The Cape Declaration on Decriminalising Poverty and Status 

The Cape Declaration on Decriminalising Poverty and Status was drafted and adopted by consensus by the participants of the convening of the Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status, of which PRI is part of, held in Stellenbosch, South Africa between 27 and 29 September 2022.

The Cape Declaration calls attention to, and requests urgent, comprehensive and global action to challenge:

• The increasing use of laws that unfairly targets the poor and marginalised groups in society based on their status (social, economic or political) and/or their activism, such as women, children, members of the LGBTQ+ community, migrants, sex workers, ethnic minorities, indigenous people, among other.
• The states’ overreliance on criminal justice and punishment to respond to problems often caused by social inequalities, including limited access to welfare services such as education, housing, and drug treatments.
• The misuse of mandatory pre-trial detention, which unnecessarily raises prison overcrowding levels and causes disproportionate socio-economic impacts in the most vulnerable population.

Among other recommendations, it calls for the convening of an intergovernmental meeting of experts with representation of all relevant stakeholders, to study ways and means of addressing the global crisis of criminalisation of poverty, status, and activism, including the possibility of proposing a declaration of basic principles and guidelines. PRI is working with campaign partners to push this agenda and recommendation forward.

Read the full Cape Declaration and its summary, currently available in English, Portuguese, French, and Arabic. You can help the Campaign by sharing this document with your network, local authorities, civil society actors, inter-governmental bodies, and human rights mechanisms.