On Nelson Mandela International Day – the second since the UN agreed the revised set of Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, known as the Nelson Mandela Rules – Peter Clarke, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, explains how HMI Prisons has incorporated the Rules into their latest edition of Expectations, which sets out the detailed criteria used to inspect […]
18th July 2017
Prison populations have a disproportionately high rate of people suffering with mental health or behavioural problems. In a new report, Dr Marayca López and Laura Maiello-Reidy of CGL Companies, LLC, a pre-eminent criminal justice planning and design firm based in New York, explain how prison design can significantly improve the living conditions of mentally ill prisoners. They […]
28th June 2017
Torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are prohibited in numerous international human rights instruments, but when do conditions of incarceration – such as overcrowding – cross the boundary from acceptable into ‘cruel or inhuman’ or even ‘torture’? ‘All too frequently…the prison may be overcrowded, even to the point of […]
7th June 2017
In this expert blog, Gen Sander of Harm Reduction International states that the global state of harm reduction in prisons is inadequate, unreliable, and unlawful. She argues that the provision of good-quality and accessible harm reduction, both inside and outside of prisons, is a legally binding human rights obligation, not just a policy option. The […]
6th February 2017
In an interview with Mr Denyys M. Odhiambo, a human rights officer and trainer with the Kenyan Prison Service, PRI asked about his experiences in providing training on the UN Bangkok Rules to his colleagues in Kenya. What is your role within the Kenya prison service? I am a human rights officer/trainer with the Kenyan […]
23rd January 2017
In recent decades, there has been a noticeable trend towards larger prisons of 1,000 prisoners plus. In the USA, the trend has been particularly prevalent – with around 3,500 prisoners per prison in California for example, but other countries have followed a similar path. In this expert blog for PRI, David Skarbek, Senior Lecturer in […]
24th November 2016
In 2003, the U.S. passed a law called the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), which for the first time mandated the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) – an arm of the Department of Justice – to conduct anonymous surveys of prisoners about sexual abuse. These surveys have confirmed what reform advocates had long known – that abuse […]
9th November 2016
Last month, the US Department of Justice announced that it would phase out, with a view to ending, its use of private prisons. In this expert blog, David Fathi, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union National Prison Project and a PRI Board Member, gives his predictions for the future involvement of private companies in US […]
26th September 2016
Following the adoption of the revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners – the Nelson Mandela Rules in December, consultations are being held around the world to raise awareness and to seek the views of national policy-makers and prison authorities on implementation. PRI has hosted consultations in Uganda and in India. Last week, it […]
17th August 2016
On 22 June it will be ten years since OPCAT – the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture – entered into force. In this expert blog for PRI, Professor Rachel Murray, Director of the Human Rights Implementation Centre at the University of Bristol (UK) asks what impact the treaty has had a decade […]
22nd June 2016