By Julienne Weegels University of Amsterdam

This paper demonstrates how the extension and intensification of penal power across Nicaragua following the 2018 protests has produced particular experiences of carceral citizenship. In order to fully understand these experiences, it is necessary to take into account that states can enforce carceral citizenship (and its restrictions, benefits, and duties) not only legally, but also extralegally. As such, I examine the tenets of carceral citizenship in relation to the country’s hybrid carceral system, conceptualizing how such citizenship may be produced and policed. Following from this, I elicit how political prisoners are acted upon by (para)state actors and excluded from prison’s co-governance arrangements, which pushes some of them to engage in (dis)organizing practices of their own. Following them into their post-release lives, I examine the tight ‘transcarceral grip’ they are subjected to. This produces a state of de facto civil disenfranchisement, understood by ex-carcelados as “civil death.” In spite of their predicament, however, released political prisoners continue to organize in the face of the Sistema and the violations it has committed (and continues to commit). 

EUROPEAN REVIEW OF LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES, No. 116 (2023): July-December, pp. 163-183

By Cody Zoschak and Cosima von Moltke

This policy brief discusses the need to implement disengagement and reintegration programming for ISIS arrestees in the US penal system, a need that is particularly urgent given the number of such convicts that are expected to be released in the coming years. The brief examines six case studies of recently released ISIS arrestees to highlight the lack of disengagement from extremist ideology. The report explores deradicalization frameworks, existing programs, and limitations, and provides policy recommendations to improve reintegration. The six cases include Yousef Ramadan, Ali Shukri Amin, Sebastian Gregerson, Charlton LaChase, Mohammed Hamzah Khan, and Islam Natsheh; all of whom were released and promptly reincarcerated, either on new charges or for violating their parole. The policy recommendations emphasize programs inside federal and state penal systems, collaboration between law enforcement and civil society actors, and post-release support outside the scope of probation. The suggested policies are built to mitigate the risk of recidivism and are needed for the dozens of ISIS convicts who are scheduled to be released in the coming 3-5 years. 

London: Institute for Strategic Dialogue (2024), 19p.