Dr Richard Carver

Tom Bartlett

Jeanette Hall

Right Behind Bars: Panel Discussion

TheOxford Human Rights Festivalraises awareness of human rights through film screenings, poetry, music, theatre, talks, workshops, and exhibitions. Postgraduates and staff at the Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP) founded the festival in 2003. Based within the School of Architecture at Oxford Brookes University, CENDEP continues to host the event today. An organising committee of students, staff, academics, and Oxford residents plans and delivers the festival. We collaborate with local groups, schools, NGOs, and international organisations to create engaging programmes.Each year, the student-led committee selects a central theme. Past themes include Resilience, Identity, Home, Movement, and NOW WHAT? These events have featured prominent speakers such as Scilla Elworthy, Ken Loach, Ziauddin Yousafzai, and Yasmeen Lari. Our exhibitions have showcased artists addressing displacement, belonging, and resistance. The Oxford Brookes University Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment (TDE) provides a small bursary. We rely on voluntary contributions of our committee and friends. We welcome grants and donations to support our funding and mission.The theme for 2026 is Breaking Free. We will explore freedom across generations, discrimination, gaps in human rights protection, and the impact of budget cuts in the humanitarian sector. These topics allow us to examine human rights through the lenses of gender, race, ability, class, and migration.

Oxford Human Rights Festival

Join experts to discuss justice, rehabilitation, and inmate dignity at our panel on prison rights and reform.

JHB 304, John Henry Brookes Building, Oxford Brookes University

How far have we really come in protecting the human rights of people in prison?Join leading experts on Thursday, 19 March 2026, at 14:00 in JHB 304, John Henry Brookes Building, Oxford Brookes University. This panel brings together professionals from law, criminal justice, and human rights to examine the protection of rights for people in prison. The discussion explores rehabilitation, dignity, and ethical questions in incarceration by blending research with lived experience. Participants will reflect on past violations and current challenges within the justice system. Engage in this critical conversation to investigate how far society has progressed in protecting rights behind bars. Refreshments will be provided, and there will also be a short opportunity to network and meet other attendees.___________________________Tom Bartlett is a Senior Support Worker in the project "Through the Prison Gate" which supports male and female prison leavers by providing services concentrating on employment, training, education and housing.Fatima Rahman is a member of the People's Tribunal, a radical grassroots initiative that researches and organises panels on state violence, including police and prison killings, with the aim of ensuring those responsible are held accountable.Dr Richard Carver (Oxford Brookes University) is a retired academic who taught human rights and forced migration studies at Masters level within the Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP). His research has focused on the prevention of torture and the role of national human rights institutions.Jeanette Hall (Royal Holloway, University of London) is a final year PhD candidate researching the legitimacy of PAVA irritant (pepper) spray in prisons in England and Wales. Jeanette has extensive management experience in a wide variety of public sector prisons and is an accomplished detention monitor. She is passionate about improving treatment and conditions in prisons. Check out our full festival program here at <a href="https://www.oxfordhumanrightsfestival.net" title="https://www.oxfordhumanrightsfestival.net" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Oxford Human Rights Festival</a>Support the festival by <a href="https://www.brookes.ac.uk/alumni-and-supporters/make-a-gift/oxford-human-rights-festival" title="https://www.brookes.ac.uk/alumni-and-supporters/make-a-gift/oxford-human-rights-festival" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">donating to us</a> Looking forward to seeing you there!

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