4th Informal Meeting of the Alliance

Minutes

Participants: Anna Alvazzi del Frate, Ingeborg Geyer, Marlene Parenzan, Ian Tennant, Hertha Kaschitz-Wüstenhagen, Evelyn Dürmayer, Jamie Bridge, Tobias Krachler, Jeanne Sarson, Linda MacDonald, CIPDI (Mr. Nwanoro), Sr. Mirjam Beike, Gary Hill, Sarah Pirker, Jolanta Redo, Dhruba Prasad Ghimire, Christian Ponti, Cecilia ODwyer, Lusanne Green, Osamu Niikura , Yasushi Higashizawa, Phil Reichel, Olivia Rope

UNODC CST: Mirella Dummar-Frahi, Billy Batware, Mariana Cirmaciu

The informal meeting via Webex was facilitated by the Secretary of the Alliance, Tobias Krachler. The Chair, Anna Alvazzi del Frate, welcomed the participants and introduced the agenda of the meeting:

1. - Updates from the Alliance
2. - Updates from the CST
3. - Tour de table with discussion

Updates from the Alliance

The chair provided an overview of the latest developments, most of which had already anticipated via email to all members.

The extraordinary General Assembly will be held remotely on May 20th. The necessary documents will be sent out one week in advance, in compliance with the deadline foreseen in the statutes. The documents will include the final draft for the bylaws, for which the deadline for comments ended on May 4th. A few comments have been received, so the changes will be minor. For the facilitation of the meeting, WebEx will be used. If any of the members need technical assistance and wish to test the connection in advance, they can contact the Secretary Tobias Krachler.

Besides posting news from members on the website (https://crimealliance.org), the Alliance is now operating a Twitter account, https://twitter.com/CpcjA. Members should feel encouraged to share content either for the website or the twitter account.

Update from the working group on the Civil Society Statement for the Crime Congress

Phil Reichel presented updates on the working group. The statement didn’t need to shadow the political declaration, but rather the civil society recommendations on a broader level. Due to the postponement of the Congress, the working group will resume consultations with members of the civil society once the new Congress date is announced. The working group has now 8 members, which is a good size for substantive work, but recommendations and suggestions can always be shared through the Chair of the Alliance.

Updates from UNODC-CST

Mirella Dummar-Frahi and Billy Batware gave an update on the developments at the VIC regarding the Covid 19 situation. The VIC will gradually open to avoid overcrowding in the building. The call for applications for the 10th Session of the COP-TOC (12-16 October) has been prolonged until May 8th, and the conference will most likely be a in person meeting. The UNCAC NGO briefing was postponed from the first to the last week of June. Interpretation remains an issue for online meetings. In principle, the UN intends to ensure that meetings that were meant to be open to observers will be accessible remotely.

Gary Hill confirmed that no new date for the Crime Congress has been communicated yet. Most of the almost three hundred organizers of the ancillary meetings have shown continued interest in hosting the events during the rescheduled Congress.

Responding to several questions, Mirella Dummar-Frahi informed that UNODC staff will progressively return to work at VIC on 18 May, but it is too early to say when access to the building will be possible and the relevant modalities. She also informed that plans for the format of the launch of the World Drug Report and for celebrating the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on 26 June were currently being discussed.

Tour de table

Many participants shared information on their ongoing work and experiences also via chat (copy of the chat is attached for information). Topics included updates on the impact of the pandemic on imprisonment; safety of journalists; lethal violence against women; trafficking in persons; protection of lawyers; as well as updates on new publications and research initiatives.

The meeting concluded with information on next meetings:

20 May 2020 – 15:30 Vienna Time – Extraordinary General Assembly

2 June 2020 – 15:30 Vienna Time – 5th Informal Meeting

COPY OF THE MESSAGES AND LINKS SHARED VIA CHAT AT THE MEETING

Michael O'Connell:

Last night, I participated in the ECOSOC informal briefing for NGOs that was held via Webex. The ECOSOC is holding a high-level political forum, see https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf/2020 The meeting of the high-level political forum on sustainable development in 2020 convened under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, will be held from Tuesday, 7 July, to Thursday, 16 July 2020, including the three-day ministerial meeting of the forum from Tuesday, 14 July, to Thursday, 16 July 2020. The theme will be "Accelerated action and transformative pathways: realizing the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development ". NGO participation is invited, for instance, requests to make statements written (closed) and oral (open) have been sent to NGOs in consultative status. Such said the organisers are still working on the logistics for virtual participation.

Jeanne Sarson:

Thank you for all the work you are doing, I am still trying to find my way on how to fit because living in Canada feeling many kms away. Recently we have had our most massive femicides and homicides in Canadian history. And I am connected to the work on femicide that is work that is grounded in the work at the UN on femicide and the risks of femicide that occurs in non-State torture victimizations. Travel is still restricted here in Canada so appreciate these connections.

Linda MacDonald:

I cannot speak by my mic, but I wanted all to know that here in Nova Scortia Canada where I live we are dealling with a mass shooting that killed 22 people rooted in male violence against women. The man had illegal guns. More women than men were killed so we feminist activists are working to have femicide named.

Here is an article about the mass shootings: https://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/from-day-one-advocates-knew-shooting-was-linked-to-domestic-violence/Content?oid=23985855

Here is an article about the mass shootings: https://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/from-day-one-advocates-knew-shooting-was-linked-to-domestic-violence/Content?oid=23985855

And another one: https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/focus-on-femicide-the-nova-scotia-shootings-connection-to-domestic-violence-1.4915852

If you want up to date data on number of cases for people in prison + COVID I can recommend this website by Justice Project Pakistan: https://www.jpp.org.pk/covid19-prisoners/

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/10/us/mass-shootings-misogyny-dayton.html

Olivia Rope:

Penal Reform International's "Global Prison Trends 2020" report and launch event webinar is available here: https://www.penalreform.org/resource/global-prison-trends-2020/

Ian Tennant:

Congress Road to Kyoto podcast - https://globalinitiative.net/road-to-kyoto-podcast/

Hi everyone. I am just posting the links to the GI resources I mentioned earlier - https://globalinitiative.net/initiatives/covid-crime-watch/

COVID - podcast - https://globalinitiative.net/a-pandemic-and-organized-crime/

The meeting was closed at 16:48