Our current and recently ended projects in the South Caucasus include the following:
Monitoring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia’s prisons
This project involves monitoring visits to prisons and places of detention in Georgia to assess the impact of COVID-19, particularly the impact of measures implemented to tackle the pandemic and prevent its spread to the prison population. Supported by the Netherlands Helsinki Committee within the scope of the EU-funded regional COVID-19 Solidarity Programme 2020-2022, prison visits were conducted under the mandate granted by the Public Defender of Georgia and as part of the team of experts for the National Preventive Mechanism. Findings contributed to the Special Report produced by the Public Defender. The surveys and desk research provided insight into the situation as regards the control, prevention and treatment of COVID-19 as well as the impact of the pandemic on individual entitlements (right to health, contact with families, rehabilitation activities, provision of food, and outdoor activity) and working conditions for prison staff.
Assessing alternatives to imprisonment and post-release support during COVID-19
PRI also studied the impact of the pandemic on the use and enforcement of non-custodial alternative sanctions and measures in Georgia, as part of a four-country study within the remits of PRI’s project Addressing gaps in the implementation and management of alternatives to imprisonment and post-release support during the COVID-19 global pandemic funded by the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation (IPPF). This included desk research and first-hand data collection through surveys and semi-structured interviews with 48 representatives of key stakeholder groups, including probation staff across four regional bureaus, judiciary, individuals with lived experience of non-custodial sanctions (i.e. probation clients), the Special Penitentiary Service and NGOs working with the country’s Probation Agency and those subject to probation supervision.
Supporting reform of the penitentiary and probation systems in Armenia
In Armenia, PRI works with the Netherlands Helsinki Committee and Armenian organisations (Civil Society Institute and Social Justice NGO) on providing policy advice to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia on the elaboration of a National Strategy and Action Plan for the development and reform of penitentiary and probation systems, as part of the MATRA programme of the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The cooperation also aims to enable the prison and probation services to work from a rehabilitative perspective through capacity building and also to improve chain collaboration between criminal justice agencies (the prison service, probation service, judiciary and prosecution service).
Strengthening the role of civil society in penal reform
PRI also works with partners, under an EU-funded project, to strengthen civil society’s engagement in justice and police sector reforms through capacity building. The project envisions a strengthened role for civil society in meaningful policy dialogue with criminal justice authorities through policy proposals and concrete recommendations and action plans for implementation of reforms towards enhanced human rights protection. Part of the work is public education to increase awareness and generate debate around justice reform processes, to stimulate participation of citizens and media in monitoring efforts.