💡 isolation ward
Also known as: separation ward, Solitary confinement cell, punishment block, Safety of Incarcerated People, Mailboxes, Solitary Confinement, Disciplinary Unit
Section of a penitentiary unit where incarcerated people are confined separately from the general population, usually as a disciplinary measure (punishment) or for security reasons. Liberté considers isolation to be torture.
The isolation ward is a specific area within a penitentiary unit designed to keep incarcerated people separated from the general prison population. Its use may respond to disciplinary reasons, institutional security, or, in some cases, a request from the person themselves for their own protection. In practice, it implies a severe restriction of communal life: access to educational, work, recreational, and social activities is limited.
From a human rights perspective, prolonged isolation is challenged by national and international bodies, who equate it in extreme cases with cruel or degrading treatment. In the context of Cooperativa Liberté and the Unidad Penal N°15 in Batán, the conversion of Ward 7 —historically used for isolation— into a space with a different purpose represents a concrete step toward more dignified conditions of confinement oriented toward integration.
Liberté considers isolation to be torture.