HIV/AIDS and human rights in prison. The Costa Rican experience

HIV and AIDS issues deal directly with Human Rights and Public Health. Four basic principles have been acknowledged internationally in connection with HIV/AIDS: Autonomy, confidentiality, right to health and non-discrimination. According to these principles, it is not possible to adopt illegal or unethical measures toward HIV- infected persons. However, these may rarely be necessary in the case of prisoners, taking into account the possibilities of unpredictable behavior, violence and use of drugs, which are common in prisons. The World Health Organization as well as the United Nations have established the possibility of taking measures, different from those outside the jail, that may be illegal but necessary in order to protect the human rights of inmates, the general prison population and the security of the penitentiary system. Therefore coercive measures such as isolation may be imposed upon an inmate infected by HIV when he or she deliberately may try to infect others. This paper examines different types of situations dealing with HIV/AIDS in prison and reviews the international recommendations and the way the Costa Rican legal and penitentiary system have adopted them in accordance with its legal system and national prison characteristics.