Welcome to Penal Reform International's monthly e-newsletter, a round-up of PRI and other penal reform news from around the world and a variety of criminal justice and human rights resources.
The views expressed in the news items below are not necessarily those of PRI.
In this month's edition
In the spotlight:Prisons' strategies in countering violent extremism
Prisons' strategies in countering violent extremism
An experts' roundtable organised by PRI and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights-Tunisia with the Tunisian Prison Department was held in Tunis on 23-24 November 2016 on the issue of managing and de-radicalising violent extremist and radicalised prisoners. The roundtable provided a forum for discussing:
Admission strategies: risk assessment and classification
Security in prisons and compliance with human rights standards
Gender-sensitive and child rights approaches
Efficient and effective programs combating violent extremism in prisons
Defining the Tunisian needs in light of international experience and lessons learned
In recent decades, there has been a noticeable trend towards larger prisons of 1,000 prisoners plus, and in the USA, the trend has been particularly prevalent. In this expert blog for PRI, David Skarbek, Senior Lecturer in Political Economy at King’s College London, argues that gang rule or ‘extra-legal governance’ in prisons in California can be explained by the prison boom, in particular the growth in the prison size in the 1980s. Gangs can provide order and safety that management could no longer provide. Skarbek advocates a return to smaller prisons where staff and prisoners know each other.
In 2014, PRI embarked on an innovative two-year pilot project in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to improve access to justice by targeting the development of community service systems as an alternative to the overuse of imprisonment, funded by UKAID. Omar Phoenix Khan, who led on the project, shares his reflections now the final evaluation is complete.
Laura Abbott, senior lecturer in midwifery at the University of Hertfordshire, UK, introduces early findings from her doctorate study on what it is like to be pregnant in prison and the quality of pre- and post-natal provision for women in English prisons. She also notes some emerging good practice, including a new Birth Charter for pregnant women in prison which sets out recommendations for treatment and services.
Tweet of the month
This month from Yury Fedotov@YuryFedotov, Executive Director of @UNODC & Director-General of the UN Office in Vienna (UNOV):
Discussions on the international legal standing of the death penalty and national sovereign rights to determine domestic judicial systems dominated Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, Cultural) proceedings, as delegates approved an amended draft resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty, by a record 115 votes in favour to 38 against, with 31 abstentions.
PRI Central Asia produces analysis of life-sentenced prisoners in Kazakhstan
PRI's Central Asia office has carried out a survey of prisoners in a lifer colony (cc-161/3). A life sentence in Kazakhstan is 25 years, but there are also a number of prisoners whose sentences were commuted from the death penalty to life but who have no prospect of parole at any point, creating a parallel and discriminatory system. As in many countries, prisoners sentenced to life are held in harsher conditions than other prisoners.
At the end of November, the office held a roundtable event to discuss progress on abolition of the death penalty (a moratorium has been in place since 2004) and reviewing the implementation of alternatives such as life imprisonment. The event was held with the Parliamentary Committee on Legal and Judicial Reform, OHCHR in Central Asia and the Swiss Embassy in Kazakhstan, and was attended by representatives of government departments, NGOs, universities, and international organisations and diplomatic missions.
PRI, together with other members of the NGO panel on the GSCDL, met with Professor Manfred Nowak in Geneva on 22 November 2016, following his appointment as the independent expert to conduct the Global Study. PRI also attended the meeting on 23 November hosted by OHCHR (who will be hosting the study secretariat) to introduce Professor Nowak to member states.
The NGO Panel is working with other stakeholders to ensure states come forward with contributions; PRI will be working with the Children's Rights Alliance for England to ensure appropriate contributions from the UK Government to support this important initiative.
Congress in the Philippines is to consider a bill that would lower the age of criminal responsibility from 15 years to 9. President Rodrigo Duterte who took office in June this year after vowing to crack down on criminals, had previously accused children of being involved in drug crime. If Congress passes the bill, children as young as 9 could be prosecuted and imprisoned.
Defence for Children International (DCI) and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) have launched the second edition of the Justice for Children Award, which encourages research within European universities on the challenges within justice systems worldwide that slow the realisation of children’s rights. DCI and OMCT see the Justice for Children Award as an opportunity to raise further awareness on the issue within the academic fora, and enables young scholars to contribute to the improvement of the situation of girls involved with the justice system. This year’s edition will be dedicated to the situation of girls involved with the justice system and more particularly to the various forms of violence that they are exposed to.
Speaking at the tenth anniversary conference of OPCAT held in Geneva on 17 November 2016, Sir Malcolm Evans, the chairman of the Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture said “perhaps the most impressive achievement under the OPCAT has been the establishment of so many national preventive mechanisms (NPMs), many of whom do amazing work in countries where no prevention work of this nature was ever done before. It is a record of real, practical and meaningful achievement.”
Also see the expert blog for PRI by Professor Rachel Murray, University of Bristol, on the added value of OPCAT ten years on.
Other news: Armenia: The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has published a report on its fourth periodic visit to Armenia, which took place from 5 to 15 October 2015, together with the response of the Armenian Government. UK:Home Office ordered to review policy on torture survivors
The Nelson Mandela Rules
PRI workshop on the Nelson Mandela Rules
On the 16th November 2016 PRI, together with the Association for the Prevention of Torture, ran a workshop on the Nelson Mandela Rules at a joint session of the United Nations Committee Against Tortureand the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture. The workshop provided a forum for reviewing and discussing a number of thematic areas of the revised rules which are of particular relevance to UN bodies with a mandate relating to torture and ill-treatment. In particular, the workshop concentrated on issues around disciplinary sanctions and restrictions, healthcare and the role of doctors, and safeguards in cases of death, injuries and torture.
Podcastwith PRI’s Policy Director, Andrea Huber, who explains the process, why the Rules needed to be revised and what the changes mean for prisoners, prison staff and for prison management
UN Report on human rights in the administration of justice
The UN Secretary-General’s report on the question of human rights in the administration of justice, following a request in aresolution adopted last yearincludes the latest developments, challenges and good practices on the rights of persons deprived of their liberty, legal aid, and reducing incarceration. It also summarises the UN’s work in this area.
UN Global study on legal aid
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime and UNDP have published the global report of the Global Study on Legal Aid. It provides an initial overview of the current state of legal aid worldwide, noting that 'while progress has been made in establishing national legal and policy frameworks on legal aid in many countries, States face common challenges in translating this into improved access to justice for its people.'
This new report highlights the damage caused through the criminalisation of people who use drugs and explores the alternatives to this approach. It welcomes the moves made towards more rational and humane policies in many countries around the world and deomnstrates the necessity to go further in reforming national and international drug control regimes.
An independent and honest assessment of progress, challenges and failures between 2009 and 2019.
A period of reflection and debate, with seven multi-stakeholder working groups to explore the key tensions, make recommendations, and formulate new indicators, focusing on the seven thematic areas covered in the UNGASS outcome document.
A more transparent negotiation for a new outcome document for 2020-2030, aligned with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
This year, the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaigninvites you to “orange the world", using the colour designated by the UNiTE campaign to symbolise a brighter future without violence.
This final evaluation report on the results achieved and lessons learned in PRI’s two-year ExTRA Project – Excellence in Training on Rehabilitation in Africa – which concluded in Summer 2016 and was funded by the UK Government (UKAID). The ExTRA project was a pilot initiative, which focused on developing community service as an alternative to short-term prison sentences for petty offences in three countries – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
The evaluation was conducted in Summer 2016 and assessed progress made towards the following long-term outcomes:
Increased use of community service orders (CSOs) in the pilot regions
Increased compliance of CSOs in the pilot regions
Positive stakeholder attitudes towards CSOs in the pilot regions
The final evaluation report is available here and a summary of the evaluation findings is available here.
