Written evidence submitted by the International
Centre for Prison Studies, King's College London
1. The International Centre for Prison Studies
(ICPS) is part of the School of Law in King's College, University
of London, and is recognised internationally as a leading academic
centre for the study of penal systems and prison reform issues.
In addition to undertaking a series of international projects
on prison reform and prison management in a number of countries,
it has carried out research for the United Nations, the Council
of Europe and the Inter American Commission on Human Rights. In
the UK it has undertaken research at the request of the Cabinet
Office, the Prison Service of England and Wales and HM Inspectorate
of Prisons for England and Wales, among others. ICPS has considerable
experience of comparing prison systems within a human rights context.
It has worked in most regions of the world, often under the auspices
of the United Nations, the Council of Europe or OSCE. In early
2004 it completed a study of conditions of detention in the 25
European Union countries on behalf of the European Parliament.
Its Director is an expert adviser to the Office of the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights, the OSCE and a number of Council
of Europe committees, including its Committee for the Prevention
of Torture. He is also a member of the Foreign Secretary's expert
panel against torture. The Centre's Senior Research Fellow, Baroness
Vivien Stern, is a member of the Foreign Secretary's expert panel
against the death penalty.
2. ICPS welcomes the decision by the Foreign
Affairs Committee to hold an inquiry into the FCO's Annual Report
on Human Rights 2004 and the opportunity this provides to give
evidence to the Committee. ICPS will restrict its evidence to
the involvement which it has with the FCO through its work on
international prison reform, some of which is referred to directly
in the Annual Report.
3. A significant proportion of the international
work undertaken by ICPS is sponsored by the FCO, usually through
what is now known as the Global Opportunities Fund. There is an
often-quoted aphorism that one can judge the values of a society
by examining its prisons and those who are in them. Prison reform
is often high on the agenda in countries which are moving from
totalitarian regimes and are in transition towards democracy.
There can be many reasons for this. It may be that a government
regards prison reform as a way of demonstrating its commitment
to human rights, good governance and the rule of law. It may be
that there is a champion of reform within the relevant Ministry,
perhaps a person who was himself a prisoner under a previous regime.
It may be that there is a specific impetus for reform, such as
public concern about the infectious diseases which flourish in
the prison setting and which released prisoners bring back into
the community. It may be a public outcry following a violent riot
or escape. Whatever the trigger, it is often important for a third
party to be able to move quickly when there is a request for assistance
to begin a programme of reform. In this regard, there is no doubt
that the FCO, through its Human Rights Policy Department and many
of its embassies and high commissions, has become a key international
player in prison reform.
4. In 2002 the FCO sponsored ICPS to produce
and publish A Human Rights Approach to Prison Management: Handbook
for prison staff. This handbook, which has a foreword by the Foreign
Secretary, has met an identifiable need among intergovernmental
organisations, international non-governmental organisations, national
governments, prison administrations and prison reformers for detailed
information about the international human rights standards relating
to imprisonment and how they should be applied in the daily management
of prisons. In the course of 2003 and 2004 the FCO has helped
ICPS to develop a programme to ensure that the handbook became
widely known and used around the world. To date it has been translated
into ten languages and it is now widely used by field offices
of the UNHCHR and UNODC, by the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the
ICRC and other organisations. Launches and seminars have been
held in a number of countries with the support of British Embassies
and High Commissions. These have invariably been in response to
requests from host governments. The Brazilian Ministry of Justice
arranged for 40,000 copies to be printed in Portuguese and has
issued them to every member of staff. This was particularly significant,
given the appalling conditions and levels of violence in many
Brazilian prisons. Similar initiatives have taken place in countries
as far apart as the Republic of Korea, Colombia, Nigeria, Japan
and Kazakhstan. The Arabic version has been used in Afghanistan
and Iraq. This handbook, which would not have been published without
the support from the FCO, is becoming a standard text in countries
which see the need for prison reform within a human rights context.
5. In the course of 2004 the FCO sponsored
penal reform work undertaken by ICPS in Brazil, Chile, Libya,
Russia, St Helena and Sudan.
6. Prison reform can be a specialised interest
and does not often attract a high political profile. However,
it is a key feature of human rights work, not least because there
are now over none million men, women and children in prisons around
the world. They come frequently from the most marginalised, impoverished
and vulnerable groups in society. The conditions in which they
are held often constitute inhuman and degrading treatment and
many of them suffer from ill health, even to the extent of dying
because of the treatment which they receive. The staff who work
in prisons are very often poorly paid, badly trained and have
little respect in society, despite the stressful and sometimes
dangerous work which they carry out.
7. The support of the FCO for penal reform
activities, through its support for institutions such as ICPS
as well as its contribution on these matters to intergovernmental
bodies, is an important element of the international work of the
UK government in support of human rights, good governance and
access to justice.
Professor Andrew Coyle CMG
Director
International Centre for Prison Studies
King's College London
December 2004
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