Message from the Network on External Prison Oversight & Human Rights

Network Panels

Our Network hosted two panels this year. The first was titled, “Achieving Meaningful Human Rights Reforms in Corrections through External Prison Oversight.” This Q&A panel was facilitated by Dr. Ivan Zinger who posed a series of questions to the three panelists: Howard Sapers (Visiting Professor, University of Ottawa, Canada); Mark Kelly (Chief Inspector of Prisons, Ireland); and Barbara Bernath (Secretary General, Association for the Prevention of Torture, Switzerland).

The panelists were asked to respond to four questions:

1. How do you provide oversight, promote human rights, and advocate for prison reform?
2. Should oversight bodies be limited to non-binding recommendations?
3. What does it mean to be "independent and impartial" in the business of prison oversight?
4. What do you think are the key ingredients to successful and effective prison oversight?

Here is a taste of what our esteemed panelists had to share:

Mark Kelly argued that while prison inspectors and ombuds do not advocate for individual detainees, they do advocate for prison reforms based on the findings of their investigations. He spoke about the power of recommendations: "just because they're not binding doesn't mean they're less powerful - and vice versa." He raised the importance of safeguarding the functional independence of oversight bodies and having humility about the limits of one's influence.

Barbara Bernath offered a more global scope of expertise. She explained how identifying and changing complex problems can only be achieved via dialogue, something built into the framework of the Optional Protocol for the Prevention Against Torture (OPCAT). She emphasized the importance of independence, which is "inherent to oversight," and argued that it is essentially, "having no interference in who you visit, where, what you visit for, and - most importantly - what you say."

Howard Sapers talked about the role of the ombuds or inspector as a "cheerleader for human rights in corrections." He drew our attention to the various ways in which oversight bodies can engage communities, decision makers, news media, and other stakeholders to hold prison authorities accountable. He also explained how the external voice of prison oversight bodies can help to justify reforms already desired by prison administrators: "In the twelve years that I was Correctional Investigator, I never told the Commissioner anything they didn't already know."

ICPA members should check "Rewind: Video-on-Demand Service" regularly for recordings of presentations and panels from the 2023 Annual Conference.

The second panel was titled, “Correctional Oversight in the United States.” This panel featured three of our network members from the United States of America: Chris Cirrito (Chief Audit Executive, Texas Board of Criminal Justice); Aidan King (Director, Correctional Association of New York); and Noah Barth (Prison Monitoring Director, Pennsylvania Prison Society).

This expert panel expanded our knowledge of the various prison oversight models inn the United States, where correctional oversight varies widely depending on state laws. In Texas, though prison oversight is internal to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, it's independence is safeguarded through layers of checks-and-balances made possible by a strong governing body.

Pennsylvania, New York, and Illinois have quite a different approach to prison oversight. These states employ Civilian Oversight Organizations; namely, the Pennsylvania Prison Society, the Correctional Association of New York, and the John Howard Association of Illinois.

To see the full PowerPoint presentation from this panel, click on the image below.

Heads of Service Award Recipient

We are proud to announce that our very own network Chair, Dr. Ivan Zinger, was the recipient of this years' ICPA Head of Service award! During the award ceremony, Dr. Zinger spoke about the symbolic significance of this award, which demonstrates that ICPA recognizes the value of independent and external prison oversight to the advancement of correctional best practice.

Congratulations Ivan!

New Members

During the conference, we also hosted a Network meeting. In the end, we were able to add to our membership 6 individuals, resulting in a total membership of 151 from more than 30 countries. For new and current members, here's some information to help you get oriented.

Our network's website can be accessed by clicking on the link below.

External Prison Oversight and Human Rights Website

To have full access to the various features of this website, you must have a Basic ICPA Membership, which is free! Once you have set up your Basic Membership, login to the ICPA website with your existing member account and then return to our website.

You can also find our past newsletters by searching "POHR" in the Resource Centre on ICPA's website. For your convenience, we have provided the link below where you can find all the newsletters.

External Prison Oversight and Human Rights NEWSLETTER

SURVEY

During the network meeting at the conference, we started a conversation about future network activities. These included topics for newsletters, potential webinars, and standalone events focused exclusively on prison oversight and monitoring. Below is a survey that will give you the opportunity to contribute to this discussion. If you have others ideas/suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact Emad Talisman (Deputy Chair) by email: Emad.Talisman@OCI-BEC.gc.ca

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