Model for Reform
Ten steps to guide countries interested in moving away from solely punitive responses to drugs and in developing health and human rights-based approaches. This Plan was developed in partnership with the International Drug Policy Consortium.
Languages: English
Multimedia
Worldwide more than a half a million foreign nationals are detained abroad. While entitled to assistance under international law, in practice only a few countries provide assistance to their nationals. One of these is The Netherlands. However, uniquely, as well as assistance provided by diplomatic staff, Dutch citizens detained abroad can also receive regular visits from ex-patriate […]
Languages: English
Submission
PRI and the Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers) submitted this joint statement at the plenary panel at the 31st regular session of the Human Rights Council on addressing human rights issues in the context of efforts to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030 (one of the Sustainable Development Goals). The statement highlights challenges around HIV/AIDS […]
Languages: English
Training
Who are the women in prison – what are their backgrounds, how did they end up in prison? How does prison impact women differently than men? Why do women prisoners have higher rates of mental health issues? How can prisons respond to these? These are some of the questions that PRI’s free e-course on women […]
Languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, Russian
Multimedia
To fill the gap between international norms and the relative lack of information on how to build a compliant prison in difficult circumstances, UNOPS recently developed a Technical Guidance for Prison Planning document that facilitates a human rights-based approach in the development of prison infrastructure. This blog post by Gordon Nuttall and Pedja Jurisic (UNOPS) […]
Languages: English
Report
In 2011, PRI began a four-year advocacy project to revise the 1957 UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners. A revised set of Rules – the Nelson Mandela Rules – were adopted by the UN at the end of 2015, and contain significant substantive changes which provide a modern and more human rights oriented benchmark for the […]
Languages: English
Briefing
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
In many countries, prison food is insufficient in quantity and quality. Budgets are low (less than 0.5 USD per prisoner per day according to data recently gathered by PRI) and there have been cases where prisoners have died from starvation. In higher-income countries, food is more available but still may not be ‘of nutritional value […]
Languages: English
International Standard
The UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMRs) were initially adopted by the UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders in 1955, and approved by the UN Economic and Social Council in 1957. The Nelson Mandela Rules: an animated introduction from Penal Reform International on Vimeo. […]
Languages: Uzbek, Arabic, Chinese, English, Finnish, French, German, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Tajik
Multimedia
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