PRISON TREATMENT: OPPOSING VIEWS IN OPENING SPEECHES

By: Eduardo Ferreira - UOL

How do the different delegations of the Junior Human Rights Council believe prisoners should be treated?

Today, 23rd of February 2024, the Junior Human Rights Council began their heated debate about the state of prisons in the world, specifically about the well-being of prisoners.
 
During the debate, the large majority of the nations present at the debate agreed with each other on the same point that prisoners should be given more rights in order to make sure that they become rehabilitated and to ensure that they are ready for re
 
However, an interesting point came from the delegation of South Korea, which stated that prisoners should be treated poorly and tortured. The delegate proposed the point that, if criminals are provided luxuries and high-level commodities, those who commit crimes will not regret their actions to the same degree of those who experience poor and dehumanising conditions.
The South Korean people vocalised that those who commit crimes from simple pickpocketing all the way to mass murder should undergo rigorous punishment, such as low-quality bedding and meals, to ensure that they would not want to repeat their devious actions. Not only physical torture but psychological torture, such as isolation, was also stated by the delegation. This can be confirmed by looking at a picture of a South Korean jail cell, as well as the fact that South Korean jails are among the most crowded jails in the world.

Example of a South Korean Prison Cell

Other nations, such as the delegation of  Russia, Japan and Syria, suggested that prisoners should be given the basics, such as well-made meals, good bedding and most remaining human rights, such as articles 14 and 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, except for the rights that go against the punishment given to prisoners, such as freedom and liberty of movement. Points provided were that criminals are still humans at the end of the day, so basic commodities should be provided.
 
Moreover, some Nordic countries are present in the council, and those countries are known to contain the highest quality prisons. This comes to a point where some people claim that the Nordic prisons are more like hotels in most ways.

Example of a Swedish prison cell

Unfortunately, not much of a conclusion was reached, but, if we analyse the number of delegates supporting each solution, we can predict that the final result will be in favour of adding more commodities to prisons instead of tortuous means.