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Mandela Day highlighted by leading international human rights experts
Today is Nelson Mandela International Day, the first since the UN unanimously agreed a revised set of Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and decided the standards would be known as the ‘Nelson Mandela Rules’ to honour the legacy of the late South African President, a prisoner himself for 27 years and a committed advocate for […]
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Panel on human rights of women in conflict with the law at the Human Rights Council
At an event organised on the side-lines of the 32nd Human Rights Council, the various human rights issues faced by women in conflict with the law were addressed by a panel of experts from member states, UN bodies and Penal Reform International. The Ambassador of Denmark, Carsten Steur, noted in his opening remarks that while […]
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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 […]
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PRI to co-host side-event on the Mandela Rules at the UN General Assembly, October 2015
On 19 October, PRI will be co-hosting a side-event on the Implementation of the revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners – the Mandela Rules at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly currently underway in New York. After four years of negotiations, the revised Rules have been put forward for […]
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PRI brings five Central Asian countries together to discuss tackling violence against children in institutions
From 2-4 September, PRI in Central Asia held the Central Asian Dialogue on prevention of violence against children and the rights of children in difficult circumstances. While numbers are falling, some 30,000 children are estimated to be held in closed institutions across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Research by PRI carried out in late 2014 found […]
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Prison monitors from 13 countries attend summer school on the UN Bangkok Rules
In late August, 16 members and staff of National Preventative Mechanisms (NPMs) from 13 countries gathered for a summer school in Bristol, UK, on preventing torture and ill-treatment through gender-sensitive monitoring. Organised by PRI and the University of Bristol, in partnership with the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), the four day summer school […]
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“Rich prisoners would never be hit…” PRI holds side event on corruption and human rights
Last week at the 29th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council in June, PRI co-organised a side-event together with Transparency International, which was co-sponsored by two member states of the core group, Morocco and Austria. Focus was given to the particular impact of corruption on the rights of detainees, and panellists discussed how […]
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National Preventive Mechanism of Kazakhstan launches its first annual report
In May, the National Preventive Mechanism of Kazakhstan and the Ombudsman’s Office launched their consolidated annual report for 2014. The NPM was established in law in July 2013 and started carrying out monitoring visits in Spring 2014. The launch meeting was attended by Arman Danielyan, member of the UN Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture […]
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Renate Winter from UN Committee on the Rights of the Child leads training on violence for staff of residential institutions in Tajikistan
From 27-29 May, PRI Central Asia held a three-day training workshop in Tajikistan for staff of closed facilities for children on tackling violence against children. The workshop was led by the Vice President of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Renate Winter, together with international experts from Serbia and Kyrgyzstan and local experts. […]