Presentation

The OPSHR focus on a number of phenomena, such as: the expansion of the prison system; the increase in the use of prison penalties; inhuman treatment and torture; the internment and expulsion of foreigners; gender violence; local legislation for vigilance and public order; the culture of fear; the imprisonment of juveniles and under-aged people; "zero tolerance" policies; the "Fortress Europe"; the fragmentation of the Criminal System in administrative subsystems; emergency policies; the creation of secret and illegal prisons; the implementation of the cultures of insecurity and the enemy within the Rule of Law institutions; the alternative measures for solving social conflicts; proximity justice; the roll of jurisdiction within the criminal system and the consolidation of the cultures of punishment, control and exclusion inside the State's institutions, particularly the ones of the Criminal System.

The OPSHR aspires to create instruments to allow people and social organizations gain more power in their fight against policies of control, security, social exclusion and illegality. To reach a society where every human being, no matter her/his sex, ethnicity, religion or ideology, can be recognized and respected as a person with rights, requires that people are truly autonomous, independent and free when facing those who hold the economic, social and political power.