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Book review: Life after murder – five men in search of redemption

Use of life and long-term sentences has been growing globally. In 2012, of the 2.3 million prisoners in US prisons, 159,520 were serving life sentences, including almost 50,000 life without parole. Nancy Mullane was a winner in PRI’s journalism competition held as part of our death penalty abolition programme in 2014. While the competition was judged on the basis […]

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Uganda has ended its opposition to a global moratorium on the use of the death penalty

Uganda has ended its opposition to a global moratorium on the use of the death penalty. At the UN General Assembly on 21 November 2014, Uganda abstained on the measure, changing after seven years of voting against. The country is one of ten where PRI is working to abolish the death penalty and implement humane alternative sanctions. […]

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PRI brings experts, government and civil society together in Minsk to discuss the death penalty in Belarus

The event was jointly organised with the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, the Christian Social Service and the Belarusian Association of Journalists. Over 80 people attended the conference including experts from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and Poland, as well as government representatives, diplomats, lawyers, and human rights defenders. This conference was held under a PRI project funded by […]

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International experts gathered in Amman for today for start of PRI conference on criminal justice and human rights

PRI’s International Conference on ‘Criminal Justice Reform and Human Rights: Recent Trends’ opened today (3 November) in Amman under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Alhussein of Jordan. The two day conference is organised by Penal Reform International (MENA) in collaboration with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Public Security […]

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Nancy Mullane wins English category in PRI investigative journalism competition for compelling insights into US prison system

In 2014, PRI held an international competition for the best investigative journalism on the death penalty and/or life imprisonment. Nancy was awarded the English language prize for two episodes of Life of the Law, an online radio magazine covering legal issues: One Reporter on California’s Death Row, and  Jailhouse Lawyers. Jailhouse Lawyers explores a little known anomaly in the US legal landscape. Although […]

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Three articles shedding light on secretive death penalty process in Belarus win Russian category of PRI’s prize for journalists

Belarus is the only country in Europe that continues to carry out the death penalty. The process is shrouded in secrecy. Not even families are necessarily informed about the time of execution or the place of burial. While they are not permitted to attend executions or to visit prisoners on death row, there are journalists who are committed to piecing together […]

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PRI welcomes the winners of our international investigative journalism competition

Penal Reform International (PRI) is delighted to welcome to London the winners of its inaugural competition for the best journalism investigating the death penalty and life (or long-term) imprisonment this week. Following review by panels of judges, the three winners will travel to London in October to visit the offices of The Guardian newspaper and meet […]

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PRI at the Crime Commission 2014

Next week the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice will convene in Vienna (12-16 May). Held annually it is the principal policy-making body of the UN in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice and is therefore of key relevance to PRI’s mission. The Commission is the preparatory body for and implements […]

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PRI launches Investigative International Journalism Competition

Penal Reform International is launching a competition for the best journalism investigating the death penalty and life (or long-term) imprisonment. The death penalty remains in many parts of the globe, while around the world people are imprisoned for decades at a time. While trials, sentences and executions often make the headlines, other features of the death […]

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PRI’s priorities at the March 2014 Human Rights Council

Next week will see the start of the 25th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council (3-28 March 2014 in Geneva) and PRI will be participating on three key issues: the abolition of the death penalty, justice for children and the revision of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. PRI’s statement within the […]