[Penitentiary medicine and the Rights of Man]

Penitentiary medicine combines preventive medicine and treatment which are for the most part carried out in renovated structures. Other than the usual illnesses, these services and their personal are confronted with specific pathologies due to stress, tobacco consumption, insomnia, inactivity, distress, but also hunger strikes and self-mutilation. One particular concern is AIDS and its formidable complications, notably tuberculosis. The important role played by psychiatry and psychotherapeutic support in penitentiary medicine cannot be emphasized enough. Not only are many of the inmates alcoholics or drugs users, many of them are also starved for communication. The Ahens statement (1987), a true codicil of Human Rights, developed by the International Council of Penitentiary Medical Services, formally prohibits doctors to practice any form of torture or experimental medical operations on inmates, and puts medical priority above and beyond any administrative or judiciary considerations. This message is applicable to all prisons, regardless of countries: Europe, the Americas, Africa, Pacific or other. As President of the Council, we have distributed this message throughout the world, to all the various United Nations Agencies, thus teaching Human Rights, including prisoners' rights, in a concrete fashion.