Yousaf asked to uphold rights of detainees during crisis
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Judith Robertson
The Scottish members of the UK National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) have today written to Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf, highlighting efforts to uphold the rights of people in detention and deprived of their liberty during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Among the recommendations in the letter, signed by Judith Robertson, chair of the UK NPM Scottish Subgroup and chair of the Scottish Human Rights Commission, and John Wadham, chair of UK NPM, is a suggestion that the detained population should be reduced to avoid the spread of coronavirus amongst detainees.
“This is particularly important for detainees with underlying health conditions, remanded population, children, and those in other vulnerable categories as well as in areas of the detention estate that are already overcrowded,” it states.
The letter has been sent on behalf of the Scottish members of the UK NPM: Care Inspectorate, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland, Independent Custody Visitors Scotland, Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland and the Scottish Human Rights Commission.
The letter also calls for “alternative measures to facilitate contact between detainees and their families”. It states: “Where physical visits have had to be restricted, and given the many ways in which family contact plays a crucial role for those in detention, how will the government ensure skype, adapted mobiles and any other forms of contact are available?”
It also calls on Mr Yousaf to “provide periodic reports to the Scottish Parliament and wider public on the human rights of this population and your progress in protecting those in detention”.
Finally, there should be “clarity in relation to the timescale and process of the regular review of the Coronavirus (Scotland) Bill”.
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