Mandela Rules Adopted: Landmark Revisions Made to UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners

On May 22, 2015, the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) gathered in Vienna and adopted the Mandela Rules, which are revisions to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMR), the leading international principles on the treatment of prisoners, which had not been updated since they were drafted in 1955. The Mandela Rules honor

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Revision of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners to Continue at the Third Intergovernmental Expert Group Meeting

From January 28 to 31, 2014, the United Nations’ open-ended Intergovernmental Expert Group on the revision of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMRs) will hold its Third Meeting in Brasilia, Brazil in order to continue the process of revising the SMRs. [UNODC: SMRs] The review process is intended to modernize the SMRs to reflect developments in

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United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Discusses Health, Education, and Culture at Twelfth Session

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) will hold its Twelfth Session between May 20 to 31, 2013 at the UN Headquarters in New York City.  The UNPFII is an advisory body to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). [UNPFII]  Its mandate includes providing expertise and recommendations regarding indigenous issues to ECOSOC and UN programs, agencies, and funds;

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UN Commission on the Status of Women Concludes with Recommendations to Eradicate Violence against Women and Girls

The fifty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) concluded last week with its adoption of a historic set of conclusions, agreed to by 131 States, on the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls. [UN News Centre] The agreed conclusions, which were drafted with the participation of civil society, urge governments and

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Five UN Meetings on Human Rights: January – March 2013

Universal Periodic Review (UPR): 15th Session The 15th session of the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review will take place from January 21 through February 1, 2013.  During this session, the Council will review and confirm reports on the human rights situation in France, Tonga, Romania, Mali, Botswana, the Bahamas, Burundi, Luxembourg, Barbados, Montenegro, the United Arab Emirates, Israel,

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ECOSOC Debates Consultative Status for NGOs

Last week the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) debated a key concern of its subsidiary NGO Committee’s work to review and recommend NGO applications for ECOSOC consultative status. According to the UN Department of Public Information, Cyprus speaking on behalf of the European Union highlighted concerns that:  over the past few years, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations continued

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