Prison chaplains from 30 countries have expressed "alarm at the continuing growth in prison populations in many European countries."
The chaplains, attending an international meeting in The Netherlands last month, called on European governments to prioritize prisoner resettlement schemes, which provide advice, training and support to prepare offenders for their return to the community after release from prison.
The chaplains also urged everyone involved in criminal justice systems in the region to "examine anew the use of custody as a punishment."
About 120 Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox chaplains attended the European conference of the International Prison Chaplains Association (IPCA), held from May 8 to 13 in Driebergen. The association holds pan-European conferences every three to four years.
In a statement approved at the end of the conference, the chaplains declared that increased use of custody was being "subtly justified" by many governments through "offending behavior" programs, which impose mandatory prison sentences for those found guilty of a fixed number of crimes. "Resettlement programs which include work placement and adequate accommodation may ultimately be more successful in addressing the needs of ex-offenders."
Resettlement schemes offered prisoners "realistic possibilities to lead a new way of life in a spirit of hope," the chaplains said.
The chaplains voiced support for "the principles and practice of restorative justice" as an alternative to the punitive discipline of imprisonment. Restorative justice encourages offenders to face up to the consequences of their crime and requires them to make amendments to their victim and the wider community.
The concept of restorative justice was "gradually gaining ground in Europe," coming from countries such as Canada, South Africa and Australia, Lothar Finkbeiner, chairperson of ICPA Europe, told ENI.
"Restorative justice does not aim at punishability, but at restoring the sense of community after a crime [has taken place], hence the name," Finkbeiner explained. "It has more to do with healing and making communal life possible again."
Several "restorative justice" methods are based on traditional practices of indigenous peoples in Asia, North America and Africa.
Chaplains at the conference also expressed concern about the large numbers of foreigners in Europe's prisons. "We are concerned about the disproportionate numbers of minority communities who are imprisoned," the chaplains said in their final declaration.
Many Muslims were among the foreigners in European jails, Finkbeiner told ENI. While in some Western European countries Muslims minister as prison chaplains, there is the risk of fundamentalists getting a foothold in chaplaincy work, according to Finkbeiner. In some cases, he said, thanks to the individuals involved, there was good co-operation between Christian and Muslim chaplains.
Finkbeiner also said that Muslim inmates "very often" asked to meet Christian chaplains.
In the declaration, the chaplains expressed "grave concern" at the privatization of prisons and the contracting out of prison services.
"Prisoners are the responsibility of the state," they said.
Another cause for alarm is the use of prisons to detain asylum-seekers. The chaplains called on European governments to "review as a matter of urgency the continued use of detention in prison of large numbers of asylum-seekers."
Governments were also urged to ensure "adequate financial and material support for chaplains of all denominations and all other faiths" who work in their country's prisons.
In a separate statement, the chaplains issued an "urgent appeal" concerning problems in some Turkish prisons. They expressed alarm at "the distress and the danger of death in which many prisoners are to be found. We hope and pray that a solution will be speedily found in order to overcome a situation which risks escalating irreversibly."
The chaplains called on the European Union and the Council of Europe to intervene.
According to recent media reports, at least 20 people have died in a hunger strike by prisoners and their supporters in Turkey who are demanding an end to the government's policy of holding prisoners in isolation.
Finkbeiner also told ENI that access to prisons for chaplains from minority churches remained an "explosive ecumenical issue" in eastern and southern Europe. "There definitely are difficulties in getting some Orthodox clergy [in Eastern Europe] to work together with evangelical groups and not just tolerate them," Finkbeiner said, acknowledging that the difficulties were mutual.
Dutch chaplain Hittjo Hummelen was appointed during the conference to succeed Finkbeiner as chairperson of IPCA's European steering committee, which comprises Orthodox, Protestant, and Roman Catholic clergy.
According to United Kingdom Home Office figures reported in May, Portugal has the highest imprisonment rate within the European Union, jailing 142 people for each 100,000 inhabitants, followed by England and Wales which imprison 125 inmates for every 100,000 inhabitants. The European Union average is 87 prisoners per 100,000. In other regions the rate of imprisonment is much higher—in Russia 729 per 100,000, and in the United States 682 per 100,000.
Recent Christianity Today articles about criminal justice include:
Watchman on the Walls | Between heaven and earth, and victim and offender, stands Texas death-row chaplain Jim Brazzil (May 16, 2001)
Weblog: Criminal Justice and Injustice | On issues from Timothy McVeigh's execution to prison rape, Christians are making their voices heard. (Apr. 30, 2001)
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