Featured News
PRI will take part in the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, taking place in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates taking place from 26 September to 1 October 2026. As well as participating in the plenaries and programme, PRI is co-organising ancillary (side) events, bringing together Member States, UN entities, civil […]
News
Founding members of the Global Alliance of Civil Society on Prison Reform from 31 countries met in Amsterdam on 26-27 March 2026 to advance a shared vision to address the growing prison crisis impacting millions of people and societies across the world. Bringing together representatives of civil society including people with lived experience of imprisonment, […]
News
This week, representatives from civil society from 31 countries are meeting in Amsterdam – alongside participants joining online – for the kick-off conference of a new Global Alliance of Civil Society on Prison Reform, convened by Penal Reform International (PRI). The initiative brings together a growing network of almost 90 civil society organisations on prison reform. The Alliance is being launched at a time of sustained pressure on justice systems globally. With more than […]
News
This project, funded by the European Union, aims to promote and protect human rights, democracy, and the rule of law in Türkiye by strengthening the capacity of civil society organisations (CSOs) to address accountability gaps and combat impunity. Led by Penal Reform International, the initiative focuses on improving conditions and treatment within the penitentiary system […]
News
10 July 2024 Despite a growing number of countries worldwide joining the abolitionist movement every year, bringing the prospect of universal abolition closer to reality, the death penalty remains a significant human rights concern. In 2023 alone, Amnesty International recorded 1,153 executions (excluding China, North Korea and Viet Nam, due to unavailable data), marking a […]
News
Penal Reform International (PRI) has announced the establishment of an Advisory Council and is honoured that eight distinguished experts have been elected as the first members. The Council will strengthen the organisation’s impact and networks to achieve PRI’s ambitions for 2020-2023. Hon’ble Justice Muhammad Imman Ali, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and […]
News
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 […]
News
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 […]
News
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 […]
News
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, […]
News
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 […]