Events & Speaking Engagements
November 22, 2019: Unlock the Box Campaign convening. The ATI, together with the ACLU, co-hosted the Unlock the Box Campaign’s 2019 annual convening. During the event, Professor Mendez gave a presentation on the Revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules). Professor Mendez discussed some of the provisions of the Mandela Rules that address solitary confinement, litigation around solitary confinement, his and the ATI’s role in the updating of the original Standard Minimum Rules, and developments around solitary confinement post-adoption of the Mandela Rules.
October 19, 2015: Implementation of the Mandela Rules (Revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners) - side Event at the 70th UN General Assembly Meeting. Professor Mendez was a panelist in a discussion about the SMRs, and highlighted issues related to solitary confinement, instruments of restraint, and the independence of healthcare professionals. Although the updated Rules compromise in a number of areas, the revised rules nevertheless reflect real progress and contain a number of practical elements that directly and indirectly provide prisoners with increased protection from torture and other ill-treatment.
March 11, 2014: The Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners under Review: Preventing Torture and Ill-Treatment- side Event, 25th Session of the Human Rights Council, Palais des Nations, Geneva. This side event featured a panel discussion of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMRs), in the run-up to the 3rd intergovernmental expert meeting on the review of the SMRs in late March of 2014.
October 22, 2013: Reviewing the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMR)—Preventing Torture and Ill-Treatment - side event at the 68th Session of the Third Committee of the General Assembly, New York. The side event informed Member States about the ongoing targeted review of the SMRs and aimed to motivate States to consider participating in a subsequent Expert Group meeting in Brasilia, Brazil in early December 2013. The panel discussed the Special Rapporteur on torture’s recommendations in his thematic report on the SMRs (A/68/295), and the proposed targeted revisions to the SMRs in areas such as the: principle of humane treatment of persons deprived of liberty, medical and health services, disciplinary action and punishment, and solitary confinement.
October 23, 2013: Cárceles: la falta de libertad debe ser la única pena
In an interview with UN radio (Radio ONU), Professor Méndez discussed the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
July 10, 2013: Consultation with leading international experts to review the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the ways in which the Rules can effectively prevent torture and ill-treatment.