice system. Australia uses prisons, as well as community corrections (various non-custodial punishments suc ...
**
Indonesian children in Australian prisons Australia controversially convicted as people smugglers Indonesian minors who had been cooks and deckhands on asylum seeker boats from Indonesia to Australia and jailed them in adult prisons. The practice was believed to have come to an end in 20 ...
*
Prisoners' rights in New Zealand Prisoners in New Zealand are afforded numerous, but not all, human rights. Criticisms by a United Nations report in 2014 highlighted various issues that constitute ill-treatment of prisoners, such as remand (detention), remand prisoners being routi ...
** Voting rights of prisoners in New Zealand * Human rights in Vanuatu


International

* Prisoners' rights in international law * Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners * List of countries by incarceration rate * List of hunger strikes * List of prisons * Penal Reform International


See also

*
Prisoner abuse Prisoner abuse is the mistreatment of persons while they are under arrest or incarcerated. Prisoner abuse can include physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, torture, or other acts such as refusal of essential medication. Physica ...
* Prison abolition movement * Human rights issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic * Death in custody *
Solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...
* LGBT people in prison * Prison–industrial complex *
Prison overcrowding Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in prisons in a jurisdiction exceeds the capacity for prisoners. The issues associated with prison overcrowding are not new, and have been brewing for many years. Du ...
* Sentencing disparity *
Disfranchisement Disfranchisement, also called disenfranchisement, or voter disqualification is the restriction of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people, or a practice that has the effect of preventing a person exercising the right to vote. D ...
*
Private prison A private prison, or for-profit prison, is a place where people are imprisoned by a third party that is contracted by a government agency. Private prison companies typically enter into contractual agreements with governments that commit ...
*
Prison strike A prison strike is an inmate strike or work stoppage that occurs inside a prison, generally to protest poor conditions or low wages for penal labor. Prison strikes may also include hunger strikes. United States At the national level, declares "en ...


References


External links

Organizations working for prisoners' rights:
American Civil Liberties Union on prisoners' rights

Human Rights Watch

Amnesty International

Prison Activist Resource Center
{{Authority control Penal imprisonment Penology Human rights by issue