Global Campaign for Pretrial Justice at UN Crime Conference

Forty Open Society Institute partners and grantees participated in the 12th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Salvador, Brazil, in April. The congress brought together over 3000 delegates from more than 100 member states, as well as NGO delegations and academics. The final deliberations resulted in the adoption of the Salvador Declaration calling for criminal justice reform to safeguard human rights, security, and development.

Throughout the conference week, the Open Society Justice Initiative drew attention to the plight of pretrial detainees—who in many countries form the majority of the prison population and yet have never appeared before a judge. Holding millions of people in pretrial detention for indeterminate periods impacts not only on the detainees themselves but on families, neighboring communities, and the victims of crime.

Together with partners in the Global Campaign for Pretrial Justice, the Open Society Justice Initiative highlighted the nexus between pretrial detention and corruption, torture, public health, and socioeconomic development in several panels. Partners spoke about innovative projects ranging from paralegal services in Malawi, Kenya, and Bangladesh to pretrial services in Mexico that could help solve these challenges.

As UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak pointed out, of "the millions detained under degrading conditions, many might be innocent victims of corrupt and dysfunctional criminal justice systems and often belong to the groups facing the greatest discrimination in society, such as the poor, minorities, drug addicts or aliens."

The Salvador Declaration stresses the need to limit the use of pretrial detention and "promote increased access to justice and legal defence mechanisms." The Open Society Justice Initiative welcomes this recognition and together with Global Campaign partners will work with governments, lawyers and civil society organizations to ensure that continued steps are taken to make these commitments a reality.