London, UK. UN expert urges UK authorities to review life sentences for prisoners Human Rights
Sentences handed down under the UK’s public protection prison scheme are inhumane and in many cases amount to psychological torture, UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment Alice Jill Edwards has said, calling on the country’s newly elected government to review decisions taken under the scheme.
She stressed the need for an urgent resentencing and a permanent end to the practice of indefinite detention. The scheme causes serious suffering, fear, depression and anxiety, including for prisoners’ families, and can cause physical and psychological harm, including suicide, Edwards said.
These are indefinite sentences imposed by courts in England and Wales between 2005 and 2012 on offenders who were considered to pose a significant risk of causing serious harm to the community. They are kept in custody until they no longer pose such a risk. The programme has sent many people who committed relatively minor offences to prison, with some remaining there years after the sentences normally imposed for such offences have ended.
The cancellation of the scheme did not have retroactive effect. About 2,800 people currently remain in prison serving sentences under this system, and more than 200 more – are kept in secure hospitals. In 2022, the UK House of Commons Justice Committee found the program “flawed” and recommended re-sentencing of all those convicted under it.
The UN independent expert has welcomed the new UK government’s commitment to addressing extreme overcrowding in the UK prison system, including by reducing prison sentences. However, she said it was disappointing that the recently announced measures did not apply to individuals currently serving sentences under the community protection program.
“The Victims and Prisoners Act 2024, which was passed by the previous Parliament, included several useful measures that would have brought an end to sentencing,” the Special Rapporteur said. Edwards called for the speedy implementation of these measures and noted that she stands ready to support authorities in any efforts that provide rehabilitation and access to adequate compensation for injured prisoners.
Special Rapporteurs are part of the so-called Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN employees and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organization and act in their personal capacity.