At the international level, we contribute to the work of the United Nations and regional bodies by agenda-setting and ensuring that the human rights of persons in criminal justice systems are reflected in the work of inter-governmental bodies.
We work with and engage with a whole range of UN bodies and systems through our ‘ECOSOC Consultative Status’ (which provides NGOs with access many of the UN bodies and processes). We work to influence and assist the work of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Department of Peace Operations, UN Office on Drugs and Crime and the UN Development Programme, for instance. We influence the agendas, resolutions, decisions and debates within member-state led UN bodies such as the UN General Assembly, Human Rights Council (and its Treaty bodies and Special Procedures), Crime Commission and Congresses, and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
At the regional level we use our consultative and observer status with inter-governmental bodies (IGOs) such as the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (IPU), the Council of Europe (CoE), the African Union, specifically their Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
PRI works in coalition with various civil society alliances and NGO partnerships to push for change within international bodies. Our work is enriched by working together.
Some of our successes in international advocacy
- We paved the way for the adoption of the UN Bangkok Rules on the treatment of women in conflict with the law and since their adoption in 2010 have ensured international bodies use them as a tool to assess the rights of women in prison
- We worked on the revision of the Standard Minimum Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners by the United Nations in 2015, raising the human rights protections of persons detained
- We supported the creation of the special rapporteur of prisons and conditions in detention in Africa
- We have brought attention to life imprisonment among United Nations offices and bodies, making sure that its use and implementation is addressed as a human rights issue
- We have worked with the UN Committee against Torture and the UN Subcommittee for the prevention of Torture to better address the human rights of vulnerable groups, including women, within their important work in holding member states accountable