Topic: 2025 – Treatment of Prisoners
Country: Ireland
Delegate Name: Liv Mardiros
Around the world, detention systems face challenges including overcrowding, inadequate healthcare, poor infrastructure, violence, and limited or absent rehabilitation programs. The UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules establish a universal minimum for humane treatment of detainees, with a focus on disciplinary limits and independent oversight. Like many countries, the Republic of Ireland is confronting rising pressure within its own system: our incarceration rate has increased 12% between 2022 and 2023, which is among the highest in Western Europe, and the cost of adequate prison space has reached 96,000 USD. National attention to this issue within the Republic of Ireland reflects similar global trends, which highlights the need for coordinated action that smaller nations like Ireland cannot take alone without strong support from the UN. This urgency aligns with the Republic of Ireland’s Global Ireland initiative, launched in 2018 to expand our global engagement and strengthen our influence by the end of 2025. Core values of this initiative include advocating and securing equal rights for women and LGBTQ+ people, eliminating global hunger, and providing for those with disabilities in conflict zones. These rights extend directly to Ireland’s position on international prison reform, which states that people deprived of liberty must not lose access to fundamental humane treatment.
Ireland has already implemented independent inspection systems that align with the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) in the form of our Inspector of Prisons. Other UN members have also found solutions in independent monitors: the United Kingdom’s volunteer-based Independent Monitoring Board and Norway’s National Preventative Mechanism both are examples of how external oversight can prevent abuse and build transparency. Norway’s system in particular focuses on rehabilitation through education, normalized living conditions, and skill development. Additionally, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime has long stressed crime-reduction methods such as drug-treatment programs and reducing the stigma and barriers to access of mental health services. The Republic of Ireland aims to follow the examples set out by other countries and multilateral institutions to create spaces that provide vulnerable groups safety against assault and violence before, during, and after incarceration.
Many other nations, however, are not following the Mandela Rules provided by the UN. Overcrowding, inadequate medical care, lack of independent oversight, and insufficient access to rehabilitation services, are just a few of the myriad of widespread issues affecting prison systems. These conditions and failures outright violate the established Mandela Rules, contributing to cycles of abuse, instability, and reoffending. Ireland recognizes that this situation demands global attention. By letting this treatment in prisons continue, Ireland compromises our own values written in our founding documents and furthered by the Global Ireland initiative. Reports from UN Special Rapporteurs confirm that progress by UN initiatives is uneven, and that stronger implementation of existing standards is imperative. Ireland believes that supporting independent oversight, such as Ireland’s Inspector of Prisons, is key to fulfilling OPCAT obligations, and the UN must encourage member states to enforce this oversight by providing skills training and resources for their independent monitoring bodies. Mandating transparency and regular publishing of detention data could better direct the UN on which problems need the most urgent solutions.
The Delegation of Ireland remains firmly committed to advancing the humane treatment of all people deprived of liberty and upholding the standards set out by the UN in the Mandela Rules and OPCAT. Stronger, more transparent, and more enforceable international measures are needed to protect detainees’ dignity and rights, improve access to rehabilitation, and expand independent oversight. Member states must work together to strengthen each other’s accountability as the need for coordinated action will only grow more dire as violations pile up. The Human Rights Council has a responsibility to address these ongoing concerns with urgency, as conditions within detention systems worldwide continue to deteriorate and degrade detainees.
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2. “Facts & Figures.” https://www.iprt.ie/prison-facts-2/.
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4. “Making a Difference.” Independent Monitoring Boards, n.d. https://imb.org.uk/about-us/making-difference/.
5. Sivilombudet. “Torture Prevention.” Accessed November 24, 2025. https://www.sivilombudet.no/en/torture-prevention/.
6. United Nations : Office on Drugs and Crime. “UNODC Crime Prevention.” www.unodc.org/unodc/en/justice-and-prison-reform/cpcj-crimeprevention-home.html.
