Dear Conference participants,I plan to send this letter over the weekend on our CURE stationery. Please feel free to make suggestions NOW. I would like to thank Anita Colon, Michael Mary Nolan, Debbie Kilroy, José de Jesus Filho, Sylvester Uhaa for drafting this letter and, of course, Solomon Asemota for suggesting it at the beginning of the Conference.

Charlie

PS. If I forgot anyone that helped draft it, I apologize.  I observed the group discussing and drafting it on Wednesday evening in the conference room at the hostel, but I was busy talking and consuming the leftovers from the social Sunday night. The Swiss make great cheese!

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (address will be included)

We, the participants representing 25 countries and 5 continents of the 4th International Conference on Human Rights and Prison Reform organized by CURE International met for 3 days from June 22nd through June 24th at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

During the conference, several salient human rights and prison reform topics and treaties were discussed and are the following:

(1) the issues of women and children in prison (2) the Optional Protocol on the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT) (3) the Draft of Minimum Standards for Women (Thailand) (4) the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (5) the ill treatment of migrants in prison (6) the refusal of countries to comply with treaties and international norms that they have ratified and are bound by (7) the unacceptable delay in justice delivery (8) the immense mistreatment of pre-trial inmates (9) the abolition of the death penalty (10) the vast racial discrimination which exists throughout the world, as well as other forms of discrimination against prisoners.

After three days of discussion we determined that nothing justifies the incarceration of individuals accused of non-violent crimes either before or after sentencing. We also resolved that the following major issues must be addressed urgently by national regional and international governments:

1.Recognition of the fact that women have different needs; therefore, we support the  implementation of  the Draft of Minimum Standards of Women Prisoners (introduced by Thailand)

2.Any form of incarceration of children should be avoided at all costs. We also consider the sentencing of children to life without parole to be cruel and unusual punishment that no country should impose. We urge both the United States and Somalia to join the 193 countries that have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Treaty.

3.The human dignity of every individual must be upheld at all times as it is described in Human Rights documents, especially in regards to education, health care, preserving the family unit, religious beliefs and sexual preference.

4.Incarcerated individuals should retain the voting rights held by all other citizens within their country.

5.Overcrowding and solitary confinement within prisons should be considered as degrading and inhumane treatment under the Optional Protocol on the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT) treaty.

6.Economic sanctions should be applied to any country which does not comply with international treaties/agreements that have been ratified.

7.Adequate resources should be allocated for the public defense of indigent citizens.

8.The diversity of indigenous and tribal populations should be considered in the criminal justice process and the decision to incarcerate.

9.Recognition that the incarcerated suffer serious mental and physical health problems should be adequately addressed and overseen by government health departments.

10.The responsibility for administration and management of the prison system belongs solely to the states and should not be delegated; therefore all prison privatization practices should be discontinued.

11. All countries must recognize that globalization has led to an extreme diversity of the prison populations. This diversity must be respected and all forms of racial discrimination outlawed.

12.Any and all forms of torture of those incarcerated are intolerable and must be abolished worldwide.

13.Existing and additional budgeting should be immediately allocated to develop alternatives to imprisonment that focus on rehabilitation and restorative justice.

14.All prison staff must be properly trained to implement human rights principles and alternative dispute resolution techniques.

As a recognized and respected Advisory Group (NGO) to the United Nations, we respectfully request that each country carefully review and respond to our recommendations.

We also request that the above items be included among the priority topics established for discussion at the Twelfth United Nations Crime Congress to be held in Salvador, Brazil, in April 2010.

As we understand, the main theme of this Congress will be to compile and review standards and norms in crime prevention and criminal justice that have been developed over the past 50 years.


Respectfully,

Charles Sullivan
Executive Director
International CURE
PO Box 2310
Capitol Station
Washington, DC 20013
202-789-2126