Transcript Prison Intervention South Asia

Prison Reforms in Resource Poor
Settings
- South Asia Experience
Dr. Jayadev Sarangi, Prison Expert
UNODC
Regional office for South Asia
ICPA Conference
Prague, 28 October 2008
Realities on the ground
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Over-crowding
Majority are remand prisoners
High prisoner turnover
Low civil society participation in prison reforms
‘We’ and ‘Them’ Divide
Protection mechanisms for the weak and
vulnerable inadequate
Constraints - human and financial resources
Low awareness - drugs and HIV
•
•
•
9.
Denial – “no sex, no drug, no violence”
Sexual risk behaviour – MSM, coercion
Large number of married inmates
Post release follow up of prisoners is very
negligible
Prison reforms: key elements
 Application of Standard Minimum Rules for
Treatment of PrisonersA Human Rights perspective
 Advocate for and create awareness to ensure that
adjustment of laws and policies should be in
conformity with international standards and norms on
diversions, restorative justice and non-custodial
sanctions
 Reduce prison overcrowding
 Expedite disposal of cases
 Alternate sentencing
Prison reforms: key elements
 Capacity of Member States to apply international
standards on the professional management/operation
of prisons
 Increased application by Member States of strategies
to improve overall healthcare of prisoners including
the reduction of the spread of drugs/HIV in Prisons of
South Asia
 Sensitization and capacity building of law
enforcement officials
Prevention of drugs and HIV
in prisons of South Asia
(Project RAS/H71)
Prison Intervention sites
Country
No. of
sites
Bangladesh
Bhutan
2
1
India
4
Maldives
1
Nepal
5
Sri Lanka
14
Total
27
Disclaimer: The boundaries do not reflect the official position of UNODC
Our Response
• Advocacy
• Sensitization and training at 3 levels
• Policy makers, senior Government and civil
society partners
• Middle level Government and civil society
partners
• Field level prison officials and prison inmates
• Select prison inmates as ‘peers’ to deliver key
messages and training to their peers
• Roll out of interventions (including gender
sensitive programming)
The approach
•
•
•
•
•
Creating avenues for safer practices - build trust
Incremental steps
Use of existing provisions within the laws,
regulations and the socio-cultural milieu
Inclusive approach - drug using and non drug
using populations (men and women prisoners)
Pave way for launching prison reform
initiatives in resource poor settings
Coverage
28 Master Trainers
Bangladesh - 4
India - 9
Sri Lanka - 8
Maldives - 3
418 National Trainers
5,400 prison inmates trained
27,000 prison inmate beneficiaries
Nepal - 4
Major achievements
• More opportunities for scaling up
(e.g., Bhutan, Maldives, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal,
Bangladesh)
• Capacity of Governments and civil society
partners strengthened
• A critical mass of human resources trained and
active
• Demand for newer elements of prison reforms
created
Hand Holding for
launching newer
prison reforms
initiatives
Breaking
Denial
Advocacy
Building
partnershipsprison
officials, civil
Training &
society,
Sensitization
prisoners
Breaking
the “Us”
and
“Them”
Divide
Peer
networking &
peer led
interventioninvolving
Prison staff,
inmates, NGOs
This is just the beginning…
please visit us at:
www.unodc.org/india
UNODC Tools
Countries
Bhutan
India
Bangladesh
Sri Lanka
Nepal
Maldives
Remand prisoners and/or
pre-trial detainees as % of
all prisoners
NA
65.7
69
49.4
51
NA
Source: International Centre for Prison Studies, London, 2008
Countries
India
Capacity
Actual
population
Occupancy
level %
263,911
373,271
141.4
NA
NA
NA
Bangladesh
27,451
83,000
302.4
Sri Lanka
10,692
25,537
193.2
5,000
6,700
142.6
763
1125
147.4
Bhutan
Nepal
Maldives
Source: International Centre for Prison Studies, London, 2008
The gender dimension
HIV/AIDS Interventions for Female Injecting
Drug Users (FIDU) and Female prisoners in
Nepal, Afghanistan and Pakistan
• Assessment of risk behaviours of female
injecting drug users in prisons
• To increase access to medical/ health services
for female injecting drug users
• To reduce unsafe injecting through peer
involvement
• To create a de-stigmatising and enabling
environment for women
Comprehensive Packages *
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Needle and Syringe Programmes (NSP)
Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST)
Voluntary HIV Counselling and Testing (VCT)
Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART)
Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) prevention
Condom programming for IDUs and partners
Targeted Information, Education and Communication
(IEC) for IDUs and their sexual partners
8. Hepatitis diagnosis, treatment (Hepatitis A, B and C) and
vaccination (Hepatitis A and B)
9. Tuberculosis (TB) prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
* UNAIDS, UNODC & WHO
Chief Peer Patron
(Superintendent)
Deputy Chief Peer Patron
(Deputy Superintendent / Chief Jailor)
Peer Monitoring
A
B
Monitoring Mechanism
Peer Assembly
A
NGO
Coordinator Peer Patron Welfare
Officer
(A. S. / Jailor)
Peer Patron
(Head warder / Overseer)
B
Peer Volunteer
A
B
Peer Training
Peer Group –A
Peer
Resource poor settings
• Decongest prisons
–
–
–
–
Decriminalise petty offences
More alternate sentencing measures
Community sentencing
Change of laws
• Use of existing human resource for multi
tasking
• Use of prisoner resources for prisoner welfare
measures
• Cost effective interventions
• Effective civil society partnership
Addressing gender concerns
1. Stereotyped gender relationships – Unequal
power balance in relationships.
2. Marginalization by society – Strong feelings of
powerlessness, low self esteem and self confidence.
3. Lack of family support, social networks &
financial services.
4. Lack of gender sensitive services, including lack
of trained female service providers with appropriate
skills.
5. Lack of Information and access to health services,
including HIV/AIDS prevention & care
programmes.
6. Special needs of women prisoners with children
7. Stigma & discrimination.