Ensuring Respect For The Rule Of Law In Detention Facilities

Meeting at the World Justice Forum in Vienna, a group of individuals from a spectrum of disciplines namely, military, legal and health, produced a report dedicated to ensuring respect for the rule of law in detention facilities. This report uses as its basis recommendations from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a leading nongovernmental organization with significant experience in the areas of prisoner health.

PHR wrote a letter to then President-elect Obama in December of 2008, asking the Obama administration to take six key steps to help enhance the integrity of military medicine and psychology. This report analyzes those six steps in accordance with international law and medical ethics and makes concrete recommendations to states who seek to improve their compliance with the rule of law in the area of detainee care. The objective of the report is to advance the recommendations of PRH within the supporting framework of international human rights law and the Rule of Law Index. This report could serve as a blue print to guide government decision making and generate discussion and action within the health, military, and political arenas.

The report is in the process of being released for public circulation. A complete copy of the report is available here.