News & Announcements

Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago - Execution of prisoners must be stopped

Following the announcement that Trinidad and Tobago will resume the execution of its death row prisoners, PRI together with other organisations has written to Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the country’s Prime Minister, expressing its grave concerns.

Launched: Eight Years On...A Record of Gacaca Monitoring in Rwanda

Last week PRI launched its most recent publication Eight Years On...A Record of Gacaca Monitoring in Rwanda. The London launch brought together donors, policy makers, government officials, institutions and universities. Speakers at the launch included David Daubney PRI Chairperson and General Counsel, Coordinator of the Sentencing Reform Team at the Department of Justice, Canada; Livingstone Sewanyana, PRI Board Member, Executive Director of Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), Uganda; Brig. Frank Rusagara, Military Attaché to the Rwandan High Commission to the UK, Alison Hannah, Executive Director, PRI; Nick Bates, Senior Political Analyst, Department for International Development, East and Central Africa Division and Lars Waldorf from the Centre for Applied Human Rights, University of York.

PRI training on medical ethics for prison service staff in Tajikistan

PRI held a two-day training session on 28-29 May 2010 for medical and non-medical prison service staff in Tajikistan. The aim was to sensitise non-medical staff to the fact that medical staff need to be able to take medical decisions without interference by staff from other disciplines - decisions based on international standards and norms relating to medical ethics.

Drug dependency needs treatment not criminalisation, says UN drugs and crime agency

On 26 June 2010, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will be holding numerous events across the world to celebrate the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The clear message from the international community is that drug dependency needs to be viewed primarily as a health problem.