A/HRC/13/39 D. Corporal punishment 63. In its pervasiveness, impact on the victim and justifications put forward by its proponents, corporal punishment of children in the home and in educational settings differs from corporal punishment that is administered as part of a judicial sentence in a number of States. A separate problem is the corporal chastisement of detainees as a disciplinary sanction that the Special Rapporteur has witnessed in many countries. What is common to all these forms of corporal punishment, however, is that physical force is used intentionally against a person in order to cause severe pain. Furthermore, without exception, corporal punishment has a degrading and humiliating component. Corporal punishment must therefore without exception be considered to amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or torture in violation of international treaty and customary law. E. Conditions of detention 64. Deprivation of personal liberty, which is one of the most precious human rights, is an indispensible tool of criminal justice. However, what is often forgotten, is that detainees should continue to enjoy all other liberties and human rights, unless further restrictions are absolutely necessary for upholding prison discipline or for similar justified reasons. As the Special Rapporteur described in his most recent report to the General Assembly,16 the reality in most countries is totally different. Since it is an essential element of fact-finding during country missions to visit prisons, police lock-ups, closed psychiatric institutions and other places of detention, the Special Rapporteur had a fairly comprehensive insight into the conditions of detention around the world. In many countries, he was shocked by the way human beings are treated in detention. In this regard, he is most concerned about the structural deprivation of most human rights, notably the rights to food, water, clothing, health care and a minimum of space, hygiene, privacy and security necessary for a humane and dignified existence. It is the combined deprivation and non-fulfilment of these existential rights which amounts to a systematic practice of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and, around the world, there is an urgent need to ensure more respect for detainees and improve conditions of detention: the respect shown for the detainees is a mirror of a country’s general human rights culture. VI. Non-refoulement 65. The principle of non-refoulement is an important principle codified in several international instruments, considered part of international customary law and reflected in international jurisprudence prohibiting the return or extradition of a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he or she would face the risk of being tortured.17 States are thus not only prohibited from subjecting persons to torture but also from sending them to States where they face that risk, or through indirect or “chain” 16 17 GE.10-10042 A/64/215. Convention against Torture, art. 3. See also Human Rights Committee, Kindler v. Canada, communication No. 470/1991, 1993, para. 13.2; general comment No. 20 on art. 7, para. 9; European Court of Human Rights, Jabari v. Turkey, 11 July 2000, para. 38; M. Nowak, UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. CCPR Commentary, second edition (Kehl, Engel, 2005), art. 7, para. 45; Declaration on Territorial Asylum, 1967; General Assembly resolutions 37/195 and 48/116; San Remo Declaration on the Principle of Non-Refoulement; and Executive Committee of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, Conclusions on International Protection Nos. 25 (1982), 55 (1989) and 79 (1996). 17