Blog

States must protect and respect the rights of older persons deprived of liberty

The proportion of older persons in prison is rising in many countries but their needs are mostly overlooked, leading to human rights violations. In this blog, Claudia Mahler, UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, presents her latest report dedicated to older persons deprived of liberty. On 19 September […]

Claudia Mahler26th October 2022

End-of-life care in prisons

The number of older people in prison has been rising in many countries. Their health and social care requirements are not always compatible with prison regimes and infrastructure. In this blog, Lynn Saunders, former governor of HMP Whatton in England, describes some of the challenges in providing health care to older persons in prison, including […]

Lynn Saunders21st February 2022

Covid-19 in prisons: why prioritising staff and prison populations for vaccination matters

Distribution of Covid-19 vaccines should be guided by evidence and based on the principle of harm reduction. In this blog, experts from the University of Oxford consider why prison populations and staff should be prioritised in national vaccination programmes, what is happening so far and the challenges to their inclusion in some places. Prisons have […]

Gabrielle Beaudry, Daniel Whiting and Seena Fazel18th February 2021

We are 30: Looking forward to the next decade

“It all started with a meeting…” 30 years ago, Vivien Stern, Ahmed Othmani and Hans Tulkens created Penal Reform International. They had in common the belief we still cherish, as stated by Nelson Mandela: “No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails”. In other words, the health of criminal justice […]

Florian Irminger21st November 2019