Togo and Gabon’s Admission to the Commonwealth: Member States Must Uphold Commonwealth Standards of Human Rights and Democracy
London, July 21 - With the recent addition of Togo and Gabon as the 55th and 56th members of the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) reiterates the need for Member States to comply with the fundamental principles and values as enshrined in Commonwealth frameworks, including
Pre-trial justice in the Commonwealth – challenges for 2022
June 22, 2022 By: Catherine Heard[1] According to the current prison occupancy levels shown on our World Prison Brief database, over 60% of Commonwealth countries are running their prison systems above official capacity – many of them at well over 150% of capacity.
A petty legacy: Reducing pre-trial detention overcrowding by ending the criminalisation of poverty and status
June 18, 2022 By: Louise Edwards[1] A troubling legacy of the shared colonial history across the Commonwealth is the inheritance of criminal laws that, despite independence and democratic transformations, have either remained unchanged, or have been retained in some form.
How are global prison trends reflected in Commonwealth countries?
Jun 16, 2022 By: Tríona Lenihan[1] Since 2015, Penal Reform International’s annual Global Prison Trends reports have analysed and documented trends in the use of imprisonment, changes and issues faced by people in prison – especially those belonging to certain, often vulnera
Joint Statement on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking For Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2022
Joint Statement on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking For Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2022 Endorsed by Global, Regional, National Civil Society Organisations[1] June 2022 Modern slavery encompasses practices which include human trafficking, fo
CHRI GOES TO CHOGM 2022
London 16 June 2022 - The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) will participate in events planned around the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) scheduled for 21 - 25 June in Kigali, Rwanda.
Message from the Chair of our International Board on the Release of CHRI’s CHOGM 2022 Report
The presumption of innocence, as affirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is one of the most fundamental human rights principles. Yet, of the 1.5 million prisoners detained across the Commonwealth more than 0.5 million are pre-trial detainees.
Call for Commonwealth Leaders to Speak Up for Rights of Rwandans
Joint Letter to Commonwealth Heads of Government Dear Commonwealth Heads of Government, We, the undersigned civil society organisations, express our grave concerns about the human rights situation in Rwanda as it prepares to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in June 202
Mr Venkatesh Nayak Takes Over as Director, CHRI India as Mr Sanjoy Hazarika, Steps Down as International Director, CHRI
The Executive Committee (EC) of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), India, is pleased to appoint Mr. Venkatesh Nayak, Head, Access to Information Programme, as the new Director and Chief functionary of CHRI India, with effect from 16 May 2022. Mr.
Back to basics on human rights - the terrible lessons from Ukraine
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Is that an over-used quotation from Lord Acton’s letter in 1887 to Bishop Mandell Creighton? I don’t think so. Lord Acton was perfectly encapsulating ideas expressed by others before him.