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COVID-19 pandemic further marginalises people in places of detention in the most vulnerable countries

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread across the world and no country is being spared. In Africa, the impact of the virus varies from one country to another but post-conflict countries have been severely hit. In Central African Republic, where PRI is closely collaborating with United Nations mission MINUSCA to support reconstruction and stabilisation efforts […]

Oscar Ouedraogo25th August 2020

La COVID-19 marginalise encore plus les personnes en détention dans des pays vulnérables

La pandémie de la  COVID-19 continue de sévir à travers le monde et aucun pays n’est épargné. En Afrique, son impact varie d’un pays à un autre et les pays en situation post-conflit en sont durement éprouvés. C’est le cas de la République centrafricaine, pays en phase de reconstruction et de stabilisation avec la présence […]

Oscar Ouedraogo25th August 2020

Una crisis dentro de la crisis: cárceles, violencia y protesta social en tiempos de pandemia en Colombia

En Colombia, la mezcla de altos niveles de hacinamiento en las cárceles, la deficiencia de los servicios de salud y la falta de acceso a bienes y servicios básicos como el agua han provocado violencia y disturbios durante la pandemia del coronavirus. En este blog, investigadores de Dejusticia explican cómo el gobierno no solo no […]

Expert guest for PRISofía Forero Alba; Juan Sebastián Hernández13th August 2020

“A crisis within a crisis” – Prison, Violence, and Social Protest in Times of the Pandemic in Colombia

In Colombia, the concoction of high levels of prison overcrowding, inadequate healthcare and lack of basic provisions such as water has led to violence and unrest during the coronavirus pandemic. In this blog, partners at Dejusticia, explain how the government has not only failed to protect people in prison from the coronavirus, but responded to […]

Expert guest for PRISofía Forero Alba; Juan Sebastián Hernández13th August 2020

A short prison sentence, a fine, or life imprisonment – all for the same offence: Exploring sentence disparities in ten countries

Sentencing people who are convicted of a criminal offence is complex business. The sentencing policy and practice of any given country has a significant impact on prison population and overcrowding rates, and is closely linked with the ability to provide safe, humane prison conditions in line with international standards like the UN Nelson Mandela Rules. […]

Expert guest for PRICatherine Heard5th August 2020

Robots, scanners and thermal cameras: technologies in prisons and the coronavirus pandemic

In recent decades technological innovation has provided many opportunities for supporting prison management and the rehabilitation of people in prison. As documented in Global Prison Trends 2020, video visitation systems, remote court hearings and electronic file management systems are well established in some and becoming more common in some regions’ prisons, namely in Europe, North […]

Benny Goedbloed17th July 2020

Separation and solitary confinement in the revised 2020 European Prison Rules – First thoughts

The European Prison Rules (and their Commentary) were recently revised by the Council of Europe. The most notable changes arguably concern the rules guiding prison authorities on the separation and solitary confinement of prisoners. This comes at a time where separation has become more commonplace with COVID-19 restrictions in place. The practice of solitary confinement […]

Dirk van Zyl Smit10th July 2020

How COVID-19 has exacerbated problems created by excessive use of pre-trial detention

In this expert blog, the President of the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, Joel Hernández, writes about alternatives to pre-trial detention in the Americas where the number of people held in remand are excessively high. Commissioner Hernández calls for the use of alternatives as an urgent measure to protect human rights – during the COVID-19 […]

Expert guest for PRIJoel Hernández García15th June 2020