An ICRC staff member discusses with a group of detainees with the aim of assessing living conditions in the prison. The ICRC's detention work seeks to ensure those detained receive humane and dignified treatment throughout their time in detention. Their families must also at all times be aware of their fate and be able to be in contact with and/or visit them.
CC BY-NC-ND/ICRC/Pedram Yazdi
Utensils used in a place of detention in Somalia. Hygiene and access to clean water are always a concern. The ICRC may support places of detention to improve access to clean water and overall hygiene. Detainees must be provided
with water and food, sufficient in quantity and quality to ensure good health.
CC BY-NC-ND/ICRC/Pedram Yazdi
A member of the ICRC's Somali delegation explains to detainees the purpose of his visit. He uses a detention newsletter to illustrate the goals of other similar visits. The newsletter describes the <a href="http://goo.gl/d4XKqn" target="_blank">ICRC’s detention work in Somalia</a> and is available online in both English and Somali.
CC BY-NC-ND/ICRC/Pedram Yazdi
Private and confidential! An ICRC staff member having a confidential one-on-one session with a detainee in Somalia about his situation. These private talks allow detainees to speak freely, which helps ICRC staff to better understand and assess their conditions and treatment. The ICRC’s detention work aims to ensure dignified and humane treatment of those detained.
CC BY-NC-ND/ICRC/Pedram Yazdi
An ICRC staff member having a private talk with three detainees.
CC BY-NC-ND/ICRC/Pedram Yazdi
An ICRC staff member takes notes while talking to detainees through a prison cell door. Through its detention work, the ICRC strives to ensure that detainees are given proper shelter, appropriate hygiene and sanitary facilities, as well as access to sufficient quantities of clean water.
CC BY-NC-ND/ICRC/Pedram Yazdi
An ICRC staff member talks to detainees in a cell. The ICRC strives for dignity in detention by ensuring people deprived of their freedom are treated humanely and held in living conditions that meet international standards.
The ICRC has been visiting people in places of detention in Somalia since 2012. Those visits – made to ensure that detainees benefit from humane and dignified treatment – are carried out in prisons, police stations and state security agencies. The ICRC works to support the unique needs of detainees, their families and the authorities responsible for places of detention. Detention poses a unique challenge for all these groups. The photos in this slideshow represent one such visit.
