The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners or the Mandela Rules is highly significant for prison management in all aspects. The rules concern the rights of offenders, the indiscrimination in offenders’ treatment, social protection, recidivism, and the safety of offenders, practitioners, prison staff, and visitors. It is the minimum standard for all treatment of offenders and prison management according to international standards.
One of the most important missions of the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) is to promote and implement international norms and standards in Thailand, thus, the TIJ in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), hosted a “Workshop on the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners or the Mandela Rules” between 15-18 March 2021. The workshop was held in a hybrid meeting to equip Thai correctional officers with knowledge and best practices according to the Mandela Rules, and hopefully, they would transform the knowledge into practice within the framework of treatment of offenders.
The workshop was led by Corrections Department director-general Ayut Sinthoppan, Miss Chontit Chuenurah, Director of Office for the Bangkok Rules and Treatment of Offenders of the TIJ, and Naoki Sugano, Crime Prevention Criminal Justice Officer of the UNODC. While there were 21 attendees who joined the workshop and listen to Aidah Mnyolmo, a prison reform expert, to learn about the workshop structure, study plan, and learning techniques revolving around the Mandela Rules.
The event is a continual activity from the UNODC developed “E-learning Course” and is translated into Thai by the TIJ.
