The new and revised text of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMR) drafted by the intergovernmental expert group (IEG) will be submitted for consideration at the 24th session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (the UN Crime Commission) in Vienna this week. Professor Sir Nigel Rodley, Chair of the Human Rights Centre at […]
19th May 2015
The Association for the Prevention of Torture has recently launched a new database of international and regional standards, information, guidance and helpful tips to assist prison monitors as well as prison authorities and others engaged both in running and observing prisons. Here, APT’s Detention Advisor, Jean-Sébastien Blanc, explains why this resource is needed and what it offers […]
22nd April 2015
Thirty years after the entry into force of the UN Convention against Torture (CAT), there is still a considerable implementation gap and torture continues to exist worldwide. One of the most significant developments over the last few years has been the establishment of National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs). While these bodies carry out regular monitoring visits […]
9th December 2014
In 1989 the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment came into force, establishing the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). The CPT was the first system with a mandate to conduct visits to places of detention on a regular […]
PRI at the Crime Congress 201525th November 2014
In June 2014, LICADHO – the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights – released a report detailing widespread abuse of suspects and prisoners. Here, Naly Pilorge, Director of LICADHO, calls for the government to act on its commitment to address torture, including for the establishment of an independent National Preventive Mechanism. On 20 June 2014, during […]
17th September 2014
Currently PRI Central Asia is implementing a project to humanise the criminal justice systems of Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan through establishing criminal legislative codes in line with international human rights standards. PRI along with local partners (Golos Svobody in Kyrgyz Republic and Human Rights Center in Tajikistan) organised expert meetings, workshops for local civil society […]
2nd July 2014
In the second blog in our anniversary series, Dr Shane Bryans, a former UK prison governor and criminal justice expert, who has worked on prison-based de-radicalisation programmes in a number of countries, examines how prison administrations can manage violent extremist offenders. Countries on every continent are facing the challenge of managing Violent Extremist Offenders (VEOs) within their prison systems. Preventing them […]
25th June 2014
PRI’s Policy Director, Andrea Huber, looks at the some of the major trends – national, international, the good, the bad and the ugly – in criminal justice and penal policy over the last few years. This blog was first published by the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex. If there is a criminal […]
11th June 2014
Alison Hannah, PRI’s Executive Director reports from a regional conference in Kazakhstan on the development of prison legislation in Central Asia. In England and Wales, prisons are reaching crisis point. According to a recent report there are only 265 free prison places out of the 85,800 prison estate capacity. Emergency measures may be needed to […]
18th March 2014
Every day about 20 news stories pop in my email inbox, giving the latest headlines from around the world on prison and penal issues. Over the past couple of days, these include: ‘Epidemic of self-mutilation’ in women’s prisons in England and Wales’ ‘Inmates need needle-exchange programs and better access to HIV treatment: study’ (Canada) ‘Anti-torture […]
18th December 2013