a product of The 5 th CURE International Conference February 21-24, 2011, Abuja, Nigeria

1. Draft ofCURE’s 2011 PlatformForty Eight Ways to achieve CURE’sCorrectional Development Goalsin Five AreasInternational Cure www.internationalcure.org

2. a product of The 5th CURE International Conference February 21-24, 2011, Abuja, Nigeria Draft dated 1/11/2011

3. CONTENTS • Who are the prisoners? • Integrating Past Experience andCurrent Perspectives • 48 Ways Forward • Spreading Justice and Dignity

4. Photo from Sokwanele

5. Introduction:Who are the Prisoners?

6. Photo by Alan Pogue

7. They are, for the most part, • persons living in poverty, with: • poor education and • poor or no job training Remedying this lack often is the basic requirement for recovery

8. They may also likely suffer from: • addictions to alcohol or drugs which may require extensive and quality treatment

9. Some others need treatment for • learning disabilities, • a degree of mental illness, or • socially disabling diseases like AIDS.

10. for example, prisoners in USA: • About 60% have had an alcohol or drug problem; • Have much more AIDS, TB, and Hepatitis;

11. for example, in the USA, prisoners: • At least 15% have a considerable mental illness; • Have more than average learning disabilities; and • Over 50% of female prisoners had been sexually or physically abused.

12. Concentrations of those thus “Socially Disabled”are high in:many slums & ghettoesvery high in:most prisons

13. Prisons and Slums • Are both breeding grounds for unrest, violence, and crime. • Feed each other in these matters. • Are major opportunities for social development

14. Magnitudes • 9.8 million prisoners worldwide • Hundreds of millions in our slums, a major supply for the prisons

15. IntegratingPast ExperienceandCurrent Perspectives

16. Utilizing the results ofprior CURE actions • evaluations, in 2007, of prisons in 35 countries in the western hemisphere, resulting in 22 recommendations. • evaluations, in 2009, of prisons in 14 countries in Africa, resulting in 30 recommendations. • evaluation, in 2010, on non-compliance by the United States with ratified human rights documents.

17. Utilizing the results of six other African conferences on prison reform • at Kampala (Uganda, 1996 and 1999), • Kadoma (Zimbabwe, 1997), • Lilongwe (Malawi, 2004), • Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso, 2002),and • Robben Island (South Africa,2002) .-“Africa’s Recommendations for Penal Reform,” Penal Reform International

18. And using a recent reference, “Making Law and Policy that Work” by Penal Reform International http://www.penalreform.org/files/PUB_makinglawandpolicy_200710_FINAL.pdf

19. The 5th CURE International Conference (2011, Abuja, Nigeria) Builds further on all those preceding and assembles the 2011 48 Ways Forward to improve justice and prison systems

20. 48 Ways Forward • Not all of these recommendations are applicable in every country to the same degree. • Their relevance, however, is strongly suggested by the CURE surveys of justice and prison systems in 49 countries.

21. 48 Ways Forwardin 5 key problem-areas

22. Area 1. Judicial Operations

23. Area 1. Illustrative Problems • Systemic weaknesses include the removability of judges, corruption, outdated legal codes, an insufficient number of courts, a lack of financial and human resources, and excessive legal costs. • Many detainees remain in prison for years without trial. • Legal advice is rarely provided to the poor.

24. Photo By Alan Pogue

25. Area 1. Key Ways Forward regardingJudicial Operations

26. Guiding Principles • Recognition of the dignity inherent in every individual. • Recognition of the rights of every individual to fair justice. • Inclusion of everyone in the equal and prompt provision of the mechanics of justice.

27. 1. Provide legal and/or paralegal services; • Include a wide range of stakeholders, such as NGOs, community-based organizations, charitable organizations, professional bodies, and academic institutions. - The Lilongwe Declaration on Accessing Legal Aid in the Criminal Justice System in Africa (2004); (26 countries); noted in ECOSOC resolution 2007/24.

28. 2. Reduce False Convictions • Implement videotaping in interrogations; double-check eyewitness identification. • Use Jailhouse informants only after extreme scrutiny of deals made for their testimony. • Provide DNA and other forensic testing. - Cure’s submission to the UN UPR for the USA

29. 3. Enforce a Speedy Trial Act with rules whereby failure to hold trial within a reasonable time (through no fault of the defendant) results in freedom for the defendant. • - CURE 4th International. Conference

30. 4. Pre-trial planning should include an identification of occupational, educational, and other programs needed for rehabilitation of each offender. • These should guide alternative sentencing. • Fulfillment of that plan should also serve as a guide for release or parole determination. - NYS Coalition for Rehabilitation and Reentry (33 reform organizations)

31. 5 . Arrest Leeway • Police officers should have some official leeway in the decision to detain or to  employ sources of support and guidance for the accused. There should be clear guidelines on the extent of discretionary powers, and training in alternative responses. - Penal Reform International, “Making Law and Policy that Work.”

32. 6. Judicial Operations, General • Provide competent legal defense assistance for indigents. • Improve the capacity and efficiency of judicial systems. Have good information management systems that can provide current, accessible information. • Eliminate confinement of political prisoners. -CURE 3rd International Conference recommendations, March 16, 2008, to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission:

33. Area 2. Prison Operations and Alternatives to Incarceration

34. Area 2. Illustrative Problems • There are often 2-4 times more prisoners than the design capacity of the prison. • Many prisoners spend 24 hours each day in the cells where there are tuberculosis and other respiratory and skin diseases.

35. Area 2. Key Ways Forward: RegardingPrison Operations and Alternatives To Incarceration

36. Guiding Principles • Treating all as human beings, rather than animals. • Recognizing all as members of the civil community. • Using methods that restore harmony within the community, rather than only brutal punishment.

37. An African prisonPhoto from S. Kawilila

38. Photo By Alan Pogue

39. 7. Prison Ops. & Alternatives, General • Expand alternatives to incarceration. Avoid excessive sentences. • Enforce standards on overcrowding of prisons; and provide standard sanitary facilities in all correctional institutions. • Promote a culture of mutual respect among those incarcerated and prison staff. - CURE 3rd International Conference recommendations, March 16, 2008, to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission:

40. 8. Employ restorative justice approaches to restore harmony within the community as opposed to punishment by the formal justice system. • Employ wider use of family group conferencing, victim / offender mediation and sentencing circles.- The Ouagadougou Declaration on Accelerating Prison and Penal Reform in Africa (2002) (38 countries).

41. 9. Determine, for restorative justice: What harm has been done? • What can be done to compensate the victim, to reduce the harm, and to hold offenders accountable? • What are the root causes? • What can be done to prevent a recurrence? • CURE 4th International Conference

42. 10. Petty offences should be dealt with by mediation and should be resolved between the parties involved without recourse to the criminal justice system. • 11. Civil reparation or financial recompense should be applied, taking into account the financial capability of the offender or of his or her parents.-The Kampala Declaration on Prison Conditions in Africa (1996),

43. 12. Use community service in conformity with African traditions of dealing with offenders and with healing the damage caused by crime within the community. • It is a cost-effective measure to be preferred, whenever possible, to a sentence of imprisonment. - Kadoma Declaration On Community Service, 1997; (23 Countries); Noted In ECOSOC Resolution 1998/23.

44. 13. Encourage NGOs, CBOs and faith- based groups to train local leaders • on the law and the constitution, • on the rights of women & children, • and in mediation and other alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures. - The Lilongwe Declaration on Accessing Legal Aid in the Criminal Justice System in Africa (2004),(26 countries); noted in ECOSOC resolution 2007/24

45. Area 3. Systemic Violence and Abuseof Incarcerated Persons

46. Area 3. Illustrative Problems • Security forces beat and abuse detainees and prisoners to punish them, extract confessions, or extort payments with near-total impunity. • Solitary confinement is used excessively. • There are prison gangs that abuse others, and there is the “law  of  the strongest.”

47. Area 3. Key Ways Forwardregarding Systemic Violence andAbuse of Incarcerated Persons

48. Guiding Principles • Protection of the most vulnerable from unnecessary, unbridled, malicious abuse.

49. Photo by Alan Pogue

50. 14. Excessive penalties • The death penalty should be abolished. • The opportunity for parole or sentence reduction, based on demonstrated rehabilitation, should be a recognized right for all prisoners, including those with a life sentence. - Cure’s submission to the UN UPR for the USA