Although efforts are being made across North Africa and the Middle East to ensure criminal justice systems reflect international standards and comply with human rights law, there are some significant challenges for reform.
These include prison overcrowding, delays in the trial process, poor coordination between criminal justice agencies, lack of resources and, in some countries of political will, and a lack of reliable data about prison systems.
PRI has been working in the region since 1991. Our regional office in Amman, Jordan, opened in 2005 and its team currently operates in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Kuwait.
Current work focuses on:
- developing gender-sensitive and child-friendly justice systems
- promoting non-custodial sanctions, particularly for vulnerable groups
- supporting countries to adopt national and integrated plans for reform
- building regional human resource capacity through networks of expertise
- promoting the abolition of the death penalty.
Latest updates
News
Justice – in all senses of the word – will only come through hearing and learning
PRI's statement regarding the killing of George Floyd in the US. Justice will not come through silencing those chanting Black Lives Matter, but through hearing them, learning from failure and building fair and effective criminal justice systems where criminal justice actors, including law enforcement, are held fully accountable.
Blog post
Coronavirus and women in detention: A gender-specific approach missing
The coronavirus pandemic has shed a light on the crisis state of criminal justice and prison systems, but in this the plight of women has somewhat been neglected, or overtly disregarded. Without a gender-specific assessment and response to coronavirus, lives of women are at risk and human rights violations will continue.
4th June 2020