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Today the highest human rights body of the United Nations starts in session as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hit countries around the globe and presents threats to the health and life of people in contact with criminal justice systems. First on the agenda is a presentation of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, […]
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Penal Reform International (PRI) regrets to announce that Florian Irminger has chosen to resign as Executive Director from the end of October 2020. Florian will be taking up the position of Secretary General of the Green Party in Switzerland. Florian Irminger commented: ‘I have a high esteem for PRI’s work, am grateful to have been […]
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A new briefing, Coronavirus: Preventing harm and human rights violations in criminal justice systems, highlights the impact of responses to COVID-19 on people in detention – amounting to 11 million people – who have been left behind, ignored or forgotten. Penal Reform International exposes a lack of systematic testing and data collection in prisons across the globe, which means unknown numbers of people in detention and staff are falling ill and dying […]
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George Floyd’s killing in the United States city of Minneapolis in Minnesota has shed light on systemic racism within law enforcement agencies across the US. Such discrimination is a global problem, as we have documented in Global Prison Trends 2020, minority groups are over-represented in many criminal justice systems, seeing higher rates of arrest, pre-trial […]
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An effective and human rights-based approach to law enforcement requires legitimacy, non-discrimination, and public scrutiny. Trust in law enforcement agencies must come from commitment to the law and international standards, respect for all people and tolerance to those who come into contact with law enforcement, and exemplary in behaviour of law enforcement agents. Police can […]
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Prisons and justice systems are facing unprecedented challenges brought by the COVID-19 global pandemic. At this launch event for PRI’s new report Global Prison Trends 2020, international leaders and experts will address chronic issues that have led to this human rights and public health crisis with people in prison being so vulnerable – and critically, […]
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The outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 reminds us of the very essence of PRI’s existence. At this time, our mission is to ensure that no one is left behind and PRI is working to ensure that prison management, criminal justice authorities and governments around the world are informed, equipped and supported to slow and […]
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Penal Reform International (PRI) is taking important and effective steps towards preventing ill-treatment and promoting the application of fair and effective criminal investigations and trials of people detained in Uganda. At PRI’s pioneering police training course in November 2019 on investigative interviewing and international human rights standards it was revealed that only two of the participants […]
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In Central African Republic, the government adopted a strategy for the demilitarisation of the penitentiary system, at the initiative of Penal Reform International (PRI) and with the support of the United Nations peacekeeping mission (MINUSCA). As part of the implementation of the national strategy for the demilitarization of CAR’s penitentiary system, an important place is […]
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En République centrafricaine, le gouvernement a adopté une stratégie nationale de démilitarisation du secteur pénitentiaire, à l’initiative de Penal Reform International (PRI) et avec le soutien de la mission des Nations Unies pour la maintien de la paix (MINUSCA). Dans le cadre de la mise en œuvre de la stratégie nationale de démilitarisation des établissements pénitentiaires de […]
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This year PRI is celebrating 30 years of accomplishments in developing and promoting fair and effective criminal justice systems across the world. Today, we set our trajectory for the coming decade, launching our new strategy for 2020-2023. The decade we are entering will determine whether the world is able to sustain and promote human rights, […]