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
Like many countries, Jordan has had a moratorium on executions since 1996, but death sentences continue to be handed down, with 22 imposed in 2013. This article explores the government’s position on the death penalty and why many believe it should finally be taken out of the lawbooks. It was first published on 2 April 2014 in […]
3rd November 2014
For the twelfth year, governments and NGOs have been commemorating World Day Against the Death Penalty. While the major theme is always “get rid of capital punishment!”, each year there is a particular issue or world region that gets particularly emphasised. This year that theme is mental illness. Mental illness and the death penalty is […]
10th October 2014
This is one of a series of posts by Jo Baker on her research last year among women’s prisons and prison communities in Albania, Guatemala, Jordan, the Philippines and Zambia, with DIGNITY, the Danish Institute Against Torture, now published as a report. Although women face many risks and problems in prison, they may be less likely […]
22nd September 2014
PRI has been working with the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, to raise awareness and bring about changes in the treatment of girls in the criminal justice system. In this blog she explains how the new Model Strategies and Practical Measures for the Elimination of Violence against […]
15th 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
All states in the MENA region currently retain the death penalty in law – and some continue to carry out executions – but PRI’s Death Penalty Project Manager sees reason for optimism at a two-day conference held by PRI’s MENA office in Algiers. Spanning 8,000km from east to west, MENA (the Middle East and North Africa) is […]
6th January 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
Morocco’s Islamist-led government has unveiled a charter outlining a raft of long-awaited judicial reforms including a strengthening of the judiciary’s independence that have been a priority of the ruling party. The charter was presented late Thursday by the justice ministry, some two years after the kingdom adopted a new constitution in the face of sweeping […]
17th September 2013