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Spotlight:
Support us now to prevent COVID-19 ‘rampaging through places of detention’
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The outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 reminds us of the very essence of PRI’s existence. At this time, our mission is to ensure that no one is left behind and PRI is working to ensure that prison management, criminal justice authorities and governments around the world are informed, equipped and supported to slow and prevent the spread of COVID-19.
As this pandemic also hits all our homes, from all of us at PRI, we hope you are healthy and staying safe.
Please support our efforts to prevent this health crisis from having even more devastating effects on people in places of detention.
Earlier this month we published a briefing note on the risks of COVID-19 to the health and human rights of people in prison. We pointed to the need to consider releasing vulnerable individuals. We also underlined the risks associated to COVID-19 spreading further in countries with weak health systems and lack of hygiene in places of detention.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights underlined the risk of COVID-19 ‘rampaging through places of detention’ and called for urgent action to be taken by governments to protect those in detention.
Your donation will make an immense difference to allow us to develop practical responses to COVID-19 for prison management, criminal justice authorities and governments to improve their responsiveness and resilience. We are committed to being flexible in helping to respond to this crisis.
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Follow our response so far:
- Read our briefing note on Coronavirus: healthcare and human rights of people in prison, now available in English, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, Arabic and soon in French.
- In this article by the Guardian, PRI's Director of Policy and Advocacy, Olivia Rope, takes the floor to warn about dangerous practices in prisons following efforts to contain the outbreak.
- Listen to our Executive Director, Florian Irminger, talk about why emergency releases are an important step to contain the spread of the virus, as featured in the World.
- Listen to our Africa Programme Manager, Doreen Namyalo Kyazze, talk about the concerning measures that the Ugandan government is taking to prevent the spread of coronavirus for BBC Business Daily.
- See how our values guide our response to COVID-19.
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New comparative study on 18 jurisdictions: Sentencing of women for drug-related offences
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Earlier this month at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, PRI launched a new study undertaken with Linklaters LLP and co-published with the International Drug Policy Consortium.
Drug‑related offences are known to have a particular and disproportionate impact on women. The report considers five key questions relating to the sentences imposed on women for drug‑related offences across criminal justice systems across 18 jurisdictions. It demonstrates that the complex reasons and pathways of women’s confrontation with criminal justice systems for drug‑related offences are not adequately reflected in legislation or (where existing) sentencing guidelines, nor sentencing practices across the 18 jurisdictions. The study is instrumental in building a better understanding of the case law around women accused of drug‑related offences and forms a solid basis for the development of policy guidance and recommendations to legislators and sentencing authorities (which will be published in 2020).
Jurisdictions covered by the study are: Argentina, Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, England and Wales, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and the United States.
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Mobilisation de la société civile pour la réforme pénale : les efforts de PRI en République Centrafricaine
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Depuis 2017, PRI travaille aux côtés de la Mission multidimensionnelle Intégrée des Nations Unies pour la Stabilisation en République Centrafricaine (MINUSCA), où nous avons conduit à la création d’une plateforme de la société civile pour la réforme pénale.
En effet, à l’initiative de PRI, le gouvernement Centrafricain a adopté la stratégie nationale de démilitarisation des établissements pénitentiaires en Centrafrique, suite à quoi huit Organisations Non-Gouvernementales se sont rassemblées pour créer la Plateforme d’Appui aux Réformes du Système Pénitentiaire en République Centrafricaine (PARSP-RCA). Leur objectif principal et de soutenir la mise en œuvre de la stratégie de démilitarisation en sensibilisant la population et en promouvant la protection des droits des détenu·e·s.
Our news article is also available in English. |
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On International Women's Day, PRI's Executive Director reflects on the importance of women's rights in penal reform
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In this blog to mark International Women’s Day celebrated on Sunday 8 March 2020, Penal Reform International’s Executive Director, Florian Irminger, reflects on why women find themselves in prisons from Central African Republic to Afghanistan. As documented in Global Prison Trends, over the past 20 years, the number of women in prison globally has known a 50% increase (compared to a 20% increase for the global male population). He argues:
"Most women are held on charges in pre-trial detention or sentenced to prison for crimes committed in a context of poverty and violence. Common offences are theft, drug-related crime or another type of illegal business they engage in because of financial need. They also continue to be imprisoned for ‘morality’ offences such as failing a ‘virginity test’ and for suspected abortion, such as in Afghanistan or El Salvador. The impact of these overtly discriminatory offences were clear also on my visit to Bimbo’s prison, where many of the women detained are awaiting to get to a court room or were charged of ‘witchcraft’, an offence that carries strong cultural heritage related to colonisation, and is designed to target women."
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Global Prison Trends 2020: coming soon!
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This year we will be hosting an online launch of Global Prison Trends 2020 with a webinar with panel of experts on 21 April 2020. Further information on how to register will be available on our website soon.
This year’s edition will explore trends in penitentiary policy and practice, such as prison budgets and the use of life imprisonment; prison populations and the needs of at-risk groups in custodial settings; as well as prison management challenges, including the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, security in prisons as well as the situation for prison staff and the role of new technologies.
Our Special Focus will be dedicated to alternatives to imprisonment, detailing why these alternatives are not the norm and prison remains the response to crime in a majority of countries.
The 2020 Global Prison Trends, co-published with the Thailand Institute of Justice, will be published in English, with a multilingual Executive Summary.
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