Human Rights in Dutch Prisons: Prisoners’ Views

Abstract

Interviews with Dutch prisoners on their views on human rights in prison highlight the instrumental contribution of human rights to the legitimacy of imprisonment as punishment in a democracy governed by the rule of law. Human rights recognition and protection normalise the prison experience and give imprisonment a purpose as they create conditions that promote prisoners’ social and civic emancipation. As a result, human rights civilise the prison experience and connect the prison as a social institution to the wider social environment in which it operates.