Next week will see the start of the 28th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council (2-27 March 2015 in Geneva). PRI will be participating on two key issues: the abolition of the death penalty and the human rights impact of overuse of imprisonment. We are co-hosting a side-event, ‘Strengthening death penalty standards’, with the Permanent Representations of Switzerland and Mexico. The […]
Next week, PRI will participate in the first ever World Congress on Juvenile Justice taking place in Geneva. This week-long event aims to become a milestone in the implementation of international norms relating to children in conflict with law and children who are victims, survivors or witnesses. The Congress, hosted by the Swiss Federal Department […]
On 12 December, PRI’s Central Asia office held its 2nd Prison Forum. The event was hosted by the General Prosecutor’s Office and supported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Republic of Kazakhstan, the British Embassy and the OSCE Centre in Astana. The 1st Prison Forum in December 2013 was the first national event on a […]
Penal Reform International (PRI) is shocked to learn of the arbitrary arrest and detention of Dr Amin Mekki Medani on the evening of 6 December by the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). Dr Medani served 10 years on the board of PRI from 2004 until earlier this year. Dr Medani, a distinguished human […]
The four year project starting in December 2014 will aim to reform the penitentiary system in line with international human rights; develop the capacity of civil society groups to initiate projects to support people in the criminal justice system and to protect the rights of prisoners; and implement alternative sanctions and diversion mechanisms at community […]
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 […]
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. […]
On 3 and 4 November, PRI’s Middle East and North Africa office co-organised a large international conference with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and under the patronage of his Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan. This conference marked the end of a three year project (2011-2014) funded by the Swedish International […]
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 […]
On Tuesday this week, PRI took part in an Expert Consultation on Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty hosted by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Professor Juan Méndez, at the American University Washington College of Law in Washington DC. 30 experts attended the consultation to discuss legal standards, best practices, and an array of topics […]