UN Nelson Mandela Rule: Prisoners Wear Their Own Clothes Outside of Prison

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According to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, named after Nelson Mandela, prisoners cannot be made to wear identical uniforms outside of prison.

As well as being against the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, lawyers and politicians also expressed their opposition to the new Statutory Decree, objecting that it is against the Constitution and basic human rights.

They object because the regulation states that when the prisoner is, for example, leaving the prison and going to their hearing at the court, the clothing they wear is prescribed by the law and the prison administration.

However, according to the Nelson Mandela Rules, prisoners must be allowed to wear their own clothing when outside the prison. In these rules, it is stated that prisoners can wear a uniform inside the prison, but they wear their own clothes when leaving the prison.

The new Statutory Decree no. 696 states that prisoners prosecuted under article 5275 of the Turkish Penal Code, which covers those arrested or convicted of crimes under the Anti-Terror Law, shall wear uniforms provided by the prison administration when being taken outside the prison to court hearings.

In a statement released by the group Civil Society in the Penal System - Turkey's Center for Prison Studies (CISST/TCPS) opposing this change, it was emphasized that prisoners who refuse to wear these uniforms can be subject to disciplinary punishment, specifically the revocation of family visitation rights. (AS/LN)