Inhuman states : imprisonment, detention and torture in Europe today

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Bibliographic Information

Inhuman states : imprisonment, detention and torture in Europe today

Antonio Cassese

Polity Press, 1996

  • : hbk
  • : pbk

Other Title

Umano-disumano : commissariati e prigioni nell'Europa di oggi

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Note

Includes bibliographical references

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: hbk ISBN 9780745617213

Description

This is a first-hand account of the often appalling conditions in prisons, police stations, psychiatric institutions, detention centres and other places where individuals are deprived of their liberty. It is based on extensive inspections in many countries in Europe, including the UK, France, Spain, Greece and Turkey, by a group of inspectors who had hitherto unparalleled access to institutions of detention. "Inhuman States" is a gripping account of the seamy side of Europe, of those 'social dustbins' that most people tend to ignore and of the practices - including torture - which take place within them. But it is also a book about some general concepts - what is 'human'? What should 'inhuman' or 'degrading' mean? Should general standards be uniformly applied to countries with diverse traditions, legal systems and conditions of life? This book is also a forceful plea for a better and more civilized Europe. Cassese argues that Europe should be unified not only in the field of markets, banks, lawyers, and commerce: an effort should also be made to set out and implement at least some common European standards of justice with regard to those places of detention where each country relegates its misfits, deviants and all those who are thought to imperil the social fabric.

Table of Contents

Preface.1. A Revolutionary Step.2. The Blue Berets of Human Rights?3. Firemen or Specialists in Preventive Medicine?4. Into the Breach: Inspectors in Action.5. What is Human, Inhuman or Degrading?6. On Torture.7. Common Criminals and Terrorists.8. Policemen, Prison Warders and Magistrates.9. A Few Concluding Observations.Note.
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780745617220

Description

This is a first-hand account of the often appalling conditions in prisons, police stations, psychiatric institutions, detention centres and other places where individuals are deprived of their liberty. It is based on extensive inspections in many countries in Europe, including the UK, France, Spain, Greece and Turkey, by a group of inspectors who had hitherto unparalleled access to institutions of detention. Inhuman States is a gripping account of the seamy side of Europe, of those 'social dustbins' that most people tend to ignore and of the practices - including torture - which take place within them. But it is also a book about some general concepts - what is 'human'? What should 'inhuman' or 'degrading' mean? Should general standards be uniformly applied to countries with diverse traditions, legal systems and conditions of life? This book is also a forceful plea for a better and more civilized Europe. Cassese argues that Europe should be unified not only in the field of markets, banks, lawyers, and commerce: an effort should also be made to set out and implement at least some common European standards of justice with regard to those places of detention where each country relegates its misfits, deviants and all those who are thought to imperil the social fabric.

Table of Contents

Preface. 1. A Revolutionary Step. 2. The Blue Berets of Human Rights?. 3. Firemen or Specialists in Preventive Medicine?. 4. Into the Breach: Inspectors in Action. 5. What is Human, Inhuman or Degrading?. 6. On Torture. 7. Common Criminals and Terrorists. 8. Policemen, Prison Warders and Magistrates. 9. A Few Concluding Observations. Note.

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