PRISON REFORM AND BEST PRACTICES

IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

•UNODC was established to address issues related to drug control, crime prevention and international terrrorism in the context of sustainable development and human security.

•Established in 1997, UNODC is mainly financed through voluntary contributions especially from goverment s

•The principal function is to promote the ratification and implementation of international instruments, institutional and legislative reforms and carry out technical cooperation projects to monitor, prevent and avoid the production, ilicit traffic and abuse of drugs organized crime.

•It works in 150 countries, through regional offices, project offices and country offices.

For more information, please consult the web:www.unodc.org

3

• New York

• Mexico City

Tirana• Beirut

Ashgabat •

• AlmatyBishkek •

• Amman

Ankara

• Dushanbe

• Beijing

• Addis Ababa

•Astana

• San Jose

Vilnius

• Phnom Penh

Belgrade

• Buenos Aires

Fiji

Baku

Kiev

Bucharest

• Dhaka

• Kathmandu

• Quito

Gaza

Brussels

• Bogotá

• Lima•La Paz

• Brasilia

Cape Verde

•Bissau

• Dakar• Abuja

• Pretoria• Mbabane

• Windhoek• Maputo• Lusaka

• Lilongwe

• Nairobi

• Juba

• Cairo

Tripoli

• Abu Dhabi• Manama•Doha

• Bangkok

• Jakarta

Yangon • • Vientiane• Hanoi

•Islamabad• New Delhi

•Kabul•Tehran

Tashkent •

• Moscow

• Sofia ChisinauVIENNA

•Tegucigalpa

- REGIONAL CENTRE - REGIONAL CENTRE - REGIONAL- REGIONAL OFFICE OFFICE - COUNTRY OFFICE- COUNTRY OFFICE - SUBREGIONAL PROJECT OFFICE - SUBREGIONAL PROJECT OFFICE - PROJECT OFFICE - PROJECT OFFICE - LIAISON OFFICE- LIAISON OFFICE

UNODC Field Network

UNODC´s work is guided by a wide range of international

instruments and UN standars and norms in crime prevention

and criminal justice.

• United Nations Convention against Corruption.

• United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocolos

• Legal framework against Terrorism

• UN Standars and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice.MANDATE

Terrorism

Money laundering

Corruption

Organized crime

Laboratory and forensic

science services

Human trafficking

and migrant sumggling

Drug prevention, treatment and care and HIV

Crime prevention

and criminal justice reform

Programatic and integrated Programatic and integrated approach to achieve the approach to achieve the

greatest impact on the resultsgreatest impact on the results

UNODCUNODC

11• Specialized Technical competence, operational capacity and long term expertise in crime prevention, crimianl justice and the rule of law.

22• Unique position through ability to promote international cooperation, specific focus on the developing world, role as an honest-broker.

33 • Mandate to implement UN Conventions and resolution in the context of the mandate.

Crime prevention and criminal justice area

•UNODC has the mission of making the world safer from crime, drugs and terrorism. To be effective and sustainable, responses to these threats must include crime prevention and criminal justice strategies.

•Strategies must take a human rights approach and be based on the rule of law, together with the UN standars and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice.

•In the context of the criminal justice reform, is the prison reform and alternatives to imprisonment.

Prison reform and alternatives to imprisonment

•Detention and imprisonment are the main measures imposed on individuals who are suspected of having breached the criminal law or have been convicted of a criminal offence.

•The overuse of prisons leads to a series of mutually reinforcing challenges in responding appropiately to the social reintegration needs of offenders, whilst also violating the rights of those who are innocent.

•Key areas of concern regarding prisons: prison overcrowding, poor health services, lack of social reintegration programmes, information systems and strategic planning, inter-institutional communication, inspection mechanisms, economic and human resources, and increasing numbers of prisoners with special needs.

•The detrimental impact of imprisonment, not only on individuals, but also on families and communities, together with economic factors, must be taken into account when considering the need for prison reform.

Services given by UNODC

UNODC has the mandate to assist countries in building and reforming their prison systems, and implementing non-custodial sanctions and measures in compliance with human rights principles and UN standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice.

UNODC offers assistance in:

•Improving legal safeguards for prisoners; •Introducing and widening the scope of alternatives to pre-trial detention within domestic criminal codes; •Increasing the scope of alternatives to imprisonment, decriminalizing certain acts, and reducing sentences for selected offences; and •Supporting offenders and ex-offenders to address their social reintegration needs (including in the area of criminal justice as well as labor, education, and social welfare).

UN standards and norms in the areas of prison reform and alternatives to imprisonment

Directly related to the prison system: •Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention and Imprisonment •UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners •Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners •UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) •Principles and best practices approved by the Interamerican Comission on Human Rights.

Other UN instruments relevant to the prison system: •Universal Declaration of Human Rights •International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights •International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights •The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment •Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women •Safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty •UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Tools and publications

The Compendium UN standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice:

For more information, please consult the web:http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/justice-and-prison-reform/tools.html?ref=menuside

Tools and publications

The Compendium UN standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice

For more information, please consult the web:http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/justice-and-prison-reform/tools.html?ref=menuside

Regional Centre of Excellence on Prison Reform Regional Centre of Excellence on Prison Reform and Drug Demand Reductionand Drug Demand Reduction

Centres of Excellence

• The Centres of Excellence (CoE) are part of UNODC´s programming strategy for Latin America and the Caribbean.

• Currently three CoE are working in the region (Mexico, Panama and Dominican Republic) to develop activities in the context of the regional programme for Central America.

• A future expansion throughout the Americas is expected.

• The engagement of donors is necessary for the successful implementation of this strategy.

1. Research and support to improve regional expertise.

2. Capacity building through training and provision of technical equipment.

3. Information exchange and cooperation with other partners.

OBJECTIVES OF THE CoE

Centre of Excellence on Prison Reform and Drug Demand Reduction in Santo Domingo

In February 2010 a Memorandum was signed between UNODC and the Government of the Dominican Republic for the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Santo Domingo.

In June of 2011 the project document was signed between UNODC, the Attorney General's Office and the National Council on Drugs.

The Centre of Excellence operates as a project of UNODC in cooperation

with the Dominican Republic. The expertise of the Centre of Excellence in Santo Domingo is available to all countries of the region.

Prison reform and alternatives to custodial sentences, the modernization of institutions and the formulation of legislation consistent with international standards.

Reducing drug demandin the community and in prisons, facilitating the diversification of strategies and interventions for prevention andtreatment.

Main objective: To strengthen national and regional capacities through the promotion of effective policies and training programs in two areas:

• Attorney General's Office • National Council on Drugs• Coordination for the New

Model for Prison Management

• National Penitentiary School• Ministry of Public Health and

Social Assistance

AT NATIONAL LEVEL AT REGIONAL LEVEL

•Central America Integration System (SICA)•Caribbean Community (CARICOM)•Organization of American States (OAS)•United Nations Latin American Institute for Crime Prevention and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD)

Partners

• Ministries and other State agencies responsible for criminal justice and prison reform.

• Ministries responsible for drug policies.

• Senior managers and prison staff.

• Probation services and other entities responsible for the supervision of offenders with community sanctions and measures that include treatment.

• Detainees and drug dependents.

Beneficiaries

UNODCAttorney

General 's Office

National Council on Drugs

Experts/Coordinators

(UNODC)

Other Centres of Excellence

in the Region

CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE

(Dominican Republic)

Regional Actors

• ILANUD1

• CARICOM2

• SICA3

• OAS4 •Others4

•Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance1

•Universities, state counterparts3

National Actors

•National Council for Drug Control2

Commitee of Management and Monitoring

High-level Expert Group Meeting to review the Standard Minimum Rules for the treatment of prisoners.

Santo Domingo, 3 - 5 August 2011

•Objetive of the meeting: identify good practices on the implementation of the Standard Minimum Rules for the treatment of prisoners in the region and explore areas where the SMR may need to be updated or complemented.

•Participated 56 experts from 15 countries (Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Perú, Republica Dominicana, Santa Lucia, San Martín y Uruguay) and observers from the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation, Association of Caribbean Heads of Correctional and Prision Services (ACHCPS), OAS, ILANUD, UNHCR.

•Emphasis has been placed on the need to find ways in which to ensure that the current SMR are fully implemented in the prisions, and complemented them with the conventions, declarations and principles contaning references to the treatment of prisoners, including the Principles and Best Practices on the protection of persons deprived for liberty in the Americas, approved by the Interamerican Comission in 2008.

• Pre-trial detention (define “reasable period”, ensure the right of access toa lawyer.)

• Prison overcrowding ( the imprisonment should be the alternative)• Health care ( prison health is a public health issue)• Special categories of prisoner, foreing nationals, minority groups, older

prisoners, women, juvenile, those in need of medical assitance (consider the individuality and needs of each person)

• Prion staff (recruitment processes and training, New Model of Prison Managment in the Dominican Republic )

• Treatment of prisoners and training and rehabilitation programmes ( many good practices were exchanged, incluiding the involvement that public agencies, NGO and commercial enterprises must have )

• External oversight of prisons ( the need to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and to establish National Preventive Mechanisms to oversee places of detention.

Good practices were shared in the following issues:

REGIONAL PROGRAMME REGIONAL PROGRAMME OFFICE IN PANAMAOFFICE IN PANAMA

RPOPAN - Ongoing Projects

PANX12 - Project Brief

Project NameSupporting Prison Reform in the Republic of Panama (Phases I and II)

Project Duration 19 months Project Starting Date October 15, 2010Location PanamaResponsible Office RPOPAN

Government Implementing Agency Ministry of Government

Total Approved Budget USD $815.747

CONTACTS

María Noel Rodríguez Susanne Wilson

Project Coordinator Project Assistant

maria.rodriguez@unodc.org susanne.wilson@unodc.org

Address: Building 742. Edgar Jadwin Street. Balboa, Ancón, Panama. Tel.: (507) 314.4966/4955

PANX12 - Justification

PANX12 - Objective

Specific Objectives

Specific Objectives

ActivitiesActivities

General Objective

General Objective

The general objective of the project is to develop a comprehensive reform strategy to address prison overcrowding, the large population of people in custody, lack of training for prison staff and the resulting violations of human rights.

• Study visits.• Expert support.• Consultancies.• Identification of potential solutions

to overcrowding.

• Training workshops. • Mentorships in the main prison

centers. • Support in the reopening of the

Penitentiary Training Academy and the design of its curriculum.

Strengthening leadership and management

capacity.

Developing a comprehensive prison reform

strategy.

PANX12 - Activities

Regional workshop targeted to the prison system staff.

Study visit to the New Prison Model of Dominican Republic.

Support in the reopening of the Penitentiary Training Academy.

Study visit to the Prison System in Costa Rica.

Workshop on Planning and leadership for prison management.

Donation of the Handbook on Prison Management in the context of Human Rights, and the translation into spanish

of the Handbook for Prison Leaders.

PANX12 - Activities

Grant Agreement UNODC - ILANUD

Interships in the ENAP of Dominican Republic made by the Manager of the

Penitentiary Academy of Panama

Mentorships for the development of productive processes

Workshop for Prison LeadersWorkshop on teaching qualification in the penitentiary fiels (Training of

Trainers)

Participation on the Board of Prison Policy (Consejo de Política

Penitenciaria)

Interships in Dominican Republic made by the Managers of the Prison Centers of

Panama

III Graduation: New group of AVIR

Final report for the Consultancy that recommends non custodial measures, instead prison.

Interships in Dominican Republic made by staff of the Panama Prison System.

PANX12 - Activities

Visita a Centros Penitenciarios

Final report presentation of the Grant Agreement between ILANUD and

UNODC to the Ministry of Government.

Interinstitutional Management between Prison Technical Groups and

the Judge of compliance.

Workshop on Professional Care Programs for the prison population.

Publications •Bangkok Rules, spanish version.•Compiled of Norms relating to prisons and juvenile criminal responsability of the Republic of Panama.

PANX12 - Activities

Several visits to prison centers Analysis of the situation for women prisoners

Visita a Centros Penitenciarios Several visits to prison centers

Mentorships on security matters.

Several visits to prison centers Several visits to prison centers

PANX12 - Activities

Thank you for your attention!