ABSTRACT
Human rights and the environment gradually strengthened their relations until the Inter-American Court of Human Rights recognized an autonomous right to a healthy environment under the American Convention in 2018. Nevertheless, the rights of prisoners struggle with the governmental unwillingness to relate environmental hazards in prisons with human rights violations. This study builds upon the case of Presídio Central Prison, Brazil, before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to present environmental issues in prisons as autonomous human rights or as factors that impact the enjoyment of other human rights. The proposed environmental approach for cases related to prison conditions raises the need to create specific environmental machinery at international and regional levels, or to strengthen the enforceability of the decisions of the Inter-American system.
