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UN experts highlight sanitation access for detainees on World Toilet Day
Three UN experts are calling for access to proper sanitation for all, including those detained in prisons and other state-run institutions.
Family living in the street
The two special rapporteurs and one independent expert-whose areas of expertise concern water and sanitation, health, and torture-are making their call in a statement on World Toilet Day, observed each year on November 19.
They point out that more than two billion people worldwide lack access to proper sanitation, resulting in 1.8 million deaths each year. Therefore, they say, it is clear that sanitation itself is a human rights issue.
The experts say states must ensure that everyone, including people in detention, has access to safe sanitation. Without it, detention conditions are "inhumane, and contrary to the basic human dignity which underpins all human rights."
They note that access to sanitation is fundamental for a life in dignity, which all people are entitled to.
Dianne Penn, UN Radio.
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