Prison Incident Management Handbook Strengthening a country’s capacity to develop, maintain and manage a viable, safe, secure and humane prison system is an integral part of sustainable, nationally-owned peace- building efforts and an important building block for preventing relapse into conflict. This Prison Incident Management Handbook is intended to provide guidance to United Nations corrections officers and other partners that assist national prison authorities in addressing the many prison security challenges. It provides a framework to maintain good order in prisons and exercise safe and humane control of prisoners. © UN 2013 – All rights reserved Cover images: © UN Photo Design and layout: Rick Jones ([email protected]) Prison Incident Management Handbook Foreword s trengthening a country’s capacity to develop, maintain and manage a viable, safe, secure and humane prison system is an integral part of sustainable, nationally-owned peace-building efforts and an important building block for preventing relapse into conflict. Prison authorities are often overwhelmed with challenges and, in an already fragile environment, the capacity of national authorities to prevent or effectively man- age prison security incidents, such as mass escapes or riots, can significantly impact peace and stability. United nations corrections personnel deployed by the department of Field support (dFs) and the department of Peacekeeping operations (dPko) assist host countries to address prison security gaps, overcrowding, infrastructure needs, and the water, food, health and sanitation requirements of prisoners. they also train national prison personnel and assist the authorities in the development and implementation of prison- related policies and procedures. to support the activities of United nations personnel in the field, the criminal Law and Judicial advisory service of the dPko office of rule of Law and security institutions has developed a growing body of operational policies, guidance materials and lessons learned studies. this Prison incident Management Handbook, endorsed by dPko and dFs, is intended to provide guidance to United nations corrections officers and other partners that assist national prison authorities in addressing the many prison security challenges. it provides a framework to maintain good order in prisons and exercise safe and humane control of prisoners. the publication of this handbook comes at a time when dPko and the United nations development Programme have jointly assumed the responsibility of a global Focal Point for the police, justice and corrections areas in the rule of law in post-conflict and other crisis situations. this new arrangement presents a unique and exciting oppor- tunity for the United nations to enhance the predictability, coherence, accountability and effectiveness of its assistance efforts in these areas. We wish to express our deepest appreciation to all United nations departments, agen- cies, funds and programmes who contributed to the development of this handbook. 2 Prison incident ManageMent Handbook i n particular, we would like to recognize the contributions of United nations correc- tions officers in the field for their perspectives, insights and shared experiences that shaped this handbook into a practical and user-friendly guide on managing prison security incidents. Hervé Ladsous Ameerah Haq United nations Under-secretary-general United nations Under-secretary-general for Peacekeeping operations for Field support ForeWord 3 acknowledgements t he Prison incident Management Handbook was developed through a collaborative effort of a wide range of actors from within the Unitedn ations, corrections experts, academics and policy-makers. the criminal Law and Judicial advisory service (cLJas) of the office of rule and Law and security institutions (oroLsi) in the department of Peacekeeping operations (dPko) would like to thank the numerous United nations agencies, departments, funds and programmes at within the United nations, who con- tributed to the development of this handbook. Donor this handbook would not have been possible without the generous funding provided by the government of canada. We are grateful for canada’s continued support to rule of law in peacekeeping missions. Consultant We thank Mr. drury allen, who over a period of two years worked closely with cLJas and its key partners through an ongoing consultative process in the development of this handbook. Contributors the bulk of the development of this handbook was undertaken by United nations dPko staff. We recognize the valuable contributions from the corrections components of dPko Missions, in particular binUca, MinUstaH, MonUsco, UnaMa, UnaMid, UnMit, UnMiL, UnMiss, and Unoci. We also want to thank the various oroLsi components who engaged in the process from gathering information to editing the final draft. Reviewers Finally, we appreciate all our partners who contributed their perspectives, ideas and comments. While all contributions were taken into consideration, the final product does not necessarily reflect all inputs for reasons of limitations to the specific technical theme on managing prison incidents and the related purpose of the handbook. thanks to icrc, oHcHr, UndP, Unodc, and Penal reform international. 4 Prison incident ManageMent Handbook contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Key Concepts .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 01 Chapter 1 Principles of Prison Security: Good Order and Control ................................................................... 11 Chapter 2 Maintaining Good Order ........................................................................................................................................................... 51 a. operational frameworks 15 b. accountability 16 c. operational capacity and competence 19 staff capacity 19 staff competence 19 d. elements of dynamic security 21 Prisoner classification 23 Prisoner supervision and movement control 24 searching 28 staff patrols 31 e. contingency planning 32 scenarios, simulations and table-top exercises 35 Chapter 3 Maintaining Control ........................................................................................................................................................................ 74 a. static security 47 Perimeter security 47 Prisoner accommodation 51 Prisoner exercise areas 51 contents 5 Visiting areas 52 other prison buildings 52 key control 53 armoury 54 b. incident management 55 1. respond 55 2. isolate and contain 56 3. report and record 56 4. identify response resources 57 5. Manage the incident 57 6. resume normal prison routines 58 7. review actions 58 c. Use of force 59 Use of force continuum 60 Use of force in a problem-solving context 64 authority for the use of force 65 Managing vulnerable prisoners 65 Annex 1 Common Causes of Major Disturbances, Riots and Mass Escapes ................................... 17 Annex 2 Lessons Learned and Recommendations from Mission Visits ............................................... 67 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 89 6 Prison incident ManageMent Handbook introduction t his handbook has been prepared to assist corrections advisors on assignment with United nations peacekeeping operations to advise national prison management on prison security and incident management. it includes principles, conceptual frameworks and suggestions to help mitigate and prevent mass escapes and prison disturbances in mission settings. the handbook provides suggested courses of action for corrections advisors and should guide discussions with prison management related to good order and control in the management of prison security. it is based on extensive lessons learned from field missions ins outh sudan, Liberia, the democratic republic of the congo (drc) and Haiti. suggestions and knowledge gained from advisors in the field are highlighted in italics throughout the handbook.i n addi- tion, annex 3 provides recommendations and suggested courses of action to address issues identified and raised during mission visits, based on observations by experienced corrections advisors. the handbook was developed to address critical prison security challenges in post- conflict countries.a number of major prison disturbances or mass escapes have occurred in United nations missions, some involving loss of life or serious injuries to prisoners, staff or members of the public.t hese incidents call into question the ability of a prison service to maintain good order and exercise control over prisoners, and the ability of the United nations to support host countries and national authorities in their capacity to respond to security incidents. the extent to which prisoners feel that they are treated as human beings, are kept informed, and know their rights, obligations and responsibilities affects the overall culture and climate of a prison. it also determines, to a large extent, the type of incident that occurs. the causes of frequent prison disturbances and escapes include: blockages in the