News
‘Mandela Rules’ on prisoner treatment adopted
PRI is delighted to report that the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ or Crime Commission) adopted revised Standard Minimum Rules (SMR) for the Treatment of Prisoners at its 24th session last week. The adoption of the revised Rules – to be known as the ‘the Mandela Rules’ – is a historic moment […]
News
Summer school for NPMs: preventing torture through gender-sensitive monitoring
From 10-13 August 2015, PRI and the University of Bristol in association with the Association for the Prevention of Torture will be running a Summer School for members and staff of National Preventive Mechanisms on ‘Preventing torture and ill-treatment of female detainees through gender-sensitive monitoring’. The Summer School will take place in Bristol, UK (2 hours […]
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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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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 calls on Human Rights Council to address prison overcrowding as a human rights issue
PRI is calling on the Human Rights Council and its bodies today to address as a human rights issue the overuse of imprisonment and the deplorable overcrowded conditions in prisons that it causes. Read this news article in Arabic / العربية In the Panel Discussion on Persons Deprived of their Liberty during this 27th Regular Session […]
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PRI awarded grant by MacArthur Foundation to improve protection of the rights of suspects and defendants
PRI is delighted to have been awarded a three-year grant of US $ 300,000 from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (‘the MacArthur Foundation’) in support of PRI’s project to advance criminal justice reform in Russia. Over the 36 month project duration (from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2017), PRI will strengthen […]
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An affront to human dignity: Grand Chamber of the European Human Rights Court on defendants held in metal cages
In a momentous judgment published yesterday on the case of Svinarenko and Slyadnev v. Russia, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights found that holding a person in a metal cage during trial constitutes in itself an ‘affront to human dignity’. The defendants, charged with a number of offences including robbery with […]
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Is a prison sentence the only solution? Our new animation is launched at the Crime Commission
This week, PRI celebrated its 25th anniversary, this time in Vienna, by launching a short new animated film on the impact of unnecessary imprisonment and non-custodial alternatives at the United Nations Crime Commission. In just 2.5 mins the animation seeks to raise some important questions about the use of custodial sentences, particular for minor offences. While for serious […]
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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 […]