2003 In Review

2003 was a busy year in the area of justice initiatives. Below is a sampling of the justice activities of Prison Fellowship.
 
National Ministry Justice Activities in 2003

• PF Bolivia opened crime victim services centre, including victim-offender mediation
• PF New Zealand launched new aftercare programme, Project Jericho
• PF New Zealand testified and submitted written responses to proposed corrections bill
• PF New Zealand opened a faith-based unit based on the APAC methodology
• PF Portugal participated in government’s prison reform project
• PF Scotland joined the Scottish Forum for Community Justice
• PF Scotland implemented the Sycamore Tree Project
• PF Sri Lanka explored use of restorative justice in prisons
• PF Ethiopia conducted workshop for justice officials
• PF Papua New Guinea worked with youth diversion programme
• PF Colombia hosted restorative justice seminar
• PF Rwanda expanded Umuvumu Tree Project into communities
• PF Trinidad and Tobago helped government implement restorative justice White Paper
• PF England & Wales Sycamore Tree Project was recognised in government strategy paper on restorative justice and received accreditation from the Open College Network
• PF Zimbabwe inaugurated Open Prison project
• PF Panama promoted legislative action for justice reform
• PF Tanzania promoted community alternatives to ease prison overcrowding
• PF Romania developed materials for prisoners and their families to aid in transition to prison and to address issues of violence within prisoners’ families
• PF Germany opened a juvenile APAC-based unit
• PF Cayman Islands implemented the Sycamore Tree Project
• PFICJR On-site Assistance to National Ministries
   

Dan Van Ness

• Rwanda: reviewed Umuvumu Tree Project, discussed expansion into communities, met with the Minister of National Security
• Colombia: restorative justice seminar; testified before Senate Committee and full Senate; speaking events
• China: speaking events
• Trinidad & Tobago: meetings with government Ministers; speaking events
• Belize: consultation with NGO running the prison
   
  

Lynette Parker

• Colombia: restorative justice seminar
• Trinidad & Tobago: restorative justice week. 

PFICJR Long Distance Assistance to National Ministries

• PF Rwanda – prepared draft proposal for community extension of Umuvumu Tree Project
• PF Portugal – prepared submission to government on ways to address prison overcrowding
• PF Malawi – provided halfway house organization and curricula
• PF Hong Kong – identified countries with national Days of Reconciliation
• PF Sri Lanka – reviewed proposal for restorative justice in prisons
• PF Romania – provided information on the practice of conferencing and circles
• PF Bolivia – provided general restorative justice information in Spanish and background information for victim offender mediation and victim assistance centres
• PF Colombia – provided biblical perspectives on restorative justice and relevant RJ legislation in Spanish
• PF Ecuador – provided information about prison administration entities around the world
• PF Venezuela – provided information on UN Basic Principles
• PF Trinidad and Tobago – provided copies of New Zealand legislation dealing with RJ
• PF Australia – provided information on structuring in-prison rehabilitation programmes
   
  

PFICJR Convocation Events

• Conducted three-day Restorative Justice Seminar with Howard Zehr, Jonathan Burnside and Dan as presenters
• Organized consultations with leaders of APAC and APAC-based prisons
• Organized consultations with leaders of STP
• Awarded the first International Prize for Restorative Justice to Howard Zehr
   
  

Restorative Justice Course

• Organized and helped lead a six-day academic course on restorative justice at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario for 40 PF students.

Restorative Justice Week

• Created and distributed study on restorative justice, Philemon: A Case Study in Peacemaking. 

PFICJR Websites

• Twelve editions of Justice Network newsletter published (Lynette)
• Eleven editions of GlobalAPAC/IFI newsletter published (Mario Diaz Velez and Angus Creighton)
• Nine editions of Under the Sycamore Tree newsletter published (Graeme Taylor)
   

Other Resources

• Jorge Crespo Toral. Towards Freedom.
• Mario Ottoboni. Transforming Criminals: The APAC Methodology (English)
• Mario Ottoboni.  ¿Vamos a matar al Criminal?

Consultations

• Dan participated in a daylong consultation in Salt Lake City, Utah, organised by the Soros Foundation on restorative justice and return of prisoners to their communities on release.
• Dan made a presentation to Chinese Scholars visiting the US to study how Christianity has shaped US culture.
• Dan met with an official in the Justice Ministry of Thailand to discuss assistance the Centre might offer the country as it adopts restorative justice programs. 

Papers and Articles

Dan

• From Retributive Justice to Restorative Justice (speech to Los Angeles Archdiocese Conference symposium).
• RJ City (speech at seminar in Leuven, Belgium)
• Four Actions of Biblical Justice (speech at conference on The Faces of Justice)
• Justice That Restores: From An Impersonal to A Personal Conception of Justice article in Catholic University’s Social Thought Journal.

Lynette

• El uso de prácticas restauradoras en América Latina (article in the Catholic University of Temuco’s (Chile) conflict resolution journal, Revista CREA).
   
  

Activities with the United Nations

• Lynette attended 5 meetings of the UN Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. She also chairs the Alliance committee preparing for the 2005 Crime Congress in Bangkok, Thailand. 

Restorative Justice Online

• Twelve monthly editions published (Lynette)
• 1064 entries added to searchable database (Lynette)