Department of Public Security

1. Department of Public Security The Prison Situation in the Americas: Challenges and Strategy 3 December 2015

2. INTRODUCTION • Different theories regarding the purpose of punishment: • Retribution theories • Deterrent theories • Rehabilitation theories • Incapacitation theories • Inter-American system: “In essential meaning of punishment is primarily to achieve the social reinsertion of inmates and their re-adaptation to their families and communities, and to reflect the seriousness of the crime, promote respect for the law, and promote a fair sentence for the offense committed.” (Second Meeting of Officials Responsible for the Penitentiary and Prison Policies of the OAS Member States)

3. INTRODUCTION • Consensus and adoption of principles and best practices on implementation of the sentence of deprivation of liberty in countries on a global basis: • 1. UN Minimum Rules on Treatment of Prisoners • 2. United Nations Minimum Rules on Non-Custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) • 3. United Nations Rules for Treatment of Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (Bangkok Rules) • 4. American Convention on Human Rights • 5. Principles and Best Practices on Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas (IACHR) • 6. Other international documents • Model “based on the fundamental principle that the State is in a special position as guarantor when it comes to persons deprived of liberty, and as such, it assumes specific duties to respect and guarantee the fundamental rights of these persons” (IACHR: Report on the Human Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, para. 8)

4. INTRODUCTION • Regardless of the underlying theory or model, prison systems in the region are faced with common and relatively homogeneous problems. • The increase in crime, and the repressive policies that arose in response to it, created new challenges for prison systems, whose shortcomings have grown in scale and seriousness to such an extent that they have turned into a humanitarian problem in a large part of the region. • Prison systems are currently faced with many problems and challenges, which can be grouped into seven main areas: • 1. Overcrowding • 2. Precariousness of the quality of life of persons deprived of liberty • 3. Absence of rehabilitation and social reinsertion programs • 4. Inadequacy and/or lack of training of prison personnel • 5. Lack of comprehensive public policies • 6. Weak gender-based policies • 7. Problems in measuring the prisonsituation.

5. OVERPOPULATION • Between 2000 and 2010, the prison population increased by 30% in the Hemisphere as a result of various factors: • - increased sentences • - increased use of preventive detention • - rise in crimes • Excessive use of preventive detention: in 14 of the 34 member states, the majority of the prison population is not serving a sentence, but is in preventive detention. • The excessive use of preventive detention: • - Causes overcrowding • - Violates the principles of the rule of law, based on the assumption of innocence of persons held for trial • - Violates the rights of persons deprived of liberty and held for prolonged periods of time without having been convicted

6. OVERPOPULATION • The expansion of the number of persons in prison was not accompanied by a policy to invest in and overhaul prison systems; this has resulted in critical overpopulation rates in the Americas: • - 149.9% in the Hemisphere • - 179% in Central America • - 137% in the Caribbean • - 157% in South America • - 108% in North America • Various countries have overpopulation rates of more than 200%, and up to 300% • Negative effects of overcrowding: - violation of the basic rights of the persons deprived of liberty - deterioration of the infrastructure and sanitary conditions in prison compounds - precarious quality of life of inmates - high rate of violence in prisons - little access to rehabilitation and social reinsertion programs

7. PRECARIOUSNESS OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF INMATES Many prisons in the Hemisphere do not comply with the minimum standards of decency and quality for prisoners, whose quality of life is negatively affected by: - Overcrowding - Violence within prisons - Poor sanitary conditions and precarious infrastructure of prisons - Scarcity of food and medicines - Presence of organized criminal groups - Extortion, sexual abuse, and physical and mental torture. Violence inside prisons leads to a large number of conflicts among the inmates and between them and prison staff. Various factors contribute to the high incidence of this phenomenon: - overcrowding - disputes over limited space and resources in the prisons - failure to classify and separate inmates - Idle time and lack of productive activities for prisoners - Incarceration of members of organized criminal groups

8. PRECARIOUSNESS OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF INMATES • Insufficient resources and investments, and the use of grounds and buildings that were not originally designed for the purpose • Failure to observe the minimum rights of inmates: housed in crowded spaces with no ventilation or natural light and in collective and unhealthy cells, without adequate sanitary services, without adequate medical care, with limited, poor-quality food, and with few areas for engaging in sports or educational activities. • The precariousness of prison systems is frequently also reflected in the living conditions of prison staff, who must work in unhealthy environments, with minimum security, and without the tools needed to perform their work efficiently.

9. ABSENCE OF REHABILITATION AND SOCIAL REINSERTION PROGRAMS FOR PRISONERS • Prison systems in member states are not oriented in practice to ensuring the rehabilitation and social reinsertion of prisoners • It is difficult to find programs that are designed to accommodate specific criminogenic factors, and that can be monitored and evaluated • Most of the budget is allocated for human resources, especially for prison officers responsible for security in the prisons, and for food expenses. • Failings in the public policy for assisting and monitoring inmates after they are released • To date there are no programs for systematic and rigorous measurement of recidivism.

10. INADEQUACY OF PRISON STAFF AND LACK OF TRAINING • In some countries correctional officers have not been trained for a career in the prison system, and have not received appropriate and ongoing training; career training for correctional officers is required to ensure stability, periodic advanced training, and a decent salary for prison staff; its absence is conducive to corruption and abuses in the system. • Shortcomings in training, focused on security, self-defense, use of force, and use of firearms • Little inclusion of other material in other areas (education, psychology, sociology, etc.) • Paradigm of separating the security function from other functions in prisons

11. LACK OF COMPREHENSIVE PUBLIC POLICIES Absence of comprehensive public policies ( including criminology, gender issues, correctional issues, human rights, rehabilitation, prisons, and criminal justice) Organized crime Flagrante delicto Minimum sentences Lack of coordination with other areas of the State, including health, education, etc. Lack of coordination between prison policy and crime policy hampers and complicates efficient use of custodial sentences and the effectiveness of citizen security systems to meet the objective of promoting safer and more secure societies.

12. Inadequate Gender Policies • There is also a lack of policies for minority inmates, and especially for the growing population of female prisoners: - The prison population has increased by 20% since 2000, while the female prison popualtion has grown by 50% since then. - The Americas has the highest rate of female prisoners in the world, with 12.15 women imprisoned per 100,000 inhabitants. • Women deprived of liberty are exposed to prison systems that were not built to accommodate gender-specific needs: - poor condition of female facilities, which are not built as women’s prison units - lack of specialized medical treatment and care - Abuse in searches - Few opportunities for job training and educational and recreational activities - Absence of specific facilities to house women, who have to share compounds with men, or units for minors, who are imprisoned with adult women.

13. PROBLEMS OFF MEASUREMENT Most countries do not have tools to produce quality data analyzing the different aspects of the system, especially the nature and condition of the prison population. Data on recidivism are even more scarce, since in addition to the limited capacity of governments to produce information: - there are practical methodological problems in measuring the phenomenon and standardizing data collection - there is a changing conceptualization of recidivism, depending on the domestic legislation of each country and the use of different methods to compile and analyze data on criminal recidivism, which makes it difficult to compare data horizontally.

14. COMPREHENSIVE AND COORDINATED RESPONSE • It is clear that the crisis in the prison system has many causes that are interrelated and cannot be dealt with in isolation; hence, a comprehensive and coordinated strategy is needed • Working strategy of the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security: - Guided by a model based on rights and responsibilities (founded on the Principles and Best Practices on Protection of Persons Deprived of Liberty in the Americas, and the international system of laws, and on the framework of recommendations emanating from OAS political forums) - Approach centered on the human rights of persons deprived of liberty and on the functions of custodial sentences - Objective: To strengthen prison systems of member states in the direction of reintegration of persons deprived of liberty

16. Programs and projects of the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security • Program of Drug Treatment Courts for the Americas: implementation of this model as an alternative to imprisonment • Project for building the institutional capacity of Public Defender Offices in Brazil: expansion of access to justice in the country, so that more persons deprived of liberty have their right to a technical defense guaranteed, and in this way help reduce preventive detention • Public Security Information and Knowledge Network: institutional, technical, and technological strengthening of information systems on crime, violence, and insecurity, including prison systems as well • Ongoing Evaluation of National Security Systems: Identification of the primary strengths and weaknesses of prison subsystems in member states, enabling beneficiary countries to respond to challenges with adapted, evidence-based strategies • A New Path: Project for Promotion of Productive Alternatives for Juveniles in Conflict with the Law in Jamaica • Methodology for monitoring and evaluation of social reintegration programs designed to reduce criminal recidivism

17. “A New Path: Project for Promotion of Productive Alternatives for Juveniles in Conflict with the Law in Jamaica Objective: To strengthen the socio-economic capacity of juveniles detained in two juvenile correctional centers in Jamaica, thereby contributing to reducing criminal recidivism Lines of action: 1. Improve access to and the quality of reintegration services and programs in the South Camp Correctional Center - Implementation of a curriculum of educational and vocational activities - Life-skills courses - Rehabilitation through alternative activities (arts, music, yoga) - Individual psycho-social care - Training of corrections officers and local organizations 2. Post-detention assistance for juveniles upon release from the South Camp and Metcalfe Correctional Centers, to assist them in their economic, productive, and social reinsertion - Individualized assistance for all juveniles for 6 to 12 months following their release from the correctional center. - Development and offering of educational, vocational, and work opportunities in local communities 3. Development and implementation of a case-management system: to assist in the process of reinsertion of juveniles by consulting specific and detailed information on all juveniles in detention, and after they are released

18. Methodology for monitoring and evaluation of social reintegration programs designed to reduce criminal recidivism • Objective: To facilitate instruments for developing institututional capacity, in order to determine which interventions are effective in reinsertion and how the impact of these interventions can be evaluated, with regard to both recidivism and reintegration of inmates in society. • End product: A practical instrument to be used to build institutional capacity for the management of prison systems oriented toward social reintegration of inmates: - Preparation of a consolidated report containing a comparative analysis based on the report of the prison situation and rehabilitation and social reintegration programs identified in each country where case studies were conducted (Barbados, Chile, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama, Dominican Republic, Uruguay) - Review of best practices in the development, implementation, and evaluation of rehabilitation and social reintegration programs of offenders, in Canada, United States, and England.

19. Department of Public Security December 3, 2015