Deaths in custody: UN expert says silent global tragedy cannot go on

GENEVA (26 June 2023) – A UN expert today urged States to respect and protect the lives of all those deprived of liberty and step-up efforts to eradicate the scourge of deaths in custody.

“Tens of thousands of prisoners die every year around the world, although the exact numbers are unknown due to the prevailing inadequacies in recording, investigating and reliably reporting these deaths,” said Morris Tidball-Binz, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, in his report to the Human Rights Council.

“Globally, victims often belong to the most economically and socially marginalised sectors of society, which helps to explain the invisibility of the phenomenon,” he said.

Focusing on the phenomenon of deaths in prisons, the report aims to make these deaths visible and help eradicate a largely preventable global tragedy. It sheds light on the global phenomenon of deaths in custody in the criminal justice system, from the moment of arrest, including pre-trial and post-conviction.

“States have a duty to respect and protect the fundamental right to life of those deprived of liberty,” Tidball-Binz said. “Most of these deaths should simply not happen.”

He made recommendations, based on international standards, best practices and concrete examples from different regions, for effective investigation and prevention of all deaths in custody, including reducing imprisonment, improving prison conditions, addressing the needs of vulnerable individuals and groups, reducing violence, and ensuring sound monitoring and accountability procedures, as well as reliable data collection and analysis on prisoner deaths to inform and guide interventions.

“States can – and must – drastically reduce the incidence of deaths in prisons and effectively prevent their occurrence through a number of practical and relatively inexpensive measures,” the expert said.

Tidball-Binz stressed that the rights of prison staff should also be respected, including the provision of adequate wages and working conditions. “States should ensure that competent management is in place and that prisons are well managed,” he said.

“Any death in custody is potentially unlawful,” Tidball-Binz said. “The duty to properly investigate all deaths in custody is not an option, but an obligation under international law.”

Investigations should be prompt, effective, thorough, independent, impartial and transparent, the expert said. Findings should inform the design and implementation of sound and evidence-based reparative and preventive measures and policies, the expert said.

ENDS

Morris Tidball-Binz is the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions appointed in 2021. He is a medical doctor specialized in forensic science, human rights and humanitarian action and has contributed to the development and worldwide use of forensic science to investigate and document extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, enforced disappearances, torture and detention conditions, as well as to humanitarian action in armed conflicts and natural catastrophes.

Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.