A study conducted in 2022 evaluated the physical conditions of imprisonment in two developing countries Bolivia and Honduras, and its alignment with the Nelson Mandela Rules, to offer cost-efficient and effective alternatives to lessen the harm and adverse effects caused by the nation's prison systems.

Funded by the European Union and conducted by the Italian NGO Progettomondo, this study used a case study approach to provide an independent and objective diagnostic evaluation of the prison conditions and a set of policy and technical advice. A team of professionals were set up in each country to collect the data. Seven facilities were selected in Bolivia and eight in Honduras, which were evaluated against the national and international standards and the Nelson Mandela Rules. Qualitative and quantitative data was collected in-situ between January and April 2022.

A high level of divergence between the Nelson Mandela Rules and the conditions of imprisonment was found in both countries. Several recommendations were made and handed to each government. The funding of the research and the difficulties faced during the data collection in both countries suggest the existence of structural problems that are preventing substantial improvements in the understanding of human rights in prison and the provision of humane conditions of imprisonment. Moreover, the homogeneous socio-economic conditions of several developing countries, and the similarities in the problems they face, point out the need for international cooperation from the developed world, as a crucial and unavoidable condition to achieve the goal of providing humane prison environments.

With Good Reason: A Study of the Alignment of Prison Conditions in Bolivia and Honduras with the Nelson Mandela Rules (PID151)

Speakers

Dr Alberto Urrutia-Moldes