The March documents are available for review on the March Meeting Page:

You can download it right here: The Report.

For those with an interest in the issue, please feel free to contact:

Lani J. Virostko, JD
Human Rights Fellow / Interim Project Director
“Human Rights in Criminal Sentencing”

Website:  http://www.usfca.edu/law/clgj/criminalsentencing/

Twitter: HR_CrimSentence

Center for Law and Global Justice

University of San Francisco School of Law

2130 Fulton Street

San Francisco, CA 94117

(415) 422-3330

In preparation for the Commission, NGOs were invited to this pre-Commission Consultation.

You can listen/download the mp3 recording of the Consultation here:

Click here to listen to the recording

Relevant Documents and Links

Report provided by USF “Cruel & Unusual”

Link to all UNODC information about the 22nd Session of the Crime Commission

Link to Draft Resolutions and Decisions 

Programme of Events including the list of side events, topics and sponsors

There will be a follow-up Online Session Monday April when Michael Platzer, Chair of Vienna Alliance reviews the outcomes of the 22nd Crime Commission.

January documents still available for review:

•  January 11th meeting agenda: Agenda01112013
• Chair’s January 2013 Report
• Information sheet on the 2015 Crime Congress
• Link to the UNODC site: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/crime-congress/13-crime-congress.html

Included below are:

•  January 11th meeting agenda: Agenda01112013
• Chair’s January 2013 Report
• Information sheet on the 2015 Crime Congress
• Link to the UNODC site: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/crime-congress/13-crime-congress.html

Below you can see the events that were part of the 2012 Week Promoting A Good Society as part of the Alliance’s efforts to give voice to Alliance members and experts in the field and to bring attention to those projects, initiatives and programs “that work.”

This was our first year and hope to have more members use this week to focus some of their public education and outreach during this week.

Event Information: http://cpcjalliance.org/calendar/

Register for the Live Webinar Thursday 6th: Voices of Experts—What Works In Countering Corruption 
http://solutions.enterthemeeting.com/m/7JHTK692

(Right click to download these documents.)

And don’t forget to review the video explaining the 5 ways NGOs can participate in the week to support the Promotion of a Just Society December 3 – 10, 2012.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQQfxxspDt8

Click Here To Add Your Organization’s Info

Governments are meeting this week at a UN conference in Vienna to discuss whether they are making progress in tackling international mafia activity.

The Mexican Minister of Interior, Alejandro Poire speaking to the press in Vienna on Monday said they are making progress and that international cooperation is making a difference. But in places like Marseilles and Dominican Republic the news is different. The Executive Director of UNODC Yuri Fedotov noted in his opening address that “crime is a constant traveller. Successes against crime in one country can sometimes drive it elsewhere….in an era of ‘displacement’”.

The main item on the agenda of the UN conference is how to measure progress under the 2001 United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and its Protocols—this includes a protocol on trafficking in persons. There are 172 states parties to the convention and they meet biennially. The meetings are organised by its secretariat UNODC. This time round Mexico is sponsoring a resolution for a new review mechanism, with provisions pretty much identical to those for the  review mechanism for the 2003 UN Convention against Corruption.

The behind-the scenes discussions are tense. What looked like a shoo-in might just not be. As Mr. Fedotov noted in his opening address, there are two issues surrounding the mechanism, funding and the participation of observers. On the funding issue, the question is whether the funding can be taken from the strapped UN budget. Some of the developed countries say no.

The “participation of observers” issue is about the possibility of public interest organisations attending meetings of the oversight body of the UNTOC. A resolution tabled by Norway and Switzerland says they should. Another resolution tabled by China and Russia says they should not. To clarify: The oversight body does not discuss any sensitive organised-crime related case-related information. It discusses general issues to do with laws and institutions. Public interest organisations, including those working with trafficked women, want to be present for a very simple reason: They want to understand and contribute to the ongoing discussions and not just at the big meetings every two years.

This clash of positions is very familiar from past UN conferences around the UN Convention against Corruption, for which UNODC also serves as secretariat.  Civil society participation and transparency were whittled away to a bare minimum at the UN conferences in 2009 and 2011 in conflict with principles outlined in the UNCAC itself, its rules of procedure and in the terms of reference of the review mechanism.

This is why a broad alliance of civil society organisations that are in Vienna this week are pressing governments there to take a stand for inclusion and access to information in the review process for UNTOC and its Protocols. They are led by the Vienna Alliance on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and the Global Alliance against Traffic in Women and joined by many others including Transparency International and the 350 organisations in the UNCAC Coalition.