International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

Question 1

What is it?

Answer 1

• multilateral treaty adopted by UN General Assembly Resolution on 16 December 1966, and in force from 23 March 1976.
• The covenant commits its parties to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, electoral rights and rights to due process and a fair trial.
• It is part of the International Bill of Human Rights, along with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
• It is monitored by the UN Human Rights Committee (a separate body to the UN Human Rights Council).

Question 2

The Nelson Mandela Rules for prison?

Answer 2

Prisoners must be treated with respect for their human rights and dignity

No torture or inhumane practice towards prisoners

Set an objective to prevent recurrence of crime

Everyone in the prison should be safe at all times

There should be no discrimination and administrators should take into account needs of individual prisoners especially the vulnerable ones