Detention

• Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War ("Third Geneva Convention"), 12 August 1949 (Article 126)
• Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War ("Fourth Geneva Convention"), 12 August 1949 (Article 143)
• Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, 28 July 1951 (Article 26 and 31)
• Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 28 September 1954 (Article 26)
• Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 24 April 1963 (Article 36(b)-(c))
• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 21 December 1965 (article 15(4))
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966 (Article 9, 10, 12, 14 and 24)
• Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 10 December 1984 (Article 10 and 11); Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 18 December 2002 (Article 4, 12, 14, 19 and 20)
• Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989 (Article 37)
• International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, 18 December 1990 (Article 16, 17 and 18)
• Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, Supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 15 December 2005 (Article 5)
• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 13 December 2006 (Article 14 and 18)
• International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, 20 December 2006 (Article 17 and 23)
• General comment no. 35, Article 9 (Liberty and security of person), 16 December 2014

Declarations and Resolutions Related to Detention and Freedom of Movement

• Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December 1948 (Article 3, 9, 10 and 13)
• Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, 30 August 1955
• United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice ("The Beijing Rules"), 29 November 1985
• Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, 9 December 1988
• United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Their Liberty, 14 December 1990
• United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures ("The Tokyo Rules"), 14 December 1990
• Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Report of the Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Francis M. Deng, submitted pursuant to Commission resolution 1997/39 - Addendum, E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, 11 February 1998 (Article 10 and 12)
• Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Annex II, Deliberation No. 5 - Situation regarding immigrants and asylum-seekers, E/CN.4/2000/4, 28 December 1999
• Recommendation Rec(2006)2 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on the European Prison Rules, 11 January 2006
• Resolution 1/08, Principles and Best Practices on the Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 13 March 2008 (Principle VIII and XXVI)
• United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) : note / by the Secretariat, UN General Assembly, A/C.3/65/L.5, 6 October 2010
• United Nations, Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, The Mandela Rules, UN General Assembly, A/RES/70/175, 8 January 2016

UNHCR Policy, Research and Other Documents Related to Detention

• Baseline Report - Detention situation as of end 2013. Beyond Detention: A Global Strategy to support governments to end the detention of asylum-seeker and refugees, 2014-2019, August 2016
• Progress Report mid-2016. Beyond Detention: A Global Strategy to support governments to end the detention of asylum-seeker and refugees, 2014-2019, August 2016
• Policy on Detention Monitoring, UNHCR/HCP/2015/7, 3 December 2015
• Memorandum of Understanding between the Association for the Prevention of Torture and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 30 October 2015
• Second Global Roundtable on Reception and Alternatives to Detention: Summary of deliberations, August 2015
• Options Paper 1: Options for governments on care arrangements and alternatives to detention for children and families, 2015
• Options Paper 2: Options for governments on open reception and alternatives to detention, 2015
• Beyond Detention: A Global Strategy to support governments to end the detention of asylum-seeker and refugees, 2014-2019, 2014
• Building Empirical Research into Alternatives to Detention: Perceptions of Asylum-Seekers and Refugees in Toronto and Geneva, PPLA/2013/02, June 2013
• Memorandum of Understanding between the International Detention Coalition and The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 13 June 2013
• Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers and Alternatives to Detention, 2012
• UNHCR's Revised Guidelines on Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers, February 1999
• Article 31 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees: Non-Penalization, Detention and Protection, Global Consultations on International Protection/Second Track, June 2003
• Alternatives to Detention of Asylum Seekers and Refugees, Legal and Protection Policy Research Series, POLAS/2006/03, April 2006
• Back to Basics: The Right to Liberty and Security of Person and 'Alternatives to Detention' of Refugees, Asylum-Seekers, Stateless Persons and Other Migrants, Legal and Protection Policy Research Series, PPLA/2011/01.Rev.1, April 2011
• Global Roundtable on Alternatives to Detention of Asylum-Seekers, Refugees, Migrants and Stateless Persons: Summary Conclusions, July 2011
• Canada/USA Bi-National Roundtable on Alternatives to Detention of Asylum Seekers, Refugees, Migrants and Stateless Persons, February 2013

UNHCR ExCom and Standing Committee

• Executive Committee Conclusion No. 44 (XXXVII) - 1986, Detention of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers, 13 October 1986 (in French)
• Thematic Compilation of Executive Committee Conclusions [Chapter on "Detention], Seventh edition, June 2014
• Detention of Asylum-Seekers and Refugees: The Framework, the Problem and Recommended Practice, EC/49/SC/CRP.13, 4 June 1999
• Note on Accession to International Instruments and the Detention of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers, EC/SCP/44, 19 August 1986

Other Policy and Research Documents Related to Detention

• Synthesis Report – The Use of Detention and Alternatives to Detention in the Context of Immigration Policies, European Migration Network (EMN), November 2014
• The use of detention and alternatives to detention in the context of immigration policies, European Migration Network (EMN), November 2014
• Forced Migration Review No. 44 - Detention, alternatives to detention, and deportation, Refugee Studies Centre, September 2013
• Fundamental Rights at Europe's Southern Sea Borders, European Union: European Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2013
• Captured Childhood: Introducing a new model to ensure the rights and liberty of refugee, asylum seeker and Irregular migrant children affected by Immigration detention, International Detention Coalition, 2012
• Separated, asylum-seeking children in European Union Member States, European Union: European Agency for Fundamental Rights, 978-92-9192-653-4, 7 December 2011
• Detention of third country nationals in return procedures, European Union: European Agency for Fundamental Rights, 30 November 2010
• JRS Europe Policy Position on Alternatives to Detention, Jesuit Refugee Service, 4 October 2012
• IDC's 10 point position on immigration detention, International Detention Coalition, July 2011
• The issue of immigration detention at the UN level: Recent developments relevant to the work of the International Detention Coalition, International Detention Coalition, January 2011
• Legal framework and standards relating to the detention of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, Melbourne: The International Detention Coalition, 2011
• Torture in International Law - A Guide to Jurisprudence, Association for the Prevention of Torture and Center for Justice and International Law, 2008
• Visiting Places of Detention. What Role for Physician and other Professionals?, Association for the Prevention of Torture, 2008
• Migration-Related Detention: a research guide on human rights standard relevant to the detention of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees, Amnesty International, POL 33/005/2007, 1 November 2007
• Position on the Detention of Asylum Seekers, European Council on Refugees and Exiles, April 1996
• Immigration, Asylum and Detention, European Council on Refugees and Exiles, June 2004
• Visiting Places of Detention, Lessons Learnt and Practices of Selected Domestic Institutions, Association for the Prevention of Torture, May 2004
• Research Paper on Alternatives to Detention; Practical Alternatives to the Administrative Detention of Asylum Seekers and Rejected Asylum Seekers, European Council on Refugees and Exiles, September 1997

Documents Related to Detention

• Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment A/HRC/28/68, 5 March 2015
• All reports by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
• All reports relating to "Human rights violations / Arbitrary arrest and detention" by all sources
• All reports relating to "Prison or detention conditions" by all sources
• All reports relating to "Immigration law / Detention" by all sources