Penal Reform International

📢 Out now! 📢  ✒️ Global Prison Trends 2025     Now in its eleventh edition, #GlobalPrisonTrends 2025 is the flagship annual report by Penal Reform International and the Thailand Institute of Justice, with support from the Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD).     🔴 This year’s report provides a data-driven analysis of global developments and trends in criminal justice systems, covering:     🔺 The status of voting rights for people in prison during 2024 #elections   🔺Rising #suicide and #violence rates in #custody   🔺Ongoing challenges in #prison #healthcare provision   🔺Tackling the #environmental footprint of prison infrastructure   🔺The growing use – and misuse – of #technology in prison management     Marking the 15th anniversary of the UN #BangkokRules, the report highlights ongoing challenges in addressing the specific needs of #womeninprison.     A spotlight is the increasing engagement of people with lived experience, whose insights are shaping more inclusive, effective and lasting criminal justice reform efforts.     🔗 Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/dUcserwm       #CriminalJusticeReform #HumanRights #PrisonReform   

📢📘 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗴 𝗯𝘆 𝗣𝗥𝗜’𝘀 Tinatin Uplisashvili 🔎 Informal hierarchies in #prisons continue to shape daily life in many post-Soviet penitentiary systems. Governed by unwritten codes and enforced through rigid caste structures, these systems impact how power is distributed, who is protected and who is subjected to #exclusion or abuse. ✒️ Drawing on recent CPT standards and reports, this blog outlines how informal governance persists across the region and considers structural factors that enable these systems. 🔗 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠: https://lnkd.in/eavxXe4K #CriminalJustice #PenalReform #humanrights #tortureprevention

🔍 #NelsonMandela Day 2025 Today, on Nelson Mandela day, we need to address a critical issue affecting the dignity and rights of people worldwide: prison #overcrowding. According to #GlobalPrisonTrends 2025, more than 120 jurisdictions detain people in overcrowded #prisons, with 23 of them exceeding double their official capacity. In some jurisdictions, occupancy levels can reach over 350%, severely undermining #safety, #health and #accesstojustice.  Overcrowding is a global crisis. Our recent blog, developed in collaboration with EuroPris - The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services, highlights that while Europe may seem relatively less affected, some jurisdictions face severe levels of overcrowding. 📉 Overcrowding is not just an issue of prison occupancy; it is a matter of #humanrights. Solutions must go beyond infrastructure and address underlying drivers. Non-custodial measures, proportionate sentencing and alternatives to pre-trial detention are essential to uphold the dignity and rights of all people in #prison. 📖 Read our blog on overcrowding: https://lnkd.in/exwDbZkk    📘 Explore the data from Global Prison Trends 2025: https://lnkd.in/dUcserwm #JusticeReform #PrisonOvercrowding  #NelsonMandelaDay #NelsonMandela #MandelaRules

🔍 New expert blog | Behind bars, beyond justice: Confronting corruption in the #prison system 👉 In this expert blog for PRI, Sofie Schütte explores how #corruption in prisons, driven by severe power imbalances, limited oversight and widespread overcrowding, creates conditions for abuse, particularly against marginalised groups. The blog calls on the anti-corruption community to view prisons not as the end of #justice, but as institutions in urgent need of reform and accountability. 📖 Read the blog: https://lnkd.in/epqJbYZb #AntiCorruption #PrisonGovernance #HumanRights #MandelaRules #JusticeSystems #Overcrowding  

ℹ️ 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 #𝐋𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐧: 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 Earlier this month, Penal Reform International concluded a six-day training in Amman, Jordan, under the MENA Scholarship Programme funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and managed by Nuffic. 📌 The workshop brought together 18 leaders from six prominent Lebanese civil society organisations. Over the course of the training, participants developed comprehensive action plans and key recommendations to support #inclusive and #sustainable security sector reform in Lebanon. Discussions focused on strengthening cooperation and dialogue between civil society and security institutions, particularly in the context of #migration, #displacement, and #asylum. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eransvXk #HumanRights #CivilSociety #MENA

PARTNERSHIP FOR JUSTICE On June 26, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, around 100 experts from Kazakhstan and other countries discussed how to break the vicious cycle of impunity and protect every individual from torture and ill-treatment. The “Partnership for Justice” conference served as a unique platform for: • discussing the prevention of torture in places of deprivation of liberty; • exploring ways to ensure effective and independent investigations; • promoting the right of victims to compensation and rehabilitation. Organizers: Taldykorgan Human Rights Center, Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, Penal Reform International, with the support of the European Union (European Union in Kazakhstan).

🔷 Workshops on the treatment of imprisoned people in #Qatar Last week, in Doha, a series of workshops was launched by the National Human Rights Committee, the Ministry of Interior’s Human Rights Department, the General Directorate of Penal and Correctional Institutions and PRI to strengthen the treatment of people in #prison in line with international standards and national legislation. Held with the participation of senior officials, the initiative focused on enhancing the capacities of correctional staff and promoting a rights-based, gender-sensitive approach to prison management. 🟣 The training series brought together 𝟗𝟎 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 from Qatar’s penal and correctional institutions and covered practical tools for translating international standards into daily practice. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐑𝐈’𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫. 🌍 Learn more: https://lnkd.in/efcaGcaZ #HumanRights #JusticeReform #PenalReform #NelsonMandelaRules

📢 Our Annual Report 2024 is now available!     The 2024 report reflects PRI’s global work to promote fair, humane and effective #criminaljustice systems across the globe.     🟣 Key highlights from 2024 include:   ✅ Expanding support to women and children in contact with the law   ✅Strengthening detention monitoring mechanisms   ✅Addressing climate impacts and digitalisation of prison systems   ✅Advancing lived experience leadership in justice reform     A huge thank you to all our generous donors for supporting #HumanRights change.    🔗 Read the report: https://lnkd.in/euunnjUG    #JusticeReform #PenalReform 

🔴Today is the ''Support. Don’t Punish'' Global Day of Action People in prison face disproportionate health risks – a reality compounded by punitive #drug policies and systemic neglect. Rates of #HIV, #hepatitis and #tuberculosis are significantly higher in #prison than in the community, and access to #harmreduction services remains alarmingly scarce. Acting as the Secretariat of the Informal CSO Group on Health in Prison, PRI coordinates over 50 organisations worldwide working to improve #prisonhealth through evidence-based, rights-centred approaches. 🔎 Read more about the Informal CSO Group on Health in Prison: https://lnkd.in/ee9i72hr 📚 Explore our 2025 Global Prison Trends report, which examines the impact of drug policies on prison systems worldwide. Global Prison Trends 2025: https://lnkd.in/dUcserwm *Support. Don’t Punish is a global advocacy campaign calling for drug policies based on health and human rights. #SupportDontPunish #HarmReduction #PrisonHealth #HumanRights

📢 New e-learning course now available!  📢   Today we launch an online training course under the #DataMOSAIC project:  👉 Ensuring safety and protection from violence for children in detention.     🔴 Designed for #justice professionals, #detention monitors, policymakers and #childprotection actors, this course offers:     🔹 A rights-based, non-discriminatory approach to identifying and responding to #violence against #children (#VAC) in detention   🔹 Practical guidance on data collection, prevention and response strategies   🔹 Two self-paced modules, accessible in English, (French, Spanish and Romanian available soon) with a certificate upon completion     📲 Access the course: https://lnkd.in/ensMEu_T   ℹ️ The project is funded by the European Union's Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme, implemented by Penal Reform International in collaboration with Terre des hommes foundation / Fundación Tierra de hombres, the Social Activities and Practice Institute (SAPI), and Universidade Nova de Lisboa, with the support of the Global Initiative on Justice With Children.    #ChildRights #DetentionMonitoring #HumanRights #JusticeForChildren #ViolencePrevention #FairJusticeSystems #VAC