Resources listing

Briefing

Short Guide to the Nelson Mandela Rules (revised Standard Minimum Rules)

This Short Guide summarises the 122 Rules of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners which were revised by the UN in 2015. The Guide, which outlines the minimum standards that should be applied in prisons from admission to release, will be useful for policy-makers developing national prison management standards and guidelines and […]

Languages: Amharic, English, French, Georgian, Haitian Creole, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Thai

Multimedia

The Nelson Mandela Rules: an animated introduction

In this two-minute animation, we explain the revised UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), what they include, and what they mean for prison management. Watch the animation in: Arabic Armenian: Правила Манделы -Краткое введение (Армянский) Georgian: მანდელას წესები – ანიმაციური მიმოხილვა Portuguese: As Regras de Nelson Mandela: uma introdução – with thanks […]

Languages: English

Report

Impact evaluation: Abolition of the death penalty and implementation of alternative sanctions, 2012–2015

This 29-month project (2012–2015) to campaign for the progressive abolition of the death penalty and its replacement with humane alternative sanctions was implemented in 10 countries in four regions: the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and East Africa. It was funded under the European Union’s Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), and by […]

Languages: English

Report

The Death Penalty: Myths & Realities

Myths and Realities provides ‘quick answers to common questions’ about the death penalty. The ‘myths’ covered, for example, include: ‘The death penalty keeps societies safer’, ‘the death penalty is applied fairly’, ‘there is nothing in international law to stop countries using the death penalty’, and ‘victims and relatives are in favour’. The booklet is interactive […]

Languages: English

Report

Sharia law and the death penalty

This report is designed for non-experts who want to understand more about Sharia law and Islamic jurisprudence as it relates to the death penalty. Sharia law is used in some countries as a reason to retain capital punishment. However, there are schools of thought among Islamic scholars stating that Sharia law creates stringent conditions for […]

Languages: English

Annual Report

PRI Annual Report 2014

PRI’s Annual Report 2014 highlights achievements at both international and country level in our 25th anniversary year which ran from April 2014 to April 2015. The process of revising the text of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners was completed in April 2014 at the fourth intergovernmental expert group meeting […]

Languages: English

Multimedia

Podcast: introduction to the ‘Mandela Rules’ with Andrea Huber

On 22 May 2015, at the UN Crime Commission in Vienna, states agreed on a new set of prison standards – a new and updated version of the well-known and well-used Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMR). Andrea Huber, PRI’s Policy Director, was involved in the revision process and was present in […]

Languages: English

Submission

Statement to UN Crime Commission on quinquennial report of the UN Secretary General on the death penalty, May 2015

This joint statement by PRI, Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers), the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, the Academic Council of the United Nations System (ACUNS) and others, was delivered to the 24th session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna in May 2015. It responds to the quinquennial […]

Languages: English

Briefing

Prison guards and the death penalty

How are prison officers affected by overseeing prisoners on death row or even participating in executions? What effects does it have in the short and the longer term? This short paper draws on research and interviews with prison guards to outline the psychological impact that guards who have worked with prisoners for many years on death row […]

Languages: English