Archive for 2015

Prisons are a disaster in many parts of the world. In the USA and parts of Europe, punitive sentencing places often intolerable burdens on the custodial system and those who work in it; in Africa, failures to meet basic needs mean detention can be a death sentence for the sick and weak; in Latin America many so called self- governing prisons are run on principles of extortion and violence while in Asia brutality is often enshrined in extremely harsh regimes. ...

In a recent report on over incarceration and overcrowding, the UN Commissioner for Human Rights has argued that that custodial sentences should be imposed as measures of last resort and applied proportionately to meet a pressing societal need.   A recent visit to East Africa illustrated that much more needs to be done if that is to be achieved in the region.

One 22 year old Tanzanian explained that he had been sentenced for watching television during the day- his offence ...