(Adnkronos) – Tablets with Internet access as an educational and rehabilitative tool for prisoners: this is the reform proposal put forward by the International Criminal Chambers which will be presented on Thursday 14 November at the Chamber of Deputies on the occasion of the meeting ‘Towards the General States of Security 2025’ (in which, among others, Ettore Rosato, secretary of Copasir and representatives of the Defense and Interior Government will be present). “The reform is based on the belief that access to the internet is a fundamental human right, necessary for cultural and professional development, and promotes its extension also to prisoners, respecting dignity and rehabilitation”, explain the proponents, ensuring that the connection to the network of devices granted to prisoners will obviously be “under strict control”.
“The idea is that when one crosses the threshold of prison, the prisoner is granted, like other objects of common use, a means of communication to maintain a residual connection with society, which allows him to rehabilitate and rebuild a new future”, explains the lawyer Alexandro Maria Tirelli, president of the Criminal Chambers of European and International Law, to Adnkronos. “The underlying principle, which has as its horizon a more inclusive and just society – he continues – is the defense of a right, of the dignity of man; it makes no sense to isolate the prisoner from the society where he will have to return tomorrow: the tablet does not it will be used to go on TikTok but to study, for professional training, for personal growth”.
The contents for Internet access, according to the proposal, will be approved by the Department of Penitentiary Administration. The objective is therefore to allow prisoners to acquire skills and knowledge that will facilitate their reintegration into society at the end of their sentence. The access system is designed to prevent any communication with the outside world or the use of social media, ensuring that prisoners can use the tablets exclusively for educational and training purposes. Among the contents available, texts and teaching materials, professional and language learning courses will be included. “High security prisoners will be excluded from this allocation”, underlines Tirelli.
An innovative aspect of the proposal provides for the possibility of sentence reductions based on educational and resocialization progress. Through a system of scores accumulated through study and tests, prisoners will be able to benefit from a discount on their sentences, thus encouraging active commitment to their personal growth.
The reform, according to the International Criminal Chambers, “represents a step towards a more humane and inclusive penal system, with the aim of reducing recidivism and facilitating the employment of prisoners, contributing to their autonomy and respect for human rights. Recognizing internet access as a fundamental right improves prison conditions and promotes a more just society.” In short, “an opportunity to modernize the penitentiary system”.
“A worrying proposal”, says Donato Capece, the general secretary of the Autonomous Penitentiary Police Union – Sappe to Adnkronos, arguing that “instruments of this magnitude inside prisons could be dangerous. The risk is that inmates could overcome the limits of control and from within govern criminal actions in the territory”. Furthermore, “the prison police officers would have an additional task, but it would be really difficult to be able to control all the inmates to whom these means of communication would be given. We are therefore careful to equip the inmates with tablets”, concludes Capece.
“The prison should be the place par excellence for connection to the Internet, for remote work, for the use of remote administrative services, considering that many people are detained in municipalities other than those of residence, but the current situation is that no one in penitentiary institutions has access to the internet, not even in the common rooms. I think that guaranteeing prisoners tools with limited access to the Internet is truly the path towards a more inclusive and fair prison”, is the comment to Adnkronos by Alessio Scandurra of the Antigone Association.
“It is also a bit paradoxical to be frightened by a communication via the internet, when it is written in the Constitution, the correspondence is secret – adds Scandurra -, therefore when the vast majority of prisoners – with the exception of those in High Security – can exchange letters with anyone in complete secrecy”.
“Today a whole series of services, information tools, training courses are necessarily digital, so much so that in several cases there are difficulties for those who want to access universities from within because most of the procedures are online. in the face of this change, prison is enormously behind: if you want to talk about the social reintegration of prisoners in current society, not in that of 1978, inevitably you have to go from there”, underlines Scandurra, in whose opinion “there is only one problem that would require a greater effort to overcome it: in penal institutions there is no one who has the technical skills necessary to manage a secure computer system”.
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(Adnkronos) –
Tablets with Internet access as an educational and rehabilitative tool for prisoners: this is the reform proposal put forward by the International Criminal Chambers which will be presented on Thursday 14 November at the Chamber of Deputies on the occasion of the meeting ‘Towards the General States of Security 2025’ (in which will be attended, among others, by Ettore Rosato, secretary of Copasir and representatives of the Defense and Interior Government). “The reform is based on the belief that access to the internet is a fundamental human right, necessary for cultural and professional development, and promotes its extension also to prisoners, respecting dignity and rehabilitation”, explain the proponents, ensuring that the connection to the network of devices granted to prisoners will obviously be “under strict control”.
“The idea is that when one crosses the threshold of prison, the inmate is granted, like other objects of common use, a means of communication to maintain a residual connection with society, which allows him to rehabilitate and rebuild a new future”, explains the lawyer Alexandro Maria Tirelli, president of the Criminal Chambers of European and International Law, to Adnkronos. “The underlying principle, which has as its horizon a more inclusive and just society – he continues -, is the defense of a right, of the dignity of man; it makes no sense to isolate the prisoner from society where he will have to return tomorrow: the tablet will not be used to go on TikTok but to study, for professional training, for personal growth”.
The contents for Internet access, according to the proposal, will be approved by the Department of Penitentiary Administration. The objective is therefore to allow prisoners to acquire skills and knowledge that will facilitate their reintegration into society at the end of their sentence. The access system is designed to prevent any communication with the outside world or the use of social media, ensuring that prisoners can use the tablets exclusively for educational and training purposes. Among the contents available, texts and teaching materials, professional and language learning courses will be included. “High security prisoners will be excluded from this allocation,” underlines Tirelli.
An innovative aspect of the proposal provides for the possibility of sentence reductions based on educational and resocialization progress. Through a system of scores accumulated through study and tests, prisoners will be able to benefit from a discount on their sentences, thus encouraging active commitment to their personal growth.
The reform, according to the International Criminal Chambers, “represents a step towards a more humane and inclusive penal system, with the aim of reducing recidivism and facilitating the employment of prisoners, contributing to their autonomy and respect for human rights. Recognizing access to the Internet as a fundamental right improves prison conditions and promotes a more just society.” In short, “an opportunity to modernize the penitentiary system”.
“A worrying proposal,” Donato Capece, the general secretary of the Autonomous Penitentiary Police Union – Sappe, tells Adnkronos, warning that “tools of this magnitude inside prisons could be dangerous. The risk is that prisoners could exceed the limits of control and govern criminal actions in the area from within.” Furthermore, “prison police officers would have an additional task, but it would be really difficult to be able to control all the inmates to whom these means of communication would be given. We are therefore careful to equip prisoners with tablets”, concludes Capece.
“The prison should be the place par excellence for connection to the Internet, for remote work, for the use of remote administrative services, considering that many people are detained in municipalities other than those of residence, but the current situation is that no one in penitentiary institutions has access to the internet, not even in the common rooms. I think that guaranteeing prisoners tools with limited access to the Internet is truly the path towards a more inclusive and fair prison”, is the comment to Adnkronos by Alessio Scandurra of the Antigone Association.
“It is also a bit paradoxical to be frightened by a communication via the internet, when it is written in the Constitution, the correspondence is secret – adds Scandurra -, therefore when the vast majority of prisoners – with the exception of those in High Security – can exchange letters with anyone in total secrecy.”
“Today a whole series of services, information tools, training courses are necessarily digital, so much so that in several cases there are difficulties for those who want to access universities from within because most of the procedures are online. Faced with this change, prison is enormously behind: if you want to talk about the social reintegration of prisoners in current society, not in that of 1978, inevitably you have to go from there”, underlines Scandurra, in whose opinion “there is there is only one problem that would require a greater effort to overcome: in penal institutions there is no one who has the technical skills necessary to manage a secure computer system”.
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