Welcome
to Penal Reform International's monthly
e-newsletter, a round-up of PRI and other penal
reform news from around the world and a variety of
criminal justice and human rights
resources.
The views expressed in the
news items below are not necessarily those of
PRI.
Next month the UN General
Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the world
drug problem will take place in New York. Read
more about what UNGASS is
about.
PRI will be holding
a side-event together with the
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights on 18 April on the human
rights impacts of drug policies. Find out more
here.
UN Commission on
Narcotic Drugs (CND)
The 59th
regular session of the UN Commission
on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna focused on
the upcoming UNGASS.
Negotiations continued on the UNGASS ‘outcome
document’, with attitudes ranging from support for
the existing ‘war on drugs’ to calls for a
health-based, harm reduction approach to drug use.
The Outcome Document was agreed on the last day of
the CND, but there was widespread criticism of the
process by which it was reached, including in a
sharplyworded
letter from nearly 200 NGOs. Oliver Robertson
attended the CND meeting on behalf of PRI and
reflects on what this document means for
prospects of a shift in international drug policy
in
this blog.
At the CND, PRI delivered a
statement
on the use of the death penalty for drugs and
spoke in side events on ‘Alternatives to
imprisonment and proportionate responses to drug
offences’ and on ‘Ensuring more proportionate,
humane and effective approaches to drug
policy’. Comprehensive accounts of the CND
public discussions are available at http://cndblog.org/.
Attention now moves to New York, where
the UNGASS will take place on 19-21 April. At
UNGASS, PRI is co-organising a side-event on Human
Rights Impacts of Drugs, together with the UN
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
It will be held on Monday 18 April at 8.30am in
Conference Room B, UNHQ New York.
Other news and
resources ahead of
UNGASS
IDPC
produces Drug Policy
Guide
The
International Drug Policy
Consortium (IDPC), of which PRI is a member,
has produced the third edition of its drug
policy guide, which brings
together global evidence, best practice and
experiences to provide expert analysis across
the spectrum of drug policy. Chapter 3
offers guidance on the criminal justice system –
including alternatives to incarceration,
proportionate sentencing, regulated markets and
decriminalisation, as well as policies in
prisons.
March’s
expert blog is written by Femke Hofstee-van
der Meulen, Director of Prison
Watch. It
explores The Netherlands’ unique practice of
providing a volunteer visitation service of Dutch
nationals to its citizens held in foreign
prisons.
As part of the research, Prison
Watch developed a universal picture dictionary for
foreign detainees who don’t speak the main
language of a prison. The full dictionary can be
accessed here.
This
blog summarises practices surrounding the use of
prison clothing around the world, and asks if
penal policy-makers and prison administrations
should consider more fully the impact of their
clothing policies
After
the adoption of the revised Standard Minimum Rules
for the Treatment of Prisoners by the UN General
Assembly in December, the focus is now on
supporting their implementation in practice. PRI
has begun a series of consultations with prison
administrations to support this process. The
first of these was held on 10 March coordinated by
our new Africa office. Omar Phoenix Khan reports
on the
discussions.
PRI and partner organisation, Foundation
for Human Rights Initiative(FHRI) organised a workshop in Kampala in
March with 23 Judges and members of the Judicial
Studies Institute to discuss provisions regarding
non-custodial measures in the UN Bangkok
Rules. Read a blog about the
discussions here.
The workshop followed PRI/FHRI’s 2015 report,Who are women prisoners? Survey results
from Uganda.
The
Special Rapporteur noted many issues woman face in
prisons including violence from prison staff and
illegal and degrading body searches. Notable
recommendations of the report include the full
application of the Bangkok
Rules and the use of pre-trial detention as
only a last resort in accordance with the Tokyo
Rules.
The report specifically
noted the need to apply the Convention against
Torture to members of the LGBTI
community in prisons, recognising their
vulnerability to violence from prison staff and
prisoners alike.
PRI’s Policy Director,
Andrea Huber, moderated a side-event
panel at the Human Rights Council where the
report was presented and discussed, and hosted by
the Special Rapporteur.
In East
Africa, rats used to detect landmines have been
retrained to detect Tuberculosis (TB) to carry out
mass screenings in prisons. The project may be
expanded to other countries says the director of
the organisation charged with the job, Anti-Personnel
Landmines Detection Product Development
(APOPO).
The Law and
Human Rights Ministry’s Director General of
correctional institutions, I Wayan Dusak, has
stated that a lack of training programmes for
prison guards has compounded issues in Indonesian
prisons, in particular the proliferation of drugs.
See PRI’s Short
Guide on the Mandela Rules to read about the
provisions on staff training.
European
Court on Human Rights issues two judgements on
prisoners' rights
The ECHR
has ruled that a man’s right to privacy was
breached by the Northern Ireland Prison Service in
the recording and retention of footage of a strip
search in which consent was not
given.
The Court also ruled that
Switzerland were in line with the European
Convention on Human Rights by requiring
a prisoner to work despite him being of retirement
age. The Court found that the requirement to
work in prison (without consent) did not
constitute ‘forced or compulsory labour’.
Joint
statement to UN Human Rights Council on HIV/AIDS
in prisons by PRI and
QUNO
The Human
Rights Council held a plenary session on 11
March which addressed human rights issues and the
efforts to end the HIV/ADIS epidemic by 2030. PRI
and QUNO issued an oral
statement highlighting the specific challenges
HIV/AIDS poses in prisons. In related news,
read here
a report from Human Rights Watch
on the failure of prisons in Louisiana to provide
adequate testing and treatment for HIV.
Amnesty International reports on
large scale torture in
Kazakstan
Amnesty
Internationalhas
published a reportdetailing
the prevalence of torture in Kazakhstan’s
detention facilities, and the failure to register
and prosecute the individuals and authorities that
are responsible.
PRI’s
Central Asia office runs a number of programmes
with the goal of reducing the ill-treatment and
torture in the region’s prisons. A three-year
project,
funded by the European Commission, for example,
aims to reduce violence against children in
detention in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and
Tajikistan.
New laws in
Australia, more home detention for young
offenders
A new Youth
Justice Administration Act allows Australian
courts the option to sentence young people to home
detention for up to a year, up from a previous
maximum of six months. The Youth Minister stressed
that this would allow young people to maintain
family and community connections and enhance the
capacity of offenders to participate in education
and training.
International law dictates
that children should only be detained as a measure
of last resort. Read here
a report on a PRI project’s success in diverting
children away from the criminal justice system in
Jordan.
Study
on girls in criminal justice system in US
The US-based NGO, Centre
for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) has
released its first report in a series on girls in
the justice system. The study aims to shift the
narrative surrounding girls of colour and status
offences from a focus on delinquency and
misbehaviour to structural discrimination, trauma
and youth well-being. The series promotes policies
aimed at developing a trauma-informed approach to
juvenile justice. Read also this
article on the the importance of treating for
trauma in juvenile justice-involved youth.
