News
Is there an emerging trend to see the death penalty as torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment?
Yesterday the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Juan Mendéz, presented his interim report to the 3rd Committee of the UN General Assembly in New York. Key among his conclusions was that “… the trend to abolish and the trend to restrict are both informed by a stated conviction […]
News
PRI and Freedom from Torture produce course manual for holistic rehabilitation for torture survivors
Torture has such a devastating impact that survivors may need help on a number of levels to effectively rebuild their lives. Holistic rehabilitation takes into account the varied and complex needs of torture survivors to help them to regain full physical, emotional and psychological health. In 2011, Freedom from Torture (previously the Medical Foundation for the Victims of […]
News
PRI statement to the OSCE reiterates importance of multi-layered monitoring of places of detention to end torture
This week, PRI delivered a statement to the OSCE’s annual human rights conference (the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting) in Warsaw on the monitoring of places of detention and the role of preventive monitoring. In particular, the statement stressed that a combination of preventive work by National Preventive Mechanisms (looking at more general risk factors) and reactive monitoring […]
News
Opinion piece in New York Times highlights devastating impact of solitary confinement on mental health
In her article, The Living Death of Solitary Confinement, Lisa Guenther, an associate professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University (Tennessee), argues it is profoundly harmful for both prisoners and society to isolate people in units where they are neither allowed nor obliged to create and sustain meaningful, supportive relationships with others. The article trails Professor Guenther’s forthcoming book Social […]
News
Public Monitoring Commissions in Kazakhstan: Public Statement
(8 August 2012) A recent workshop of Public Monitoring Commissions in Kazakhstan facilitated by Penal Reform International (PRI) on 24-26 July has prompted an agitated debate in Kazakhstan about the role of these Commissions and the nature of an association coordinating their work. In the light of this discussion and criticism, which has also affected our organisation, […]
Press release
PRI to host Cross-Regional Conference on Torture Prevention in Tbilisi
PRI is organising a cross-regional conference on torture prevention on 25-26 June at the Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel in Tbilisi. The conference will be streamed live and you can follow the conference via webcast. The cross-regional conference aims to provide opportunities for inter-country learning and exchanges of experience. It will also seek to provide recommendations […]
News
New developments on the establishment of a National Preventive Mechanism in Kazakhstan
In recent months, PRI has closely followed the development of the Draft Law on the Establishment of a National Preventive Mechanism in Kazakhstan. On 5 June, new developments were discussed in a meeting of the Working Group on the Draft Law held in the Parliament of Kazakhstan. A representative of the government suggested the Ministry […]
News
PRI host regional forum in Georgia on the prevention of torture in 9 CIS countries
From 22 – 23 March, PRI hosted a regional forum on torture prevention and rehabilitation was organized in Tbilisi in the framework of the PRI’s project on Strengthening Institutions and Building Civil Society Capacity to Combat Torture in 9 Post-Soviet Countries. The project is funded by the European Union. The regional forum focused on pressing […]
News
Regional Forum on Combating and Preventing Torture and Ill-Treatment
The South Caucasus Regional Office of Penal Reform International (PRI), in co-operation with the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), is organizing a regional forum on March 22-23 at the Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel in Tbilisi. The regional forum will focus on pressing issues in the field of torture prevention, the effectiveness […]
News
PRI participate in Council of Europe Seminar in Ukraine on the prevention of ill treatment in places of detention.
PRI’s programme development director, Nikhil Roy, was invited by the Council of Europe as an expert speaker at two seminars on ‘European standards and safeguards for protection of prisoners’ rights and obligations of prison staff, including the prevention of ill-treatment in the places of deprivation of liberties’, held in Kyiv on the 17/18th November and […]