International efforts to support prisoners’ communication with their families and friends have been relatively modest. In 1929, the International Prison Commission adopted “Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners,” later entitled “Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.” One rule concerned prisoners’ communication with their families and friends:

31. Prisoners should have the opportunity of communicating with their relations and respectable friends, under necessary supervision. Arrangements should be made to allow this communication at regular intervals, both by receiving visits and by correspondence.^

In 1934, the League of Nations adopted this rule. In 1955, the United Nations adopted a slightly reworded version of this rule in its Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. In 1970, reviewing implementation of the Standard Minimum Rules, the Secretariat of the United Nations noted:

Letters and visits are usually regulated according to the stage of imprisonment and usually vary from once a month to twice a week. The spirit of the Rules would require a minimum of at least one letter and one visit per month. Postage should be granted to prisoners without any funds.^

In 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, and 1996, reviews of the implementation of the Standard Minimum Rules found almost all reporting countries reported that they had implemented this rule. Among the 72 countries responding to the 1996 inquiry, 75% reported that prisoners were allowed to send letters six time or more per month. Visiting regulations were more restrictive. Twelve countries reported allowing visits only once per month (Armenia, Barbados, Belarus, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Mauritius, Mongolia, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, and Vanuatu). Three countries allowed less than one visit per month to at least one regular class of prisoner (Latvia, Tajikistan, and Slovakia).^

The Standard Minimum Rules reflect rather weak international support for communication with prisoners. The rule that prisoners be allowed to communicate “at regular intervals” is prone to arbitrary interpretation. In addition, this rule and the subsequent five reviews of its implementation have taken little notice of new communication technologies such as telephones. The United Nations’ resolution, Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted in 1990, doesn’t mention prisoners’ communication with family and friends.^ The United Nations’ proposed Charter of Prisoner Rights likewise doesn’t address the issue.^ In the nineteenth century, international interest in suppressing prisoners’ communication was much more intense than current international interest in supporting prisoners’ communication.