Jean Redpath presenting the Soros Foundation Moldova Victimisation Survey Findings via video link in December 2010

The 2010 survey provides one of the first estimations of the extent of abuse of detainees and the extent of police failure to comply with human rights standards in Moldova. That 4 out of every 10 men detained experiences physical abuse or maltreatment is of serious concern. Reform of the police is urgent.

The backdrop to this police abuse is a pervasive climate of corruption in Moldova. The extent to which the 2010 survey shows ordinary officials from teachers to doctors to judges appear to have been involved in bribery in a single year (2009) is of grave concern. This report recommends that the judiciary be the primary target for the eradication of corruption. If the judiciary is credible, then there is a means of stopping the cycle of corruption.

View the presentation here.

A crime 'hotspot' in Galeshewe

During 2010 the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention (CJCP) conducted a victimisation survey in Galeshewe.  The analysis found that social capital activities such as sports may have unintended effects and service delivery may have no crime prevention effects at the individual level at all. Indeed the qualitative evidence suggests ‘obvious’ solutions may be part of the problem. This paper was presented at a conference in Sandton in December 2010.

A draft of the paper is available here.

Population densities in Cape Town

Sustainability agendas in urban planning have largely been driven by attempts to create a “compact city” or otherwise densifying. Densification as a key driver of more sustainable cities has been embraced as a policy goal of government at all levels and most political persuasions in the democratic era. However in spite of policy to the contrary it is believed the number of households and people housed per 100 square metres in urban areas has declined in Cape Town. Consequently it is postulated that South African policies in favour of densification have not worked.  The report seeks to identify appropriately policies and their levers via law or associated regulations and development control instruments for the promotion of a more sustainable Cape Town. A draft report is available here.

Preliminary results were presented at a seminar entitled: Is densification just a cruel mirage? The role of law in transforming Cape Town into a compact city. Listen to the podcast of proceedings here.

Read more on Reflections on Election 2009.