Human rights violations in prisons in the German Democratic Republic
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 24 and 25 September 1986 (19th and 20th Sittings)
(see Doc. 5540, report of the Committee on Relations with European
Non-Member Countries). Text adopted by
the Assembly on 25 September 1986 (20th Sitting).
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Considering that prisoners continue to possess the
dignity inherent in any human person, and that the human rights
which have their basis in this dignity must therefore be guaranteed
;
2. Referring to Articles 5 and 6 of the European Convention on
Human Rights, which guarantee humane treatment and adequate protection
to any person arrested or imprisoned ;
3. Noting that Articles 9, 10 and 14 of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, adopted by the United Nations on
16 December 1966 and ratified by the German Democratic Republic
on 8 November 1973, also stipulate that prisoners must be treated
in a manner consistent with human dignity ;
4. Noting furthermore that Article 2 of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights obliges all the Contracting Parties
to respect the rights recognised in the covenant, and to guarantee
these rights to all persons within their territory and subject to
their jurisdiction ;
5. Concerned at the fact that prisoners - and particularly political
prisoners - in the German Democratic Republic are treated in a manner
incompatible with the rights recognised in the InternationalCovenant
on Civil and Political Rights ;
6. Noting that the details reported by many persons who have
been imprisoned in the German Democratic Republic bear witness to
the extent of the human rights violations committed against prisoners
by the state security services and prison authorities in the German
Democratic Republic, including :
a conditions
of imprisonment which are tantamount to physical or mental torture,
such as deprivation of sleep or the threat of reprisals against
families ;
b hard labour which is both unreasonable and detrimental
to health ;
c medical treatment which is wholly insufficient and which
often results in permanent damage to health ;
d insufficient diet ;
e refusal to allow a proper legal defence, and failure to
communicate legal texts and the charges in due form until shortly
before the trial ;
f the separation of mothers from infants born in prison,
as well as the separation of parents from their children for political
reasons ;
g inhuman overcrowding of prisoners in cells which are too
small,
7. Calls on the Government of the German Democratic Republic
to inquire about all violations of the rights guaranteed by the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and particularlyArticles
9, 10 and 14, in prisons in the German Democratic Republic, to put
an end to them immediately and to guarantee humane treatment for
all prisoners ;
8. Urges the governments of the Council of Europe's member states
to support these requests in their contacts with the Government
of the German Democratic Republic and within the Helsinki process,
and particularly at the CSCE Conference in Vienna in November 1986.
