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There is a lot for us to be proud of; we highlight a few of our achievements in the video and our history shows the impact we have had globally and in over 90 countries. We need your support to continue our work!
We are in a period of growing social and political tensions, partly reflected through a populist vision of the penal systems in society. Populists contest the authority of human rights principles and undermine the institutions on which democratic government and international cooperation rely, including those that uphold the rule of law.
Like the canary in a mine, what happens to prisoners tells us a lot about the values and character of the societies in which we live. This is what Nelson Mandela meant, when saying that we do not truly know a nation until we have been inside its prisons. Criminal laws, due process and detention practices play core – even emblematic – roles in human rights protection. In the current struggle over human rights, what happens in criminal justice systems will be critical; and what happens to human rights will fundamentally influence the success of our efforts to defend the rights of people confronted to criminal justice systems.
I had already written that PRI is “as needed as ever.” As PRI goes forward into its fourth decade, it will adapt its strategies and make the case for penal reform and human rights in the criminal justice systems globally. For that, we will need your support!
We will be strengthening PRI to protect the rights of the most vulnerable facing criminal justice systems, to make criminal justice systems gender sensitive, child friendly and responsive to young people. In developing our work further, we will make sense of the pledge made by States by adopting the Sustainable Development Goals that no one should be left behind. Some people are not only left behind, they are pushed behind by our justice systems. We want PRI to be catalyst in addressing inequalities that inhabit criminal justice systems and the deficiencies leading to violations of human rights.
I am particularly proud to be at the helm of PRI at the occasion of its 30th anniversary – and I am hugely privileged to be able to contribute to grow an organisation having a wide network of friends and supporters and immensely qualified and experienced members of staff working in PRI’s regional offices and its headquarters.
Thank you for your support and friendship to PRI. We will need your support for the 30 next years!
Best wishes,
Florian Irminger
Executive Director
Penal Reform International
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