Ghislaine Maxwell’s family complains prison breaching UN’s ‘Nelson Mandela’ rules of dignity

Ms Maxwell’s lawyers have complained that the jail subjected her to isolation, dirty drinking water, and ‘inadequate’ food

The family of disgraced British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has said that the New York jail in which she is being held violated the United Nation’s Nelson Mandela rules of dignity for prisons, subjecting her to inhuman treatment.

The Twitter account run by the siblings of Ms Maxwell — with the name “Real Ghislaine” — said the conditions she faced in jail are so inhuman that they violate the 2015 rules adopted by the US.

“Under the United Nations Standard Minimal Rules adopted in 2015 for the treatment of prisoners – ‘The Nelson Mandela Rules’ — to which the US is a party, Ghislaine has been subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,” the family said.

Ms Maxwell is being held at the Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Centre on charges of grooming and trafficking underage girls for her ex-boyfriend, the convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, who died by suicide while in prison in 2019.

Ms Maxwell’s brother, Ian Maxwell, previously demanded video footage from his sister’s jail, which he described as “house of horrors,” after a photo surfaced of her sporting an unexplained black eye.

The photo released by Ms Maxwell’s lawyers in court filings appeared to show a bruise under her left eye.

The 122 United Nation rules, to which the US is party, deal with prison maintenance, outlining minimum standards for the treatment of the prisoners, either pre-trial or convicted.

In another tweet, the family said it is not their “claim” that rules were breached, but “IT IS A FACT”. “Read Rules 1,13,22,23,43,45 & 61 of the Nelson Mandela Rules!” it added.

The rules were named in the honour of South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, who was subjected to hard labour and cells without beds during his time in jail for 27 years.

The lawyers of Ms Maxwell have repeatedly accused the New York jail, where she is being held in “enhanced security schedule,” of mistreating her since her arrest in July 2020.

On Ms Maxwell’s complaint, they said the jail subjected her to isolation, dirty drinking water, “inadequate” food and waking her up every 15 minutes by directing a flashlight on her face.

In April, the attorney said there was a “pervasive stench of sewage in Ms Maxwell’s unit” as the sewage system was broken. The prosecutors responded by saying she doesn’t flush her toilet after using it.

On Wednesday, Ms Maxwell’s bail request was rejected for the fifth time.