The United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules) are adopted. PRI advocated intensively for their adoption and continues to promote their implementation. PRI’s approach to making societies safer is set out in Making Law and Policy that Work, which is launched at the UN Crime […]
PRI celebrates 20 years of work this year. At the invitation of the Ministry of Justice of Thailand, PRI helps draft new UN guidelines for the treatment of women in conflict with the law. 2009 also sees the end of the Gacaca trials in Rwanda and PRI’s final report on the process is completed.
PRI launches Africa’s Recommendations for Penal Reform at the ACHPR, encouraging states and NGOs in Africa to implement previously agreed action plans and proposals.
Strategies for protecting pre-trial detainees’ rights and reducing prison overcrowding are implemented in Rwanda, Burundi, Central Asia and the South Caucasus. The UN ECOSOC adopts a resolution reflecting the Lilongwe Declaration on legal aid and the PRI / UNICEF juvenile justice manual is published and translated into Arabic.
A new regional office is established in Jordan, enabling PRI to develop its activities in the Middle East and North Africa. In Rwanda, the first two reports on the Gacaca programme are published.
PRI and the international penal reform community mourn the loss of Ahmed Othmani, one of the founders of PRI. Ahmed Othmani made an enormous contribution and, as a former political prisoner, had been an inspirational leader under whose chairmanship PRI grew into an internationally recognised expert reform body, with 12 offices and over 100 members […]
In the Caribbean, the death penalty project wins the right to free legal assistance for over 60 prisoners under sentence of death. Take a look at our work on the death penalty.
The successful Paralegal Advice Service established in Malawi serves as a model for the introduction of a similar service in Benin. PRI supports the Rwandan authorities in responding to the effects of an overwhelming number of genocide cases.
In Malawi, the work of the Paralegal Advisory Service leads to a decrease in pre-trial detention, as prisoners are empowered to represent themselves and obtain bail, and juveniles held in police custody are diverted from prison.
After 10 years of work, PRI gathers delegates from 52 countries to discuss the challenges for penal reform and to formulate a strategy for overcoming them. PRI works with African heads of correctional services to develop the Arusha Declaration on Good Prison Practice, including improving management, involvement of civil society and dynamic security. This is […]