Blog Archive - Page 3 of 32 - Penal Reform International

The Méndez Principles: a step forward for preventing torture and ill-treatment worldwide

Despite universal prohibition, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment continue to be used in places of detention, especially during interrogation or police custody. In this blog, Valentina Cadelo from the Association for the Prevention of Torture presents the Principles on Effective Interviewing for Investigations and Information Gathering (the Méndez Principles) – a concrete human rights-based alternative […]

Valentina Cadelo13th October 2022

The future of criminal justice reform: where do we stand and what next?

On 8 – 9 September, PRI joined the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation (IPPF) 150th anniversary celebrations in Geneva to mark IPPF’s contributions to criminal justice reform. Over the two-day event, PRI staff from Europe, Middle East and North Africa, South Caucasus and Sub-Saharan Africa took part in discussions on challenges and opportunities for supporting […]

Olivia Rope26th September 2022

Fundación Espartanos: reducción del índice de reincidencia y reintegración de las personas privadas de su libertad en la sociedad a través del deporte, la espiritualidad y la educación

Global Prison Trends 2022 puso de manifiesto un cambio en el consenso internacional hacia las prisiones basadas en la rehabilitación, pero una disparidad significativa entre los países en cuanto a los recursos y la disponibilidad de programas de rehabilitación. En el tercer blog de nuestra serie que examina las tendencias identificadas en el informe, Eduardo […]

Eduardo "Coco" Oderigo2nd September 2022

Fundación Espartanos: reducing crime and reintegrating people into society through sport, spirituality and education

Global Prison Trends 2022 highlighted a shift in international consensus to rehabilitative-based prisons, but a significant disparity between countries in the resourcing and availability of rehabilitation programming. In the third blog of our series examining trends identified in the report, Eduardo “Coco” Oderigo presents Fundación Espartanos – a programme providing sport, spirituality and education to […]

Eduardo “Coco” Oderigo23rd August 2022

Funding torture prevention monitoring bodies: An explainer

“Around the world, NPM budgets are tiny percentages of overall prison and detention budgets – less than a fraction of a percent” and yet their financial independence is far from guaranteed. In this blog, Ben Buckland from the Association for the Prevention of Torture examines the elements of financial independence for NPMs, and trends and […]

Ben Buckland16th August 2022

Public opinion: barrier to death penalty abolition?

Global Prison Trends 2022 details progress and setbacks towards abolition of the death penalty over the past year. In the second expert blog of our series examining trends identified in the report, Mai Sato, Director of Eleos Justice at Monash University, considers the role of public opinion as a barrier to abolition and dispells common objections. […]

Mai Sato2nd August 2022

More prisons, further away: a closer look at the expanding global prison estate

This article was edited on 25 July 2022 to add the editor’s note marked *. Global Prison Trends 2022 highlighted significant investment in new or expanding prison facilities in many countries, often as a result of rising prison populations and corresponding prison overcrowding, with new prison constructions increasing in scale as well as geographical remoteness. […]

Edith Riegler6th July 2022

The impact of rising food prices on food security in Lebanese prisons: The case of Qobbeh Prison in Tripoli

Economic crisis and the rising cost of living are having a serious impact on people in prison, with many prisons unable to provide basic necessities including adequate nutrition. In this expert blog, Pascale Bafitos, Detention Program Director at Restart Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, describes the impact in Qobbeh Prison in Lebanon.

Pascale Bafitos5th July 2022

A rare assessment of the penal system in North Korea

Due to extreme secrecy and opacity in official information, very little is known about the penal system in North Korea. As the Human Rights Council considers the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and the European Parliament condemns the human rights situation in […]

Hae Ju Kang20th April 2022

What can funders do to better support incarcerated women and girls?

As a minority in national prison populations, women are often at a disadvantage compared to men in prison, with few prisons meeting their basic needs or adequately preparing them for release or reintegration. Women have also faced increased hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of changes to prison regimes that fail to account […]

Isabella Cordua and Sabrina Mahtani1st March 2022