🇱🇻 Visit to Latvia: A Dialogue on Standards for the Treatment of Prisoners and Informal Prison Hierarchies

Yesterday, I had the great honour and privilege of speaking with staff from the Prison Service of the Republic of Latvia.

Words can hardly capture my gratitude — and genuine delight — at the warmth of what I encountered when I visited the newly established Training Centre for Prison Officers and met with so many engaged, thoughtful colleagues. What unfolded was not a traditional lecture but a sustained, living dialogue.

During the session, I addressed: — the concepts of torture and ill-treatment; — the standards of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT); — the case law of the European Court of Human Rights under Article 3 of the Convention; — and broader issues concerning the treatment of prisoners.

The topic that generated the richest discussion, however, was informal prison hierarchies — the phenomenon itself, its persistence, and the ways it might be overcome. We arrived at a shared and, I think, inescapable conclusion: this is an inherently political phenomenon, deliberately cultivated by the Russian Federation as an instrument for projecting its narratives across the post-Soviet space and preserving whatever remains of its former influence.

What followed the presentation was equally impressive. Heads of the prison and probation services, together with representatives of the Ministry of Justice, engaged in a substantive exchange on how states can most effectively implement CPT recommendations and translate ECtHR case law on Article 3 into living institutional practice.

My sincere thanks for the exemplary organisation, generous hospitality, and warm atmosphere go to:

🔹 Dmitrijs Kaļins — Director of the Prison Service of the Republic of Latvia 🔹 Imants Jurevičius — Director of the State Probation Service of Latvia 🔹 Kristīne Ķipēna — Head of the Department of Criminal Justice Policy, Ministry of Justice 🔹 All staff of the Latvian Ministry of Justice and Prison Service

Meetings such as this are more than an exchange of experience. They are proof that shared European values and human rights standards are not a declaration — they are a living reality.