News
New PRI briefing on the minimum age of criminal responsibility worldwide
The minimum age of criminal responsibility set by different countries ranges hugely from as low as six up to 18 years of age. The median age is 12. However, in nearly all countries, children above the age of criminal responsibility can be arrested, detained and imprisoned. This means that children are drawn at an early […]
News
PRI’s Middle East and North Africa office organises an international seminar on the prospects for prison reform in Tunisia
More than 500 participants gathered in Tunis last week for an international seminar on the prospects for prison reform in Tunisia. The event was hosted by the Tunisian Prime Minister, Hamadi Jebali, and Justice Minister Noureddine Beheiri, and was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Human Rights and Transitional Justice, […]
News
Training for prison directors and senior prison officials in Jordan on applying international standards
Last week, PRI’s Middle East and North Africa office organised the fourth in a series of training workshops targeted at prison directors and senior prison officials in Jordan. 20 participants gathered at by the shores of the Dead Sea to attend this three-day training course on the international standards ratified by Jordan which govern their […]
News
Final report from the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations Corrections conference now available
This is the final report from the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UN DPKO) Corrections conference held in Berlin in June 2012. The conference, hosted by the German Federal Foreign Office and the Center for International Peace Operations, brought together high level correctional staff, members of relevant intergovernmental agencies and some select NGOs to discuss ‘The role of […]
Press release
Press release: Kazakhstan prison monitoring
PRESS RELEASE There have been recent media comments on the report from the Public Monitoring Commissions’ (PMCs) visit to Zhanaozen with the assistance of Penal Reform International (PRI)’s Central Asia office. PRI considers some clarification necessary in light of these comments, and confirms the following points: 1. At the end of December 2011 the Public Monitoring […]
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PRI’s MENA office workshops promote restorative justice for young people in Egypt this week
PRI’s Middle East and North Africa office are organising two workshops this week on the juvenile criminal system in Egypt. The sessions are part of a project funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The training, carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, will focus on raising awareness of international standards and […]
News
55 years on: Time to upgrade UN Rules for treatment of prisoners
The Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners are currently going through a review process which will bring them up to date with modern human rights standards. In an article for IDN – InDepthNews Viewpoints, PRI’s Policy Director, Andrea Huber, explains why this initiative is so important. More about the Standard Minimum Rules review process
News
UN General Assembly adopt 4th resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty
The UN General Assembly today adopted a fourth resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty. 111 states in favour, 41 against and 34 abstentions. New votes in favour included Central African Republic, Chad, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Tunisia. Papua New Guinea and Indonesia moved from opposition to abstention. Regrettably, Bahrain, Dominica and Oman […]
News
PRI starts new project to bring an end to the use of the death penalty worldwide
This new programme of work is being carried out in four regions: the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and East Africa Funded under the European Union’s Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the programme started in November 2012 and will run for two years. […]
News
PRI granted Observer Status to the African Committee on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
PRI is delighted to have received Observer Status to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), which is mandated to protect the rights of children enshrined in the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. Representatives of PRI attended the current session of the Committee in […]