Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons in detention – or persons perceived as belonging to this group – are in a situation of particular vulnerability and at risk of human rights violations and abuses, including by fellow detainees, throughout the entire criminal justice system. In this blog, Jean-Sébastien Blanc of the Association for the Prevention […]
4th December 2018
Last year, researchers from the Open Society Justice Initiative and Amnesty International published a report that revealed a number of serious human rights violations at special detention units – the Terroristenafdeling – in The Netherlands, which hold people suspected and convicted of terrorism offences. In this expert blog, the report’s authors Jonathan Horowitz and Doutje Lettinga discuss the government’s response and the […]
13th November 2018
Image: The Good Loaf Cafe. Where studies of mental illness have been conducted with prison populations, the prevalence has been consistently shown to be high.[1] Women offenders’ mental healthcare needs can be even higher than men’s, often as a result of violence and trauma. Community-based sentences are more effective in reducing reoffending and providing support for […]
1st November 2018
On 21 October 2018, the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), of which PRI is a member, published a new report evaluating the impacts of drug policies across the world over the past decade, since the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action declared its goal of a ‘drug-free world’. In this blog, PRI’s Policy and […]
24th October 2018
Photo: Alice Nungu by Tom Short Today is World Day Against the Death Penalty. To mark the day, Delphine Lourtau and Sharon Pia Hickey of the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide discuss the Center’s recent report, Judged for More Than Her Crime: A Global Study on Women Facing the Death Penalty, which found that most women are sentenced to death […]
10th October 2018
Earlier this month, Florian Irminger joined Penal Reform International as its new Executive Director. In his first blog for PRI, Florian reflects upon the organisation’s practical approach to penal reform, which has enabled PRI to play a key role in implementing international standards and provide effective and tailored solutions to criminal justice problems worldwide. It […]
13th September 2018
The importance of independent external monitoring of prisons to prevent torture or ill-treatment from occurring is well established. Internal inspections can also play a crucial role however, and the Nelson Mandela Rules require a two-fold system that includes regular internal or administrative inspections conducted by the central prison administration. In this expert blog, Mary Rogan looks […]
12th September 2018
Rates of smoking amongst prisoners are, on the whole, much higher than in the general population. In this blog, Heino Stöver, Professor of Social Scientific Addiction Research at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, examines global data on smoking in detention facilities, and explores why prevalence rates are so high – and what needs to be […]
15th August 2018
Today marks 100 years since the birth of Nelson Mandela, and around the world people are reflecting on his legacy. On this centenary, PRI reflects on one of his more recent legacies – the revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted in 2015 as the Nelson Mandela Rules. The Mandela Rules detail the minimum standards […]
18th July 2018
Recently the Council of Europe updated their guidance on restorative justice – processes that bring those harmed by crime or conflict, and those responsible for the harm, into communication, enabling everyone affected by a particular incident to play a part in repairing the harm and finding a positive way forward. In this blog Dr Ian […]
4th July 2018