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Deprived of Liberty
Second Regional Seminar on Best Prison Practices
Second Regional Seminar on Best Prison Practices
December 2011
The Office of the Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) organized the Second Regional Conference on Best Practices of Prison Management. It was held on December 2nd to 3rd in Kingston, Jamaica. Participants included the States of the English-speaking Caribbean-Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago-as well as international experts, the International Red Cross (IRC), and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
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The conference addressed issues related to incarcerated individuals' rights to medical care and mental health; the prevention of prison violence; disciplinary rules; the personal rehabilitation and social readaptation of inmates; prison legislation and public policy; detention conditions; and corrections staff. In addition, the first day of the event included a panel discussion on the situation of persons deprived of liberty in Jamaica.
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In his opening remarks, the IACHR Rapporteur on Persons Deprived of Liberty, Commissioner Rodrigo Escobar Gil, stressed that for the rights of the incarcerated to be respected and guaranteed, it is fundamentally important for all OAS Member States to ratify the American Convention on Human Rights. In the English-speaking Caribbean, the treaty is in effect only in Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, and Suriname.
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This seminar was promoted and organized by the Inter-American Commission, in conjunction with the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica, under the Memorandum of Understanding and Institutional Cooperation in effect between the IACHR and that academic institution. The seminar was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Spain Fund for the OAS.
Presentations of the Second
Regional Seminar on Best Prison Practices
December 2011
Presentation of the Rapporteur, Rodrigo Escobar Gil (only available in Spanish)
Presentations of the States
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Bahamas
- Barbados (not available)
- Belize
- Dominica
- Granada (not available)
- Guyana
- Jamaica (not available)
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- St. Lucia
- St. Vincent and the Granadines
- Suriname (not available)
- Trinidad and Tobago
Presentations of experts
- Dr. Myo Kyaw Oo, Specialized Doctor/Psychiatrist, Hospital Bellevue
- Charles Sabga and Marie Astrid Blondiaux, International Committee of the Red Cross
- Sandra del Pino, Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO)
- Profesor Andrew Coyle, Director of the International Center for the Study of Prisons, Essex University
- María Noel Rodríguez, United
Nations Office against Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
(Note: this presentation was sent electronically, but UNODC did not participate in the seminar)