In 2023, the Kenyan State Department of Correctional Services, with support from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, launched a progressive new National Correctional Services Policy which enshrines key aspects of the Nelson Mandela Rules, Bangkok Rules and Tokyo Rules.
In this presentation, the Principal Secretary for Correctional Services will explain how Kenya has chosen to approach corrections from the perspective of human rights and community safety rather than punishment, highlight some of the elements that make the Policy a paradigm shift in Kenyan corrections, and outline some of the challenges that lie ahead.
The presentation will also feature a major new project designed to pilot implementation of the Policy through cooperation between the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, Kenya Prisons Service, Kenya Probation & Aftercare Service and other justice sector agencies in Naivasha, Kenya, and discuss some of the lessons learned from past projects that will hopefully contribute to success.
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Josh Ounsted
Thematic Leader, Access to Justice, Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Sweden
Josh is Head of Access to Justice at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) in Lund, Sweden. He previously served as Director of the Institute’s regional offices in Nairobi and Jakarta, managing programmes focussed on practical implementation of international human rights standards for justice sector actors, and correctional services in particular. Prior to RWI, he worked for organisations including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, and Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights.
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Salome Wairimu Muhia-Beacco
Principal Secretary, State Department for Correctional Services, Kenya
Ms. Salome Wairimu Muhia-Beacco is the Principal Secretary for Correctional Services in Kenya, having been appointed on 31 May 2023. She is spearheading transformative reforms within the correctional system including advocating for adoption and implementation of a comprehensive national policy for correctional services, along with legislative review for both custodial and non-custodial services, advocating for use of alternatives to imprisonment for low-risk prisoners, rehabilitation of offenders, humane treatment of prisoners and welfare improvement for staff and prisoners. Ms. Salome is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law (LLB), Master’s Degree in Leadership and Governance (LLM), both from the University of Nairobi Faculty of Law, and a Diploma in Legal Studies from the Kenya School of Law.
