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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

Coronavirus and women in detention: A gender-specific approach missing

En español. The coronavirus pandemic has brought a whole host of responses by prisons and wider justice systems, but the plight of women has been neglected or overtly disregarded. Without a gender-specific assessment and response to coronavirus, lives of women in criminal justice systems are at risk and human rights violations will continue.  This expert […]

Olivia Rope4th June 2020

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

Prisoner transportation in Russia: travelling into the unknown

Heather McGill, a researcher currently working on Central Asia for Amnesty International, discusses her recent report on prisoner transportation in Russia, which was launched in October 2017. Prisoners are always at greater risk during transportation, but prison transportation in Russia is in a league of its own. The size of the country combined with the […]

Expert guest for PRIHeather McGill28th November 2017

Why are women prisoner numbers rising so rapidly?

Today, the fourth edition of the World Female Imprisonment List is published by the Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR). Catherine Heard, Director of the ICPR’s World Prison Research Programme, discusses the latest data. This week at ICPR we release the most comprehensive global dataset ever produced on women prisoner numbers. The fourth edition of […]

Expert guest for PRICatherine Heard9th November 2017

HM Inspectorate of Prisons for England & Wales marks Nelson Mandela International Day

On Nelson Mandela International Day – the second since the UN agreed the revised set of Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the Nelson Mandela Rules – Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, explains how HMI Prisons has incorporated the Rules into their latest edition of Expectations, which sets out the detailed criteria used to inspect […]

Peter Clarke18th July 2017

UNGASS on Drugs: on expectations, coherence and sustainable development

The UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS) took place New York on 19-21 April. Javier Sagredo is Regional Democratic Governance and Citizen Security Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean for the UN Development Programme (UNDP). In this expert blog for PRI, he examines whether the outcomes of this UNGASS meeting, as well […]

Expert guest for PRIJavier Sagredo, UNDP4th May 2016

How to build a prison compliant with human rights norms

To fill the gap between international norms and the relative lack of information on how to build a compliant prison in difficult circumstances, UNOPS recently developed a Technical Guidance for Prison Planning document that facilitates a human rights-based approach in the development of prison infrastructure. This blog post by Gordon Nuttall and Pedja Jurisic (UNOPS) […]

Expert guest for PRIGordon Nuttall and Pedja Jurisic25th February 2016

“Minus the urinals and painted pink”? What should a women’s prison look like?

Historically prison buildings have largely been designed for the majority male prisoner population. However, the growing understanding that women who offend are different from men − from their typical backgrounds and the nature of their offences, to their experience of abuse and their care-taking responsibilities is also leading architects and planners to consider how prison facilities might also be designed […]

Expert guest for PRILaura Maiello & Stephen Carter9th December 2015