{"id":5292,"date":"2020-05-29T13:11:10","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T12:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/copolad.ole.agency\/alternative-measures-to-prison-a-necessity-for-the-eu-lac-cooperation-in-times-of-covid-19\/"},"modified":"2022-02-18T14:22:31","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T13:22:31","slug":"alternative-measures-to-prison-a-necessity-for-the-eu-lac-cooperation-in-times-of-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/copolad.eu\/en\/alternative-measures-to-prison-a-necessity-for-the-eu-lac-cooperation-in-times-of-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Alternative Measures to prison: a necessity for the EU-LAC cooperation in times of COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]On 3 June, the European Union (EU) programmes, EL PAcCTO<\/a> EUROsociAL+<\/a> and COPOLAD II<\/a>, organise a webinar to share experiences between Latin America, the Caribbean and the EU, on the use of alternative measures to imprisonment during the pandemic.<\/strong>. The aim is also to analyse the challenges ahead,<\/strong> and how these alternative measures are essential to strengthen the fight against organised crime, social cohesion and respect for human rights.<\/p>\n

This webinar is a follow-up to the Montevideo Declaration<\/strong> adopted by 50 representatives from more than 30 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and the EU<\/strong> last September 2019 in Montevideo, Uruguay, during the Bi-regional Conference on Alternative Measures to the Deprivation of Liberty<\/em><\/strong>organized by EL PAcCTO, EUROsociAL+ and COPOLAD II.<\/p>\n

The Declaration called for the development of a more systematic use of alternative measures to deprivation of liberty for the most minor crimes and persons who do not represent a danger to the community, with special emphasis on vulnerable populations (such as women or persons related to drug problematic uses or trafficking) imprisoned due to minor crimes..<\/strong><\/p>\n

During that conference, several studies on the subject were presented. On the one hand, a “Catalogue of alternative measures to custodial sentences”<\/a> which summarizes the main tools applied in the different Latin American countries, <\/strong>and which also shows<\/strong>that prison cannot be the only solution for dealing with crime, since numerous international studies indicate that it is transformed into a school of crime. <\/strong>On the other hand, the publication<\/strong> “Gender perspective and alternatives to prison sentences: strategies to improve the processes of insertion and abandonment of women’s crime”<\/a>, was presented with<\/strong>he specific case of women deprived of their liberty, without forgetting the possible extension of alternative measures to other groups that are in a situation of vulnerability<\/strong>.<\/strong>The organising programmes have taken into consideration both inputs and the national and international level, which gave context to that meeting,<\/a> as well as the new publications produced by the relevant institutions working in this issue.<\/p>\n

Current and future challenges for alternative measures<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Webinar, which will take place on 3 June, is aimed at senior representatives of the prison systems, judicial powers, public ministries and ombudsmen’s offices of Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The main objective is to focus on the <\/strong>alternative measures that have been developed during these months of the COVID-19 crisis<\/strong> in the two regions and <\/strong>o analyse how an effective, stable and lasting system can be created for the future application of these measures<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most appropriate communication and awareness strategies will also be addressed <\/strong>to spread the positive effects of applying alternative measures.<\/p>\n

The <\/strong>Head of Unit of the <\/strong>European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development,<\/a>, Jorge de la Caballer\u00eda<\/strong>, will open the virtual seminar<\/strong>together with representatives of the three regional programmes that are organising it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Webinar is divided into three blocks:<\/strong><\/p>\n

An overview of the current situation in the American Hemisphere, by <\/strong>Adam Namm,<\/strong> Executive Secretary of the <\/strong> Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission of the Organization of American States<\/a> (CICAD\/OAS)<\/strong><\/p>\n

A panel on <\/strong>Alternative Measures to Deprivation of Liberty in the Emergency by COVID-19<\/em><\/strong>.<\/strong> This panel will count with:<\/strong><\/p>\n