Who we are

The team

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Florence Laufer

Director

Florence Laufer holds a Masters’ degree in Human Geography from the University of Geneva. She has worked with the Swiss Interchurch Aid in Lausanne, with the United Nations in New York and with the Cordoba Peace Institute in Geneva. She has managed programs of international development, of conflict transformation and worked for the integration of cultural and religious diversity. Florence Laufer is the director of Prison Insider since august 2019, and vice-president of the Plateforme Droits Humains since December 2020.

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Romane Vilain

Communication and Dissemination Officer

Romane Vilain has several qualifications in international cooperation, communications and journalism. Her interest in languages, international news and the defence of human rights led her to join Prison Insider in November 2022 as Communication and Dissemination Officer.

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Carolina Nascimento

Head of the Information Team

Carolina Nascimento holds a degree in international studies from the University of Santa Catarina, in Brazil, and a Masters’ degree in political science from the École Normale Supérieure in Lyon. Carolina has joined the team of Prison Insider in August 2018. A Brazilian national, she has travelled extensively for academic and professional purposes and she is based in France since 2015. Carolina coordinates the activities of the Information Team.

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Clémence Bouchart

Head of the Comparison Team

Clémence Bouchart holds a Masters’ degree in fundamental rights from Laval University in Quebec. She has joined Prison Insider in April 2021. Clémence is a legal expert, specialised in international humanitarian law, and has worked with Osons le DIH!, the French Red Cross and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Clémence coordinates thes activities of the Comparison Team.

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Lola Martin Moro

Project Manager - Prison life index

Lola Martin Moro holds a Masters’ degree in Peace Studies from the University of Paris-Dauphine. She has joined Prison Insider in 2021 as a PhD student, as part of the CIFRE initiative (Convention industrielle de formation par la recherche). Working closely with the Prison Insider team, Lola is in charge of the development of the Prison Life Index and she studies its aggregation model.

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Sara Blanc Thoumine

Project Officer - Prison Life Index

Sara Blanc Thoumine holds a graduate degree in European and International Studies from the University of Jean François Champollion. She has joined Prison Insider in January 2023 as project officer for the Prison Life Index. She coordinates data collection and analysis in accordance with the index’s methodology.

Mehdi Faïez

Publications Officer

Mehdi Faïez holds a degree in Applied Foreign Languages from New Sorbonne University, Paris III, and is currently pursuing a Masters’ degree in Economic Development at the University of Grenoble-Alpes. Originally from California, he moved to France in 2018, and joined Prison Insider in January 2022. Mehdi is Publications Officer on the Information Team.

Translators

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Diana Giron Silva

Diana Giron Silva is a Colombian national. She works with Prison Insider’s team since 2016. A graduate in Applied Foreign Languages and with a degree from the ESIT (School of Interpretation and Translation), Diana has experience as a translator for the IFHR (International Federation of Human Rights) of UNESCO. She has a strong personal commitment to human rights. She coordinates Prison Insider’s network of volunteer translators.

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Jaufré Vessiller--Fonfreide

Jaufré Vessiller–Fonfreide is a graduate in English and German languages and literature (LLCE) from the Lyon 2 University and holds a degree from the ESIT (School of Interpretation and Translation). Jaufré works with Prison Insider’s team since 2015. He participates in the coordination of Prison Insider’s network of volunteer translators.

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Maura Schmitt

Maura Schmitt is an American national. She holds a BA in French and a Master’s degree in Translation. She has worked with Prison Insider’s team as a translator since 2019.

Founder

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Bernard Bolze

Combining his professional practice as a journalist and his commitment to social responsibility, Bernard Bolze set up the International Observatory on Prisons in 1990. He focused on the issue of detention by organising campaigns and public events. In 2008, he joined the office of the Controller-General for Places of Deprivation of Liberty (the French National Preventive Mechanism) where he stayed for several years. He has initiated numerous publications on prisons, among which the first edition of the Guide du prisonnier (published by Editions de l’Atelier, 1995) and Prisons de Lyon, une histoire manifeste (published by LieuxDits Editions, 2013). In 2014, Bernard Bolze initiated the Prison Insider project, which he directed until 2019. He is now a member of the Board.

The ambassadors

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Jean-Marie Delarue

STATE COUNCILLOR, CONTROLLER GENERAL OF PLACES OF DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY (FRANCE 2008-2014)

Jean-Marie Delarue was born in 1945. He is married and has five children.
He studied history and sociology at the École normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud, the École Pratique des Hautes études and the University of Paris VIII. He took the Agrégation (a French teaching examination) in history, and also studied at the École nationale d’administration.
His past roles include Inter-Ministerial Delegate for Urban Affairs and Urban Social Development (1991-1994), Director of Civil Liberties and Legal Affairs for the Ministry of the Interior (1997-2001),Member of the National Ethics Advisory Committee (since 2013) and President of the National Control Commission on Security and Communications Interceptions in 2014. On 15 September 2015, it was announced that Jean-Marie Delarue had been removed from consideration for the role of chair of the new National Commission for the Control of Intelligence Techniques. He was considered too independent to hold this role.
The Controller General of Places of Deprivation of Liberty (CGLPL) is an independent administrative authority whose role is to protect against violations of the fundamental rights of persons deprived of their liberty. Jean-Marie Delarue was the first person to hold this post. To maintain their independence, the CGLPL does not receive instructions from any authority and is protected from prosecution for opinions issued or actions taken in the course of their duties. The six-year appointment cannot be renewed or dismissed, and the CGLPL cannot engage in other professional activities or hold other elected offices.

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Reza

Photojournalist

“Being arrested at the age of 22 and imprisoned for 3 years in Iranian prisons, and being tortured for 5 years, either destroys you or makes you stronger. These years have brought me one dream: that of a world without prisons like the ones we know. I have traveled to over a hundred countries as a journalist, and I have had the opportunity to observe attempts in all these countries to set up alternative responses to repressive imprisonment and life behind bars with no other option. While it may bring relief to the victims and protect society, I believe the system of punishment and imprisonment of a human being in a prison enhances the reasons that prompted them to commit the crime they are being punished for. Psychologically, prison as we understand it is an aggregate of possible violence, barely held behind bars and barbed wire. I wonder how to break this circle of violence for the sake of society and for individual well-being. (…)”

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Eric Sottas

Co-founder and secretary-General of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) (1985- 2010 / Geneva)

Eric Sottas is the Secretary-General of the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) and of its network SOS-Torture. Born in Geneva in 1946 he holds a degree of law from Geneva University. He has been vice-President of the Conference of International Organizations for Catholics (1976-1980) and Secretary-General of the International Movement of Catholic Intellectuals – Pax Romana (1975-1980). Prior to becoming the Secretary-General of OMCT in 1986, he was a consultant for the General Secretary of UNCTAD from 1980 to 1985.

He was awarded the French Prize for Human Rights in 1986 and received in the name of the OMCT and together with the FIDH the French Prize for Human Rights in 1998 for the creation of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.

He is the author of numerous publications and articles, especially on the issue of torture and on development and human rights.