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The devastating impact of covid-19 on life in prison has been documented at length in many parts of the world. But what about the prison’s function and meaning in society during the corona pandemic?  In this blog post I offer a few reflections based on the vaccination strategy in my country, that is, Belgium. Like […]

En este blog ofreceré algunas reflexiones sobre la supervisión de prisiones en Europa. Mi objetivo principal es invitarles a reflexionar de manera distinta sobre el «diálogo permanente» que constituye un elemento clave en el funcionamiento del Comité Europeo para la Prevención de la Tortura (CPT) – pero también constituye un elemento clave en el funcionamiento […]

Blije gezichten afgelopen week op de Heizel. Op woensdag kregen onze topsporters hun eerste prik.  In de reacties van de Olympiërs klonk vooral opluchting en dankbaarheid. De vaccins laten toe om ongedwongen naar de Spelen toe te werken. Dat haasje-over-springen in de campagne niet evident is, beseft turnster Nina Derwael zeer goed:  “Ik begrijp wel […]

Thirty years ago, in March 1991, Stanley Cohen and Daphna Golan published an important report for B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.  The report had as title The Interrogation of Palestinians During the Intifada: Il-treatment, “Moderate Physical Pressure” or Torture?  In this brief post I will try to explain […]

Nothing beats the smell of a new book (or – let me rephrase – almost nothing: good coffee, drams of Laphroaig or Lagavulin, or very, very old books are strong competitors).  Today the print copies of Criminology and Democratic Politics landed in my mailbox.  It’s a great volume with a wonderful line-up of authors – […]

In November 2020 the Flemish minister of Justice expressed her concerns about the increasing use of electronic monitoring (EM) in Flanders: numbers had risen sharply (+25%) due to the covid-crisis. This situation was no longer acceptable, so she argued: EM is too labour-intensive and it costs too much to the Flemish tax payer.  Moreover, EM […]

Welcome to https://tomdaems.com/. Dealing with covid-19 and surviving lock-down not only proved (and proves) to be a major challenge but it also forced many of us to live our private and professional lives increasingly online. Some of you (like me) may have gotten angry or frustrated for failing internet connections or for forgetting to push […]