JAIL MAIL- NELSON MANDELA DAY 2020: THE NEED TO MONITOR PRISONS
On 102nd birth anniversary of Nelson Mandela, CHRI through this Jail Mail intends to emphasise on the need for effective monitoring of prisons. As COVID-19 spreads, there is a need for robust prison oversight to check effective response to COVID-19 in prisons and that rights of prisoners are not compromised in the guise of fighting the pandemic. Keeping in mind the restrictions on physical visits, CHRI has developed two checklists for internal and external monitoring of prisons. These are based on the Ministry of Home Affairs’s ‘Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Handling Arrested Persons, Detainees and Inmates during the Pandemic’. The checklists shared in the Jail Mail can be used as a remote monitoring tool by internal and external visitors/monitors.