The aim of this action is to strengthen the institutional capacities of the region's public defence bodies to guarantee access to justice in cases of institutional violence in the prison system
Between 4 and 7 December a meeting of the Secretariat General of the Inter-American Association of Public Defenders (AIDEF) was held in Buenos Aires to define and implement a Regional Guide for Action in Cases of Institutional Violence. The Secretariat General is currently comprised of the Argentinian Public Defender and the EUROsociAL+ Programme.
All meetings were attended by the international expert Iñaki Rivera Beiras, Doctor of Law, and director of the Penal System and Human Rights Observatory at the University of Barcelona. After the seminars, Rivera Beiras compiled a collection of inputs and materials and participated in a discussion of the conclusions reached.
The aim of this action, which is being driven by the EUROsociAL+ Programme’s Democratic Governance Area, is to strengthen the institutional capacities of the region’s public defence bodies to guarantee access to justice in cases of institutional violence in the prison system.
Within the framework of this same action, Rivera Beiras also held several meetings and working sessions in Santiago de Chile. They included a meeting with Andrés Mahnke, the National Ombudsman at the Chilean Public Criminal Defender’s Office and current Coordinator General of the Inter-American Association of Public Defenders (AIDEF).
The first stage of this project consists of a situation diagnosis survey of institutional violence in the region’s prison systems, followed by the compilation of a Regional Guide to be actioned by the Defender’s Offices when these situations are detected in prison systems.
This project was presented and approved on 19 October 2017 at the last meeting of AIDEF’s Board in Santiago de Chile.
Area de políticas de gobernanza democrática, FIIAPP / Democratic Governance Area, FIIAPP. EUROsociAL
