Your September 2021 update from Penal Reform International

September 2021

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Latest news and updates from PRI

Spotlight:

PRI at the Human Rights Council

This week at the Human Rights Council's 48^th session, PRI is co-hosting an online side event on “Digital Technologies in the Administration of Justice”, covering prisons, virtual court proceedings and use of algorithms in the administration of justice. Led by Austria, the event is also co-sponsored by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). For more details click here.

Thursday 30 September 2021
15.00 - 16.30 CEST
Register at bit.ly/3ArlsEe

PRI also delivered two joint oral statements now available online. During the interactive dialogue with the independent expert on older persons, Edith Riegler highlighted the importance of addressing the specific needs and vulnerabilities of older persons in prison (supported by the Association for the Prevention of Torture). At the half-day panel on deepening inequalities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Tríona Lenihan raised the striking inequities in vaccine allocation and the need to prioritise prison populations and staff in national vaccination plans and roll-out (supported by Harm Reduction International and CELS-Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales).

New resource: Short guide to the European Prison Rules

PRI, together with the Council of Europe, has published a short guide to the European Prison Rules which were revised in 2020, with guidance on how to protect the human rights of people in prison - from admission to release. Aimed at people who work in or monitor prisons, this guide provides a framework to ensure that daily prison processes and activities comply with the European Prison Rules.

This report presents the findings of baseline research examining the context of closed institutions in the Republic of Uzbekistan, including governance structures, ongoing reform initiatives and trends in the rate of imprisonment. The report was produced as part of the project “Strengthening the rule of law in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan” funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund and is available in Uzbek, Russian, and English.

This month, a workshop was held in Central African Republic with nine new organisations seeking to join the civil society platform to sensitise and mobilise civil society actors to support prison reform. The platform was established in February 2020 with eight organisations, as part of PRI's support to implement the national strategy for the demilitarization of CAR’s penitentiary system.

In Europe, foreign nationals make up almost a quarter of national prison populations. In our latest expert blog, Petra Pavlas from the Austrian Ministry of Justice discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on foreign nationals in prison and probation, as well as those released from prison during the pandemic.

This month, Capstone Project human rights research competition alumni and representatives of Kazakhstani higher education institutions met in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, to discuss the prospects for the development and further improvement of human rights research in the country.

The audience was presented with the methodology and results of the Capstone Project implemented for five years in Kazakhstan with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Earlier this month, the Justice Health Unit of the University of Melbourne held the final webinar in their series on COVID-19 and detention. PRI's Tríona Lenihan spoke about barriers in the collection and transparency of prison health data and the need for accurate and disaggregated data on prison populations in general, but particularly in light of the pandemic.

Watch the recording

PRI needs your support

The COVID-19 crisis isn’t over yet. People in prisons around the world continue to face increased risk due to the conditions they are in and restrictions to their regime. We continue to respond through research and guidance to support fair and effective crisis responses in prisons and alternatives to imprisonment and our staff continue to push for long-term sustainable reforms, fighting for the human rights of the millions of people in places of detention worldwide.

To continue to do this we need your support. A donation from you today will allow us to continue our leadership and innovation in COVID-19 response and beyond in the criminal justice system.

Find out more about our work at: www.penalreform.org

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Spotlight:

PRI at the Human Rights Council

New resource: Short guide to the European Prison Rules

New report on the penitentiary system in Uzbekistan

Workshop held to expand civil society platform in CAR

New blog: Foreign nationals in prison and probation during COVID-19

Capstone Project wrap-up held in Kazakhstan

Webinar recording: Towards a data-driven global response to COVID-19 in prisons