The Bangkok Rules were adopted by the United Nations in 2010 and were signed conditionally by Tunisia in 2011, with all restrictions on application lifted in April 2014. Experts and professionals had gathered together at the symposium to discuss this implementation. From the implementation of international conventions to the development of prison work or the upgrading of the infrastructure, a range of different 'languages of reform' are in use. Research has focused specifically on how human rights discourse is used in reforming repressive state institutions, in particular the police and the prison system, which are seen as the main perpetrators of human rights violations. The discourse of prison reform is primarily articulated in the language of human rights, democratic control, and transparency. The discourses reflect ambivalences in the languages of prison reform, regarding modernity and humanisation, and point to the contradictions between considering prisoners as individuals and considering the institution itself.