‘Imprisonment is appropriate, fair and just for certain offenders; it is not for others, particularly first and non violent offenders involved in petty or victimless crimes.’ These are not the words of a prison reformer but of Tanzania’s Chief Justice, the Hon. Mohamed Chande Othman, who opened a PRI sponsored international conference in Dar es […]
7th November 2013
According to the World Prison Brief, Uganda’s prisons are currently operating at over 200% of their official capacity. Overcrowding in prisons is one of the most serious challenges facing prison systems across Africa and in many other countries. Its effects can be life-threatening – contributing to the spread of infectious disease, increasing violence and levels of […]
6th November 2013
‘Within detention facilities, there is usually a strict hierarchy, and those at the bottom of this hierarchy, such as (…) gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gender persons, suffer double or triple discrimination.’ This statement by the Special Rapporteur on Torture encapsulates the particular situation of vulnerability in which LGBTI detainees find themselves when deprived of their […]
30th October 2013
‘Save money, protect society and realise youth potential’ is the apt title of a new white paper by the European Council for Juvenile Justice (ECJJ) and the International Juvenile Justice Observatory, which examines how the age of austerity could actually be an opportunity for governments to improve youth justice in Europe. The paper recommends focusing […]
23rd October 2013
On 9-10 October, three representatives of PRI – Nikhil Roy, Jenny Clarkin and myself – attended the first ever World Congress on Probation. Organised by the European Organisation for Probation (CEP) and hosted in London, the Congress welcomed over 300 delegates from 50 countries. It was a packed agenda and even documenting the highlights here […]
11th October 2013
PRI Associate Frances Sheahan conducted research for PRI in women’s prisons in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in the second half of September. Here she writes about the impact of social isolation on women prisoners in Kazakhstan. The road from Karaganda city is full of potholes and bumps as it winds for an hour and a half […]
9th October 2013
Responding to an invitation to participate in the 33rd Asian and Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators (APCCA), from the office of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, I arrived in New Delhi on the morning of Tuesday 24th October in time for the formal opening of the Conference. The opening session included a […]
3rd October 2013
Earlier this week the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting for the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) brought together 57 participating states and a multitude of civil society organisations. One of the recurring themes in the deliberations on Tuesday afternoon was how violence against women in all corners of the globe is a barrier to […]
27th September 2013
In August, PRI’s Executive Director and Evaluation and Learning Adviser visited our Moscow office to carry out training on monitoring and evaluation and to talk to some of the partners we work with there. Our current work in Russia includes promoting alternatives to imprisonment, particularly probation, improving public oversight of prisons and implementing the rights […]
24th September 2013
Recently Dinara Dildabekova, Death Penalty Project Manager in PRI’s office in Central Asia, organised two two-day training workshops (one in Kazakhstan and one in Tajikistan) to train prison officials on international human rights standards on the rights of those on death row or those serving a life or long-term sentence. In Kazakhstan training was held […]
24th September 2013