Welcome to Penal Reform International's monthly e-newsletter, a round-up of PRI and other penal reform news from a variety of criminal justice and human rights resources around the world.
The views expressed in the news items below are not necessarily those of PRI.
Alison Hannah, PRI's Executive Director, with the President's Award
The International Corrections & Prisons Association (ICPA) held its 19th AGM and conference in London from 22–27 October, gathering over 600 prisons and corrections experts from around the world. At its Correctional Excellence Awards Ceremony, ICPA presented PRI with the President’s Award for its longstanding work and initiatives in the correctional sphere. In receiving the award, Alison Hannah, PRI’s Executive Director, thanked ICPA for its recognition of the part NGOs can play in corrections policy, the crucial role of penitentiary staff and management, and the importance of the international standards in establishing humane and effective prison services.
PRI also presented its 2017 Global Prisons Trendsreport at a breakfast session at the conference, and Olivia Rope, PRI’s Policy and Programme Manager, took part in a plenary session on innovations on gendered rehabilitation, chaired by Dr Kittipong (from the Thailand Institute of Justice) and with Lady Edwina Grosvenor as discussant.
With torture and ill-treatment still widespread, the Omega Research Foundation, a UK-based research organisation, looks at the importance of independent monitors to document and monitor the use of weapons and restraints in places of detention.
PRI has made a submission to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for its report on Sustainable Development Goals and Health, mandated under GA resolution 35/23, entitled ‘the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’. The submission draws attention to key issues regarding prisoners’ health, such as overcrowding, communicable diseases, mental health and community of care, as well as health care for women and children.
Read more about why criminal justice reform is essential to the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development.
PRI’s Sub-Saharan Africa officeconducted a training course on the management of vulnerable prisoners, for staff at Mbale Prison in Uganda. The training is part of a FCO-funded project which aims to bridge existing gaps in policy and practice, through enhancing capacity of prison staff in relation to managing vulnerable prisoners.
20 officers and their deputies were trained on international standards, including on the Bangkok Rules. Prison officers shared their practical challenges and experiences, and made a number of recommendations, which are outlined in this briefing.
Authorities in Guantánamo Bay have changed their practice in respect of hunger strikers in the prison camp, no longer feeding them, providing them with any treatment or monitoring their health. Ahmed Rabbani and Khalid Qasim have been on long-term hunger strike in protest at their indefinite detention in the notorious prison camp without charge or fair trial.
Reports from the Council of Europe Torture Prevention Committee
Turkey: the report focused on the situation of foreign nationals detained under aliens legislation, finding that many individuals were kept for prolonged periods in conditions that could be considered to be inhuman and degrading.
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: the report strongly criticises conditions of detention and treatment of inmates, with healthcare provision in one prison being so inadequate as to place prisoners' lives at risk.
European Court of Human Rights: judgements on torture and inhuman treatment
Ābele v. Latvia: the detention conditions of a deaf and mute prisoner amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. Mr Ābele had lacked the necessary amount of personal space in the cells where he had been held and had suffered anguish and feelings of inferiority due to his inability to communicate.
Cirino and Renne v. Italy: in a case of torture of detainees by prison officers, the Court found violations of Article 3 (prohibition of torture and of inhuman or degrading treatment) both as regards the ill-treatment inflicted on the applicants (substantive aspect) and as regards the response by the domestic authorities (procedural aspect), the domestic courts being ill-equipped to ensure that torture and ill-treatment perpetrated by State officials did not go unpunished.
Solitary confinement in the US
Colorado: Opinion: Why We Ended Long-Term Solitary Confinement in Colorado
Florida and Louisiana: Lawsuits challenge the cruelty of decades in solitary confinement on death row
New York: Inmates in solitary confinement must spend at least four hours outside their cells under new local regulations
The US-based Prison Policy Initiative's annual Whole Pie: Mass Incarceration report provides a first-of-its-kind detailed view of the 219,000 women incarcerated in the US. Its findings include the fact that 60 per cent of women in jail have not been convicted of a crime and are awaiting trial, most likely because incarcerated women have lower incomes than incarcerated men and so struggle even more to afford cash bail.
Read Robin Maher's expert blog for PRI examining the the links between poverty and the use of the death penalty here.
To mark the day, statements were issued by many bodies, including:
UN Secretary-General: at a Panel on 'Transparency and the death penalty', Antonio Guterres emphasised that the death penalty has 'no place in the 21st century'.
Guatemala's Constitutional Court has abolished the death penalty for civil cases in a landmark judgment. The ruling is final and will take effect once it is published in the government's official gazette.
As part of an EU-funded project, 'Consolidation of civil society efforts to promote and protect the rights of children in conflict with the law', PRI’s Moscow-based officehas put together a number of regional reports on children and juvenile justice in Russia. The publications are available to download in Russian here.
The UK government's Race Disparity Auditshows that black people are over six times more likely to be stopped and searched than white people. Black defendants are also more likely than any other ethnic group to be remanded in custody.
On 24 October, Alison Hannah, PRI’s Executive Director, spoke at the Irish Penal Reform Trust(IPRT)’s launch of its new three-year project, Progress in the Penal System (PIPS), whichmonitors human rights and best practice in Ireland’s prison system. Alison Hannah congratulated the IPRT on the comprehensive report and spoke of the importance of standard-setting in penal reform and the role of the UN standards in particular in providing guidance for implementing good practice.
Prisoner voting
UK: The UK Government is reportedly planning to allow some prisoners to vote. The European Court of Human Rights factsheet on 'Prisoners’ right to vote' provides information about the relevant case-law.
Nigeria: The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced plans allowing prisoners to vote in the 2019 general election.
