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.
PRI presents pilot project on gender-sensitive probation at World Congress on Probation
PRI attended the 3rd World Congress on Probation last month, which took place in Tokyo from 12–14 September. The Congress is the world’s largest forum in its field, and aims to promote and develop probation and community corrections by facilitating the sharing of practical and academic knowledge, and broadening global networks.
At the Congress, Taghreed Jaber, PRI's Middle East and North Africa Director, presented the results of a pilot project on probation and community service for women, recently implemented in Kenya by PRI and the Kenya Probation and Aftercare Service (KPAS).
A number of resources have been produced as part of the project, including a 10-step model for introducing a gender-sensitive approach to non-custodial sentences. Read more about the project or watch a short video highlighting the benefits and challenges of women serving community service and probation orders in Kenya.
Click here to see more photos of the World Congress on Probation.
Lawyer, Daniela Ancira, explains why she founded La Cana, a social enterprise that is helping to improve the reintegration of female prisoners in the State of Mexico, by teaching skills that enable them to earn an income both in and after prison.
Conditions in detention and Nelson Mandela Rules
PRI at 2017 OSCE's Human Dimension Implementation Meeting
Last month, PRI participated in OSCE’s 2017 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) in Warsaw. PRI co-hosted three side events, with a focus on the Mandela Rules, torture prevention and addressing violent extremism in prison.
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and PRI also took the opportunity to present a draft preview of their upcoming guidance document on revised international standards for the treatment of prisoners, known as the Nelson Mandela Rules. The Guidance Document, to be published in November 2017, is the result of a joint two-year project by ODIHR and PRI designed to assist states in implementing the new Rules, so as to protect the right of people deprived of their liberty to be free from torture and other ill-treatment, in line with OSCE commitments.
Read more about PRI's joint event on addressing violent extremism in prison, which explored and shared information about human rights issues arising from practices aimed at tackling violent extremism and radicalisation leading to terrorism in prison.
The Human Dimension Implementation Meeting of OSCE participating States is Europe’s largest annual human rights and democracy conference.
Resolution on human rights in the administration of justice adopted by Human Rights Council
On 29 September 2017, a resolution on 'Human Rights in the administration of justice, including juvenile justice', was adopted by consensus by the Human Rights Council. The resolution invites governments to include, in their efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 'administration of justice as an integral part of the development process' and invites States, when reviewing progress made in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, 'to consider the causes and effects of overincarceration and overcrowding.' Furthermore, it requests the Office of the High Comissioner to submit a report in 2019 with a focus on 'violence, death and serious injury in situations of deprivation of liberty.'
PRI’s Central Asia office urges transfer of prison health services to the Ministry of Health in Kazakhstan
At a special session on health and the right to health services in closed institutions, PRI’s Central Asia (CA) office was invited by the Commission on Human Rights to deliver a co-report on behalf of civil society organisations on the issues of health in prisons and closed facilities. The report called for the Kazakhstan government to transfer the prison health system from the Ministry of Interior to the mandate of the Ministry of Health, in order to provide adequate and accessible health systems for prisoners. Read more.
Click here to read the World Health Organization's policy brief on Good governance for prison health in the 21st century.
PRI's MENA office launches rehabilitation projects in Tunisia
As part of a project funded by the European Union, PRI'sMiddle East and North Africa (MENA) office has launched a number of rehabilitation services for prisoners at Al Masadien prison and Sidi Al-Hani Juvenile Care Center in Sousse, Tunisia. Working with local NGOs and the Lawyers' Bar Association in Sousse, PRI will develop rehabilitation programmes in prisons that include mother and baby units and sewing workshops.
PRI’s office in Central Asia has launched a new project to develop government accountability and good governance in the law enforcement system in order to combat corruption in Kazakhstan. The project aims to improve mechanisms for increasing accountability and anti-corruption, and build interaction between the government and civil society. Read more.
Checklist for assessing compliance with the Nelson Mandela Rules
The UNODC has published a checklist for internal inspection mechanisms to assess compliance with the Nelson Mandela Rules. The aim of this new tool is to assist Member States in conducting internal or administrative inspections to assess compliance of their national prison systems with the Nelson Mandela Rules, and thus to facilitate the practical application of the Rules at a national level. The checklist is available in four languages: Arabic / English / French / Spanish
PRI issues joint statement on the impact of the ‘war on drugs’ on human rights
At the 36th Session of the UN Human Rights Council last month, PRI and the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS) made a joint statement on drugs and human rights, highlighting how a range of well-documented human-rights violations – such as increased police violence and mass incarceration of people involved in non-violent, low-level drug crimes – have occurred as a result of the so-called ‘war on drugs’ and drug-related policies. Read the full statement.
The UN Human Rights Council has passed a resolution on the death penalty, calling on any states who have 'not yet abolished the death penalty to ensure that it is not imposed as a sanction for specific forms of conduct such as apostasy, blasphemy, adultery and consensual same-sex relations.' The resolution was agreed at the 36th session of the Council last month. Other reports on the death penalty included the following:
Report on ‘Capital punishment and the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty - Yearly supplement of the Secretary-General to his quinquennial report on capital punishment’.
On 20 September 2017, Gambia signed the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. Madagascar ratified the Protocol on 21 September 2017, together with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.
The torture and ill-treatment of persons suspected of crimes is not only 'deeply wrong' but, from an interrogator's perspective, also counterproductive, the United Nations human rights chief has said at an event held in New York. 'Abundant scientific and historical evidence demonstrates that the information yielded by people who are being subjected to violence is unreliable,' High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said at the event, entitled 'Torture during Interrogations – Illegal, Immoral, and Ineffective.
New report on countering violent extremism and radicalisation
Professor Peter R. Neumann, OSCE Chairperson in Office’s Special Representative on Countering Radicalisation and Violent Extremism, has published a new report, Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalisation that Lead to Terrorism: Ideas, Recommendations, and Good Practices from the OSCE Region.
