Nelson Mandela International Day

The Nelson Mandela Rules: Five facts. 1955 - First United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime & the Treatment of Offenders. The Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (PDF ), originally adopted by the First UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders in 1955, constitute the universally acknowledged minimum standards for the management of prison facilities and the treatment of prisoners, and have been of tremendous value and influence in the development of prison laws, policies and practices in Member States all over the world. 2011 - Open-ended Intergovernmental Expert Group. In recognition of the advances in international law and correctional science since 1955, however, the General Assembly decided, in 2011, to establish an open-ended intergovernmental Expert Group to review and possibly revise the rules. Relevant UN bodies, other international and regional organisations, as well as civil society were invited to contribute to ...

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison in the course of his struggle. Throughout his life he advocated for the fair and humane treatment of all, including prisoners. In December 2015, following a revision process of more than five years, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners . It also approved that the rules should be known as the "Nelson Mandela Rules" in order to honour the legacy of the late President of South Africa. The General Assembly also decided to extend the scope of Nelson Mandela International Day to be utilized in order to promote humane conditions of imprisonment, raise awareness about prisoners being a continuous part of society, and to value the work of prison staff as a social service of particular importance.  As custodian of the Nelson Mandela Rules, each year the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime undertakes a global awareness raising campaign on the theme...