A/HRC/8/3 page 26 violence has also been addressed in detail by the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment90 and by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.91 The path to reform 75. States should develop plans to reassert responsible control over their prison populations and to effectively protect prisoners from each other. In some cases, such as when prisoner authorities are also gang-leaders, this is undeniably challenging: if prisoners are segregated according to gang affiliation, the perpetuation of gang control will be encouraged; if prisoners are not segregated, prisoners from rival gangs may kill each other. The complexity of the challenge is significant, and optimal solutions will no doubt vary from country to country. It is possible, however, to identify some of the basic tools Governments have at their disposal, 90 “Countries should take effective measures to prevent prisoner-on-prisoner violence by investigating reports of such violence, prosecuting and punishing those responsible, and offering protective custody to vulnerable individuals, without marginalizing them from the prison population more than necessitated by the needs of protection and without rendering them at further risk of ill-treatment. Training programmes should be considered to sensitize prison officials as to the importance of taking effective steps to prevent and remedy prisoner-on-prisoner abuse and to provide them with the means to do so. In accordance with the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, prisoners should be segregated along the lines of gender, age and seriousness of the crime, as well as first-time/repeat offenders and pretrial/convicted detainees” A/56/156, para. 39 (i). 91 The European Committee has reached similar conclusions, although it has placed greater emphasis on the role of supervision by staff: “Tackling the phenomenon of inter-prisoner violence requires that prison staff be placed in a position, including in terms of staffing levels, to exercise their authority and their supervisory tasks in an appropriate manner. Prison staff must be alert to signs of trouble and be both resolved and properly trained to intervene when necessary. The existence of positive relations between staff and prisoners, based on the notions of secure custody and care, is a decisive factor in this context; this will depend in large measure on staff possessing appropriate interpersonal communication skills. Further, management must be prepared fully to support staff in the exercise of their authority. Specific security measures adapted to the particular characteristics of the situation encountered (including effective search procedures) may well be required; however, such measures can never be more than an adjunct to the above-mentioned basic imperatives. In addition, the prison system needs to address the issue of the appropriate classification and distribution of prisoners.” European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), 11th General Report on the CPT’s activities, covering the period 1 January to 31 December 2000 (Strasbourg, 3 September 2001), para. 27.