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Save the date: Briefing on the Nelson Mandela Rules, Geneva

Together with the Quaker UN Office (QUNO), and the Permanent Representations of Switzerland and Uruguay to the UN in Geneva, Penal Reform International invites delegates, representatives of NGOs and interested stakeholders to a briefing on 4 February 2015 in Geneva on the recently adopted revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, the ‘Nelson Mandela […]

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PRI opens new regional office in Kampala, Uganda

PRI is delighted to announce the opening of its new PRI Africa Office in January 2016. Based in Kampala, Uganda, the office will develop PRI’s expanding work in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. PRI has worked in partnership with criminal justice agencies and civil society in the sub-Saharan Africa region since the 1990s. Our work in […]

Press release

Historic update of international prison standards by the UN

Last Thursday the plenary of the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted the revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners – to be known as the ‘Nelson Mandela Rules’. ‘PRI is delighted at the successful outcome of this four-year review process. The updating of this key set of widely used standards, last Thursday, is […]

Press release

Press release: A new era for the prison system and protection of prisoners’ rights

On International Human Rights Day, Penal Reform International in Central Asia – in cooperation with the Committee on Legislation, Judicial and Legal Reform of the Majilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Regional Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Public Monitoring Commissions of Kazakhstan – […]

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Legal professionals and NGOs in remote Pakistan discuss the value of the UN Bangkok Rules

In November, PRI’s partner NGO in Pakistan, the DOST Welfare Foundation, which works in the north western border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, trained 48 law students, 21 faculty members of local Law Colleges, and 30 NGO representatives from Peshawar on the UN Bangkok Rules on women offenders and prisoners. The prison population in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa […]

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Baroness Stern pays tribute to Al Bronstein, US prison reformer and former PRI Board Member

PRI is sad to note the death of Al (Alvin) Bronstein, a dedicated prison reformer and long-serving PRI Board Member and Honorary President. Baroness Vivien Stern, a founding member of PRI and fellow Honorary President, worked alongside Al at PRI for many years, and pays tribute to him here. Around the world prison reformers and civil rights activists […]

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PRI expands work in Morocco and Tunisia

We are pleased to announce new funding to continue our work in Morocco and Tunisia, building the capacity of prison staff, tackling prison overcrowding through developing non-custodial alternatives and on establishing effective rehabilitation and reintegration programmes. PRI continues its work with the Moroccan Prison Directorate, supported by the British Embassy’s Arab Partnership Fund, to build capacity of prison […]

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PRI to join high-level panel on protecting girls in criminal justice systems at the UN General Assembly

Despite a strong international framework designed to prevent and respond to violence against girls in both public and private spheres, the social status of women and girls, together with deep-rooted discriminatory attitudes often compromise the responses of criminal justice systems to address gender-based violence committed against them. Girls who fall victim to violence and exploitation […]