Alexander McLean | |
---|---|
Born | 1985 (age 38–39) |
Nationality | British |
Alma mater | University of Nottingham, University of London |
Known for | Founder of African Prisons Project |
Alexander McLean (born 1985) is a British activist, [1] humanitarian, [2] and lawyer. [3] He is the founder of Justice Defenders (formerly African Prisons Project, or APP), which is based in Uganda and seeks to improve the lives of people imprisoned in Africa. [1]
McLean was born in 1985 [2] and grew up in the "southern outskirts of London." [4] His father is Jamaican and worked as a retired tool maker while his mother was from Surrey and worked for United Airways. [2] He has an older brother and sister. [2]
McLean attended Kingston Grammar School, having been awarded a scholarship. [2] At a young age, he became fascinated with social issues and the criminal justice system. [2] [3] In his teens, he worked for a quadriplegic who suffered from multiple sclerosis and volunteered at a hospice. [2]
After high school, McLean visited Uganda to volunteer as a hospice worker [3] at the Mulago hospital in Kampala. [5] There, he was motivated to start Justice Defenders in 2007 [6] after observing that prison inmates were not given proper medical care [2] [7] and seeing the conditions at Luzira Upper Prison. [8] After coming back to the United Kingdom, McLean fund-raised to provide good health facilities and educate inmates in Ugandan prisons about the law, beginning the organization. [6] [9]
McLean attended the University of Nottingham, graduating in 2007. [1] He was the first in his family to earn a university degree. [4] After graduation, he moved to Kampala, where he created a team of local and international staff and volunteers with the goal of professionalizing the African Prisons Project and increasing its impact. [1]
McLean studied at the University of London by correspondence, receiving a Master of Laws in 2009 and being called to the bar of England and Wales in 2010. [1]
Port Bell is a small industrial centre in the greater metropolitan Kampala area, in Uganda. Port Bell has a rail link and a railroad ferry wharf used for International traffic across Lake Victoria to Tanzania and Kenya.
Abdurrazack "Zackie" Achmat is a South African activist and film director. He is a co-founder the Treatment Action Campaign and known worldwide for his activism on behalf of people living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa. He currently serves as board member and co-director of Ndifuna Ukwazi, an organisation which aims to build and support social justice organisations and leaders, and is the chairperson of Equal Education.
The United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility, commonly known as ADX Florence or the Florence Supermax, is an American federal prison in Fremont County to the south of Florence, Colorado, operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. ADX Florence, constructed in 1994 and opened one year later, is classed as a supermax or "control unit" prison, that provides a higher, more controlled level of custody than a regular maximum security prison. ADX Florence forms part of the Federal Correctional Complex, Florence, which is situated on 49 acres of land and houses different facilities with varying degrees of security, including the adjacent United States Penitentiary, Florence High.
Prison education is any educational activity that occurs inside prison. Courses can include basic literacy programmes, secondary school equivalency programmes, vocational education, and tertiary education. Other activities such as rehabilitation programs, physical education, and arts and crafts programmes may also be considered a form of prison education. Programmes are typically provided, managed, and funded by the prison system, though inmates may be required to pay for distance education programmes. The history of and current practices in prison education vary greatly among countries.
Luzira is a suburb of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. It is best known for the country's main prison, Luzira Maximum Security Prison, which has seen significant redevelopment thanks to the work of African Prisons Project, a charity based in the UK and Kampala.
Andrew Mwenda is a Ugandan print, radio and television journalist, and the founder and owner of The Independent, a current affairs newsmagazine. He was previously the political editor of The Daily Monitor, a Ugandan tabloid, and was the presenter of Andrew Mwenda Live on KFM Radio in Kampala, Uganda's capital city.
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The Federal Medical Center, Lexington is a United States federal prison in Kentucky for male or female inmates requiring medical or mental health care. It is designated as an administrative facility, which means that it holds inmates of all security classifications. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. The facility also has an adjacent minimum-security satellite camp for female inmates.
HM Prison Leyhill is a category D men's prison located in the parish of Cromhall in Gloucestershire, England. His Majesty's Prison Service operates Leyhill Prison.
Justice Defenders is a registered UK charity and U.S. nonprofit working in prison communities across Africa. Through legal education, training, and practice, Justice Defenders equips prisoners and prison officers to facilitate legal processes. It establishes law practices within prisons, provides free services, and runs legal awareness clinics for prisoners. And in partnership with academic institutions, it tutors and facilitates law degrees for prisoners and prison officers. Justice Defenders was founded in 2007 by the British activist Alexander McLean, who is currently the director.
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, remand center, hoosegow, or slammer is a facility where people are imprisoned against their will and denied their liberty under the authority of the state, generally as punishment for various crimes. Authorities most commonly use prisons within a criminal-justice system: people charged with crimes may be imprisoned until their trial; those who have pled or been found guilty of crimes at trial may be sentenced to a specified period of imprisonment.
Luzira Maximum Security Prison is a maximum security prison for both men and women in Uganda. Until Kitalya Maximum Security Prison opened in 2020, Luzira was the only maximum security prison in the country and housed Uganda's death-row inmates.
Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known by his stage name Bobi Wine, is a Ugandan politician, singer, lawyer and actor. He is a former Member of Parliament for Kyadondo County East constituency in Wakiso District, in Uganda's Central Region. He also leads the National Unity Platform political party. In June 2019, he announced his candidacy for the 2021 Ugandan presidential election. He participated in the 2021 election, in which, according to official results, he lost to incumbent Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, although he claims this result was fraudulent.
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