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Conference on the Prison System in Tunis from 16 to 17 June 2014

Published: July 3, 2014

On 16 and 17 June 2014 the IRZ organised an extensive conference on the reform of the prison system in cooperation with the Tunisian Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Transitional Justice. For two days, some 300 delegates, among them senior officials, members of the judiciary, prison officers and representatives of civil society discussed the progress and drawbacks in the efforts towards a humanisation of imprisonment and a more efficient organisation of the prison system in general. The conference was opened by the Tunisian Minister of Justice, Mr Hafedh Ben Salah, and took place for the second time on the initiative of the IRZ. The event highlighted the state of reforms in a public and hence transparent way and can thus be an impetus for future strategies. Representatives from Algeria, Jordan and Morocco also attended the conference upon invitation of the IRZ and contributed to the reform discussion with their experience from other Arab countries.

From the German side, the Head of Department of the Prison Service at the Senate Administration for the Judiciary and Consumer Protection of Berlin, Dr Gero Meinen, and two of his colleagues reported about the German experience and approaches in this field. The IRZ has been organising a regular exchange between German and Tunisian prison authorities since 2011.