A/HRC/44/37 persons deprived of their liberty must be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person (see A/68/261). A core defining element of deprivation of liberty is the inability of those who are detained to protect themselves, as their daily life is largely dependent on the decisions taken by the personnel in detention facilities. When it resorts to deprivation of liberty, a State therefore undertakes a duty of care and special responsibility towards those held in detention (A/HRC/30/19, para. 8, and A/HRC/42/20, para. 35). 12. The Tokyo Rules, Mandela Rules and Bangkok Rules provide valuable guidance on a wide variety of issues to States as they elaborate the content of the provisions to protect persons deprived of their liberty that are enshrined in human rights treaties. 13. The Tokyo Rules provide a set of basic principles to promote the use of non-custodial measures, as well as minimum safeguards for people subject to alternatives to imprisonment. In order to address a gap in international standards on addressing the needs of women in the criminal justice system, the Bangkok Rules were adopted in 2010. The 70 Bangkok Rules supplement the Mandela Rules and the Tokyo Rules, acknowledging that the causes and consequences of deprivation of liberty for women are gendered and that women and girls in prison have gender-specific characteristics and needs (A/HRC/41/33, para. 13). The Bangkok Rules provide guidance to policymakers, legislators, sentencing authorities and prison staff on a wide variety of issues, including gender-sensitive alternatives to pretrial detention and sentencing post-conviction.7 14. The Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners were adopted by the United Nations in 1955. In 2015 a revised version was adopted, updating the text in eight key areas and is known as the Mandela Rules. They provide a minimum set of standards for the treatment of prisoners and represent a key framework for monitoring and inspection bodies. The 122 Rules cover all aspects of prison management and outline the agreed minimum standards for the treatment of prisoners, whether pretrial or convicted. The Mandela Rules have been used as a blueprint for the drafting of national prison rules globally. 8 II. Technical cooperation to promote and protect the rights of persons deprived of their liberty: implementation of the Mandela and Bangkok Rules 15. Working closely with States, civil society and persons deprived of liberty, OHCHR aims to safeguard the human rights and dignity of persons deprived of their liberty. Guided by international human rights standards, OHCHR, in particular through its field presences, conducts visits to places of deprivation of liberty, monitoring the conditions of and the legal basis for detention. It provides advice on the legal and policy reforms needed to ensure compliance with international norms and standards relating to deprivation of liberty and provides training for judges, prosecutors, lawyers and corrections staff on relevant international norms and standards. For instance, in 2018 OHCHR conducted over 2,000 visits to places of detention. Through monitoring and subsequent technical assistance programmes, OHCHR supports States in their efforts to improve prison conditions and the protection of persons deprived of their liberty. 16. Issues relating to the protection of persons deprived of their liberty are also raised and dealt with by numerous international mechanisms on a regular basis. Human rights mechanisms such as the treaty bodies, the special procedures and the universal periodic review, frequently refer to the Mandela and Bangkok Rules. Treaty bodies request States to indicate, in initial and periodic reports, the extent to which they are applying standards included in the Mandela and Bangkok Rules and regularly refer to them in their concluding observations and individual communications. The specialized expertise of each mechanism contributes to increasing the level of protection for persons deprived of their liberty. 9 7 8 9 4 See, for example, Penal Reform International and the Thailand Institute of Justice, Guidance Document and Index of Implementation on the United Nations Rules on the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules), (2013). Ibid. See, for example, A/68/261, para. 64, A/HRC/30/19, A/HRC/42/20 and A/HRC/41/33.