The

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 th ...

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-combatan ...

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 distin ...

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, freed ...

; 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 harmonizi ...

' Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 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, p ...

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 an ...

** Penal system in China **

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'' ...

** 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 Uni ...

*** Tilanqiao Prison * 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 **

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 The human rights record of North Korea is often considered to be the worst in the world and has been globally condemned, with the United Nations, the European Union and groups such as Human Rights Watch all critical of the country's record. Most ...

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. Public ...

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) Re-education camps ( vi, Trại cải tạo) were prison camps operated by the Communist government of Vietnam following the end of the Vietnam War. In these camps, the government imprisoned at least 200,000-300,000 former military officers, gover ...

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, corre ...

Prisons in Germany The prisons in Germany are run solely by the federal states but governed by a federal law. The aim of prison confinement in Germany is twofold: emphasis is placed on enabling prisoners to lead a life of "social responsibility free of crime" upon re ...

* Human right of prisoners in Israel ** Palestinian prisoners of Israel * Crime in Italy **

Article 41-bis prison regime In Italian law, Article 41-bis of the Prison Administration Act, also known as carcere duro ("hard prison regime"), is a provision that allows the Minister of Justice or the Minister of the Interior to suspend certain prison regulations. Current ...

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 s ...

Prisoners' Union Prisoners' Union (russian: Союз заключённых) is a Russian human rights monitoring non-governmental organization. The organization was founded in 2008. The Prisoners' Union foundation meeting was held in Moscow and was attended by 40 ...

** 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) ** 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 Ca ...

Children of Prisoners Europe Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE) (formerly European Action Research Committee for Children of Imprisoned Parents or EUROCHIPS) is a pan-European network acting to support children with imprisoned parents. History Within the European Union, so ...

North America

* Incarceration in Canada **

Correctional Service of Canada The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC; french: Service correctionnel du Canada), also known as Correctional Service Canada or Corrections Canada, is the Government of Canada, Canadian federal government agency responsible for the incarceration ...

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 prison ...

*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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

: **

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 incarcerat ...

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 Decarceration in the United States involves government policies and community campaigns aimed at reducing the number of people held in custody or custodial supervision. Decarceration, the opposite of incarceration, also entails reducing the rate ...

*** Prisoner abuse in the United States ***

Felony disenfranchisement in the United States Felony disenfranchisement in the United States is the suspension or withdrawal of voting rights due to the conviction of a criminal offense. The actual class of crimes that results in disenfranchisement vary between jurisdictions, but most common ...

***

Penal labor in the United States Penal labor in the United States is explicitly allowed by the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist w ...

*** Prison rape in the United States *** Organ donation in the United States prison population *** Mentally ill people in United States jails and prisons ** Notable groups: *** November Coalition ***

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! INCITE! Women, Gender Non-Conforming, and Trans people of Color Against Violence, formerly known as INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, is a United States-based national activist organization of radical feminists of color advancing a move ...

*** Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee *** Black and Pink **Notable events: *** 1971 Attica Prison riot *** 1973 Wapole Prison uprising *** Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse ***

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 Guant ...

*** Orleans Parish Prison abandonment during Hurricane Katrina ***

2013 California prisoner hunger strike The 2013 California prisoner hunger strike started on July 8, 2013 involving over 29,000 inmates in protest of the state's use of solitary confinement practices and ended on September 5, 2013. The hunger strike was organized by inmates in long te ...

*** 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; ...

Oceania

* Punishment in Australia ** Indonesian children in Australian prisons *

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 prisoners being routinely held on lock-d ...

** Voting rights of prisoners in New Zealand *

Human rights in Vanuatu The Republic of Vanuatu is a parliamentary democracy with a population of approximately 326.000. The Constitution of Vanuatu is supreme law and sets out the legal framework which deals with the respect of human rights. Generally, the Government re ...

International

* Prisoners' rights in international law * Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners * List of countries by incarceration rate *

List of hunger strikes This is an incomplete list of hunger strikes and people who have conducted a hunger strike. Hunger strikes * Guantánamo Bay hunger strikes – Prisoner protests at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, a notorious U.S. military prison known for indefi ...

* List of prisons * Penal Reform International

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