Prison must respect human dignity and rights says Mattarella

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 15 - Prisons must respect the dignity of detainees and their individual rights, President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella said on Thursday. "The restriction, even of a temporary nature, of freedom resulting from the application of rules of law intended to protect the collectivity must be respectful of the dignity of the person," said Mattarella in a message to the National Guarantor for Persons Deprived of their Liberty, Mauro Palma, on the occasion of his annual report to parliament.
    The role of the prisons ombudsman involves "balancing the function of prevention with that of making proposals in order to ensure the full application of constitutional principles to protect individual rights," he added.
    The head of state praised the office of the guarantor for its "commitment in all areas of interest to give value to the time spent in detention and to promote the social reintegration and recovery of the subjectivity of prisoners". (ANSA).