When a person is imprisoned they lose the right to freedom, but the rest of their rights as a human being should remain.

This means that nobody should be denied clean water, adequate food, or emergency medical care simply because they are in prison. 

Last year, Prisoners Abroad sent survival grants to 348 people detained in 49 countries. These grants meant that British prisoners could buy the food and water they needed to stay alive. We believe every prisoner has a right to be given food and water of a standard that means they can stay healthy.

We asked our small but very dedicated community, those willing to stand up for the human rights of prisoners and who ensure that we can support over 1,600 British prisoners every single year, to write three words or a short phrase that comes to mind whey think about the human rights of prisoners. 

This is what we heard:

Human rights are non-negotiable.

Food and hope regardless of guilt. 

Inhumanity, torture, water.

Humanity = Right to live without hunger. Right to live without fear. Right to live with hope. 

Compassion, justice, humanity. 

Dignity, inclusion, hope. 

Shouldn't be a privilege. 

Food, water, contact. 

Essential in a civilised society. Treat other as you would be treated yourself. 

You deserve life. 

Dignity, resilience, compassion. 

Strength, hope, think positive. 

Dignity, safety, compassion. 

Desperate, shame, denied. 

Clean water, good food, humane treatment. 

Unrecognised, disregarded, abused.

Sufficient and adequate nourishment, cleanliness and medical care. 

Human needs matter. 

Safety, physical health, mental health. 

Toothache, lipsol, hope. 

Prisoners are humans. 

Dignity, nourishment including water, torture free. 

Just keep going. 

Prisoners deserve respect, care and rehabilitation. 

Food, medicine, communication. 

Courage, hope, resilience. 

Inadequate, unchecked, unavailable in placed. 

Ignored, non-existent, uncaring.

Ignored, vital, fragile. 

Fellow human beings. 

Hope, compassion, love. 

Respect, dignity, consideration. 

Compassion, kindness, care. 

Attachment theory says: love is inherent to ourselves, we were born for love, no matter what we do it against. Forgiveness can always heal and bring love back.  

Thank you to everyone who took part in this campaign. As one of Prisoners Abroad's trustees, Lord David Neuberger, was the President of the UK Supreme Court from 2012 to 2017, we asked him to share what UK human rights meant for him in practice, this is what he said:

"When I became a judge in 1996, there was no coherent system of Human Rights in English law; as just one example, the right not to be imprisoned without trial was vague.

Two years later, Parliament passed the Human Rights Act and the UK finally had a modern code of fundamental rights. From a moral angle, this meant that judges could help people more effectively and more widely than before. The courts could now protect individuals from unreasonable actions by government in many more situations than before. This was particularly true for minorities and the vulnerable, such as children, prisoners and asylum seekers. There have since been many cases where people in UK prisons have had rights upheld which they didn’t have before – cases involving early release, parole, privacy, and fair treatment, for example.

It was a privilege and a responsibility to be able to assist people who were less fortunate. It was a privilege to be able to stand up for the rights of people who are being oppressed by the government (and to be fair, almost always unintentionally). However, this was also a responsibility, as however much one may sympathise with an individual, it is always important to remember that the country has to be run efficiently as well as fairly for the benefit of everyone.”

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Being offered a lifeline can change everything. 

Prisoners Abroad translates human rights law into practical life-saving actions by providing prisoners access to vitamins and essential food, emergency medical care, freepost envelopes to keep in touch with home and books and magazines to help sustain mental health. 

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