UN rights expert urges states to strengthen criminal justice systems News
UN rights expert urges states to strengthen criminal justice systems

[JURIST] In closing remarks at the 13th UN Crime Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice [official website] Sunday in Doha, Qatar, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) [official website] Yury Fedotov called on [UN NewsCentre report] member states to implement the Doha Declaration [text, PDF] to combat transnational crime and bolster criminal justice systems around the globe. The declaration on “integrating crime prevention and criminal justice into the wider United Nations agenda to address social and economic challenges and to promote the rule of law at the national and international levels, and public participation” was unanimously adopted at the opening of the Congress on April 12. Fedotov urged [press release] the representatives from 149 member states to fully embrace the recommendations in the declaration, stating, “[a]s you take the journey back to your capitals and to your homes, I call on you, in the name of justice and fairness, and human rights, to turn this powerful document into the action that can help people … everywhere.” Fedotov also acknowledged the recent migrant tragedies in the Mediterranean citing the events as a compelling example of the need for adopting the Doha Declaration.

The Crime Congress [UN backgrounder] ran from April 12 through the 19 a few months before an important summit on the future global development agenda that will occur in September. At the same Congress earlier this week, delegates called on [JURIST report] member states to implement new standards [text, PDF] for eliminating violence against children. The standards were approved by the UN General Assembly in December and are geared toward improving the effectiveness of the criminal justice system’s ability to prevent and respond to violence against children. On Thursday the UNODC reported that prison overcrowding has reached “epidemic proportions” [JURIST report] worldwide. Last week Amnesty International and the Omega Research Foundation [advocacy websites] issued materials advocating that so-called “less-lethal” weapons used by law enforcement can have deadly consequences.