Campaign Digest: june 2024
Global Campaign issues subgrants to support transregional joint work
This year, several campaign members came together to submit joint projects for funding from the Global Campaign. The following eight projects received funding for transregional and collaborative work in line with the Global Campaign’s strategic objectives:
- Challenging punitive approaches to civil disobedience and policing protest: best practices from across the globe
- Subnational governance and the plight of women working in public spaces: challenges and principles to improve policy and law-making in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa
- Building global principles and guidelines on eliminating discrimination based on social, political or economic status in criminal justice systems around the world
- Use of law enforcement powers to enforce criminal laws that target, or disproportionately impact, people based on their poverty or status in Africa, South Asia and the Caribbean
- Advancing criminal justice system reform through decriminalising and reclassifying petty offences in Kenya, Sierra Leone and Malawi
- Criminalisation of homelessness: a comparative analysis between Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa
- Challenging criminalisation of homelessness in Europe
- Decriminalisation of poverty and Status in Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea and Togo.
The outcomes will be shared on the Campaign’s channels and the Global Campaign Coordinating Committee will be exploring ways to share learning across these efforts with members and stakeholders.
Campaign members submitted data for a new study published by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, and the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter. They provided evidence showing that men, women and children living in homelessness and poverty are increasingly facing criminal penalties, fines and sanctions for activities such as sleeping, washing, cooking, eating, begging and working on the street. The study was launched at a 56th UNHRC session side event co-hosted by the Global Campaign, Breaking the cycle: Ending the criminalization of homelessness and extreme poverty. It was followed by a press release calling on governments to scrap “cruel and counterproductive” laws that are leading to people living in homelessness and poverty being arrested, fined or subjected to degrading punishment for carrying out activities in public that are vital for their survival.
On 7 March 2024, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (ICwS) presented its project on the decriminalisation of poverty and status to the 2024 Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting in Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania. The project is being implemented with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). It will deliver a Practitioners’ Guide (PG) on a human rights-based approach to criminal law, including on ways to further the decriminalisation of poverty and status.
In June 2024, the project partners met with stakeholders from the Africa region on the decriminalisation of poverty, homelessness and status to provide input into the development of the Commonwealth Practitioners Guide. The Guide will support judicial officers, lawyers and others during the adjudication of cases involving the criminalisation of poverty, status and activism. A similar consultation will be held in Bangkok, Thailand in September 2024 for the Asia, Latin America and Caribbean regions.
ECOWAS Court hears loitering case against Sierra Leone
Two years after it was filed at the regional court, a case challenging Sierra Leone’s laws on loitering has had its first day before judges at the Community Court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on May 2nd 2024. Campaign members, AdvocAid supported by the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA), is challenging the legality of the piece of legislation that has its roots to the British colonial era, which it argues is discriminatory and targeting vulnerable and marginalized communities
Campaign co-hosts UNCCPCJ side event on how fines and fees unfairly impact people in poverty
On May 15, 2024, during the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, campaign members, the International Legal Foundation (ILF) and Penal Reform International (PRI), and partner organisations hosted an event on the criminalization of poverty. Panellists from the U.S. and Canadian Justice Departments, the UNODC, and the ILF discussed the global issue of discrimination in criminal justice systems, its disproportionate impact on marginalized communities, the ineffectiveness and the irony of using monetary fines and fees to punish people living in poverty. They shared reform solutions such as data collection, ability-to-pay hearings, legal aid, alternative penalties, and the potential elimination of fines and fees.
Strategic litigation and law reform
Recent hearings & events
US: On 22 April, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Johnson v. Grants Pass, a case about whether communities can make it illegal for homeless persons to sleep in public spaces, even in the absence of any adequate shelter alternatives. Campaign member, the National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC) coordinated more than 40 friend-of-the-court briefs with approximately 1000 signatories, including a brief from the Special Rapporteurs on Housing and Extreme Poverty. Supporters showed up powerfully in a rally outside the court and in dozens of remote locations across the U.S., information from these briefs was used by the Justices inside the Court, and NHLC was able to leverage widespread coverage of the issues in local and national media. In a profoundly disappointing ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the US Constitution does not protect homeless people against cruel and unusual punishment, even when they have no but choice to sleep in public.
Malawi: In April 2024, the High Court sitting in Blantyre, Malawi, again deferred the case in which people 12 arrested and convicted under a law that criminalizes begging are challenging the constitutionality of parts of the Malawi Penal Code. The applicants were arrested on April 11, 2017, at diverse places in Blantyre and charged with the colonial era offence of idle and disorderly conduct. The applicants, with support from Campaign partners, the Centre for Human Rights Education Advice and Assistance (CHREAA) and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) are jointly challenging the constitutionality of Section 189(b) of the Code, arguing that it violates their constitutional right to dignity, economic activity and equality.
Botswana: The High Court of Botswana is set to hear the constitutional challenge of Section 59(1) of the Botswana Penal Code in a case where Tshepo Junior Sethibe was charged with publishing “alarming statements” after he posted comments on his Facebook page, criticising the police. SALC, supporting Sethibe, argues that the origins of ‘false news’ provisions in the Botswana Penal Code date back to the colonial period when they were used by the colonisers to suppress dissent. Many African countries with such provisions have taken measures to repeal them and ensure freedom of expression.
US: Florida state lawmakers approved a bill that prohibits camping on public property at a time when homelessness has increased by more than 8% across the state since 2022. Campaign partner, Invisible People says the law, also known as House Bill 1365, would prohibit cities and counties from allowing people experiencing homelessness to sleep or camp on public property. The bill has drawn the ire of housing advocate, Miami Coalition to Advance Racial Equity.
Switzerland: In Wa Baile vs Switzerland, Mohamed Wa Baile claims to have been subjected to ethnic profiling in 2015, when he was stopped by police officers in a train station in Zurich and told to identify himself. Wa Baile, a Swiss citizen and a visible minority, states that he was not given a reason for the check. He was then subjected to a search and fined 100 Swiss francs for not identifying himself. Campaign member, Amnesty International submitted a third-party intervention in the case examining the right to non-discrimination in law enforcement activities. The court found, unanimously, that Wa Baile had been subjected to three violations of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Submissions
In April 2024, campaign members, Africa Criminal Justice Reform (ACJR) submitted a written statement on behalf of the Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status in response to the activity report of the Special Rapporteur on Prisons, Conditions of Detention and Policing in Africa. The submission focuses on the challenges related to the criminalisation of minor or petty offences at sub-national level.
ACJR was also invited to speak at an expert consultation meeting based on its submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing and the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on sub-national governments and the criminalisation of poverty and status.
In May 2024, campaign members, ILF delivered a statement at the 33rd Session of the UN CCPCJ emphasizing access to legal aid for all. The denial of access to legal aid is a key component of the criminalization of poverty.
New Partners
Our campaign now has over 75 confirmed member organisations – meet the latest ones:
ATHENA Network is a global feminist collective that seeks to foster a feminist movement building and a learning agenda rooted in feminist principles, recognizing the progressive ways social change is realized and, in a commitment to decolonize global health and advance a gender transformative global HIV response.
Founded in France in 1987 by Abbé Pierre, a politician committed to fighting poverty, the Fondation Abbé Pierre aims to combat all forms of housing exclusion.
Bond Advocates LLP is a law firm based in Kenya, committed to providing pro bono services to clients facing challenges related to the criminalization of poverty and status. They are the Global Campaign’s first private law firm member. 
Center for Research and Exchange on Security and Justice (CRESEJ) in Haïti has a long tradition of teaching and action research, which puts knowledge at the service of improving living conditions of its citizens.
Centro de Investigación “Drogas y DDHH” (CIDDH) advocates for drug policy and prison reform, and public health in Latin America and the Caribbean and promotes and upholds human rights. 
Documenta is a Mexican non-governmental organization that works to provide alternative solutions to discrimination and structural disadvantages faced by historically marginalized groups in a context of limited human rights initiatives to support them. 
Dynamo International is a global NGO and a youth service that fights to defend the rights of people facing social exclusion. Their Street Workers Network brings together street social workers who work with varied communities who work and/or live on the streets.
Incarceration Nations Network is a partner-led, global network that supports, instigates and popularizes innovative prison reform and justice reimagining efforts around the world.
Juakali Initiative advocates for the rights of informal workers in Uganda, ensuring their access to public spaces. Focusing on women, it highlights workers’ challenges, providing free legal support and empowering informal workers to seek justice. 
Justice Collective is a Berlin-based project that advocates for building communities that choose justice over jails across Europe. 
REFORMAR – Research for Mozambique is a research, training and advocacy organization, with the aim of promoting Human Rights in the field of criminal justice in Mozambique and other Portuguese-speaking countries.
Partner Updates
Poverty and Status
In this compelling documentary, Invisible People travelled to Grants Pass, Oregon, a picturesque city of about 40,000 residents, which is now at the forefront of a significant legal battle with nationwide implications. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to deliberate on the pressing issue of homelessness and the criminalization of public camping.
In February 2024, AdvocAid in partnership with Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law (CARL), engaged members of the Legislative and Human rights committees in Parliament on the decriminalisation and declassification of petty offences otherwise known as “misdemeanours” in Sierra Leonean law. The engagement aims at decongesting the country’s overcrowded correctional facilities through legal reforms such as repealing laws that are applied subjectively targeting a selected group of people, particularly those who work in the informal sector.
Expression
Amnesty International calls for the Moldovan parliament to repeal recent amendments to the country’s Criminal Code which redefine “high treason” and threaten freedom of expression.
Authorities across East and Southern Africa have continued to impose severe restrictions on the right to freedom of expression and media freedom over the past year, said Amnesty International on World Press Freedom Day.
Research
Ongoing research by the Dullah Omar Institute (including ACJR) is considering the impact of criminal, security and other exceptional laws and policies in select francophone and lusophone countries including Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire and Mozambique. The purpose of the research project is to gather information on the legal framework and the enforcement of select criminal, security and exceptional laws at national and sub-national levels.
Campaign members, Center for Research and Exchange on Security and Justice (CRESEJ) and the University of the West Indies (U-RAP) are collaborating to generate accessible knowledge on the criminalization of poverty and status in Haiti. They are conducting an in-depth analysis of Haitian inmates, examining the prevalence of minor offenses within the Haitian penal system, and arranging workshops with key stakeholders to present and deliberate on the project’s findings.
Perspectives
To comply or not to comply is not the question: SALC points out the growing trend of non-implementation of landmark cases in securing and guaranteeing the rights of LGBTQIA+ persons, using Botswana and Namibia as examples.
Judicial Interference: A Test of Principles, Integrity and Power: An article from SALC using fictional characters and events inspired by real emerging issues, to explore the theme of judicial independence and separation of powers.
“If you neglect your prisons, you do that at your own peril”: Prison Insider met with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to find out more about what she has to say to prison administrations and the justice systems around the world.
Intersection with poverty: Twelve pieces exposing the reality of imprisonment: Prison Insider, represented by Clara Grisot, contributed twelve compositions to the book InsideOutside, including a piece on discriminatory practices that send certain categories of people to prison more than others.
Ambiguous Laws and Freedom of Expression in Africa: Freedom of expression, a fundamental right crucial for open dialogue, critical thinking, and societal progress, is under threat in Africa due to outdated and ambiguous legal frameworks, says SALC.
The truth behind Parliamentarians Enacting Conservative laws: SALC argues that the anti-rights movement is pushing an agenda where parliamentarians are used as their proxies, rejecting democracy, the rule of law and human rights and instead put in place laws that are aligned with the US conservative right.
Türkiye: lawyers in danger: Approximately 10% of individuals imprisoned in Türkiye are estimated to be political prisoners, sentenced under the Anti-Terror Law, in conjunction with the Penal Code. Prison Insider interviews Güçlü Sevimli, a lawyer and member of the Progressive Lawyers Association.
Alternative justice system solution to backlog of cases: Kenyan could consider alternative justice systems as a solution to backlog of cases, says campaign member ICJ-Kenya.
In the News
Parliament urged to revamp outdated Penal Code: In Malawi, Peter Dimba, chairperson of the Legal Affairs Committee in Parliament, has called for a thorough revision of the Penal Code, citing its numerous inconsistencies with the current Constitution.
Malawian Parliament ‘sits on’ rogue, vagabond court order
For daring to call for reform of the monarchy, Thai protesters face over a decade in prison
Advocate driving decriminalisation of petty offences campaign
Poverty: African vagrancy laws continue to discriminate, despite court victories
Events
Past events
The African Media Lawyers Network (AMLN) unveiled: Campaign member Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) with the Congress of African Journalists (CAJ) and the UNESCO Liaison Office to AU and UNECA, have formally unveiled the framework of the AMLN, following a stakeholders’ validation meeting in January 2024. The AMLN, the first ever continent-wide network of media lawyers, aims at protecting and promoting press freedom, providing legal expertise, and supporting journalists and media houses in advocating for a legal environment that is conducive to independent and responsible journalism in the AU Member States.
In January 2024, FIACAT and other campaign members drew attention to the Campaign’s work at an EU-AU Forum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They also recommended that member states repeal or amend laws and implement policies related to the criminalisation of poverty, status and activism, and increase support to civil society organisations.
In March 2024, one week after International Women’s Day, a coalition of organisations and experts, hosted by campaign members, convened to address the rising trend of women’s criminalisation driven by poverty in a side event at the 68th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York. The event highlighted the intersections of gender, poverty, and punitive legal systems, drawing attention to the urgent need for reform, amid a rising female prison population globally.
April 25 is Africa Pretrial Detention Day, aimed at drawing attention to the excessive use of pretrial detention and the need for urgent reform across African criminal justice systems. In 2014, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted the Luanda Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention in Africa. Ten years on , the Global Campaign called for the full implementation of this important instrument.
In March 2024, the 2nd Annual Global Freedom Fellowship, organized by Incarceration Nations Network, brought together 16 formerly incarcerated fellows from 13 countries for a life-changing experience of healing, knowledge-sharing and transnational solidarity in South Africa.
In April 2024, Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF), Prison Insider, FEANTSA and European Alternatives participated in a workshop to discuss how to advocate for a non-discriminatory coherent approach to migration and poverty in Europe and its neighbourhood.
Resources
Criminalization of Homelessness in the Caribbean: A Baseline Assessment in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico:
This report provides a baseline assessment of the criminalization of homelessness in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. The analysis focuses on three Caribbean localities with diverse histories connected to Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States (U.S.). The report addresses laws criminalizing vagrancy and loitering, as well as life-sustaining activities. It examines the laws, their implementation in practice, and their various impacts on people in each country.
Morocco: investigating suicide and self-harm: Suicide and self-harm are major concerns in prisons around the world, with rates often significantly higher among prisoners than in the general population. In 2017, the Moroccan prison administration initiated a collaboration with DIGNITY, the Danish Institute Against Torture, to prevent suicide and self-harm among prisoners. A study aimed at gaining a better understanding of these phenomena was carried out, one of the first to be published on the subject in Moroccan prisons.
Prison Insider publishes two new country profiles: South Africa: prisons in 2023 and Türkiye: prisons in 2024. In collaboration with various people and CSOs, these country profiles cover more than 350 indicators and constitute one of the most comprehensive overviews of the prisons in these countries.
Petty Offenses, Major Consequences: decoding the criminalization of poverty in Haiti: CRESEJ conducted a study in partnership with the Bureau des Droits Humains en Haïti (BDHH) to examine the criminalization of poverty and status in Haiti. The study aimed to understand who the inmates in Haitian prisons are, the reasons for their incarceration, the consequences of this criminalization, and the prospects for addressing this issue.
Prison data collection in Commonwealth countries: A guidance note: Collecting and publishing statistics about the use and practice of imprisonment is a crucial tool for governments to assess the effectiveness of criminal justice policies. This Guidance Note published by Birkbeck College at the University of London makes the case for regular publication of the most important facts and figures about prisons.
Resource Library for working with women in contact with criminal justice systems: The National Women’s Justice Coalition (NWJC) champions and promotes best practice for working with women in contact with the criminal justice system. This library catalogues a wide range of resources that consolidate and demonstrate the collective wisdom and expertise of women’s organisations and criminal justice specialiUganda – Knowledge, attitudes and practices on pre-trial detention: ASF has published a report that explores the level of knowledge, the attitudes and practices of key stakeholders regarding pre-trial detention in Uganda. The report sheds light on the root causes of violations of procedural and constitutional rights. With this evidence base, the report provides recommendations for action and positive reforms in pre-trial detention.
Achieving gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls through decriminalising petty offences: As per this year’s theme for UN-Women, Commission on the Status of Women, this paper explores the challenges and experiences of women and girls in the Kenyan criminal justice system due to the criminalisation of petty offences. It provides recommendations to shape more gender-sensitive criminal justice institutions.
2023 US State Legislative Round-Up: Fines and Fees Reform across the country: As 2024 sessions start to ramp up, now is the time for fines and fees reform advocates to take stock of the vast and wide-reaching number of state and local policy changes that advocates achieved last year. Reviewing these reforms can inspire both policymakers and advocates to continue to work toward undoing the myriad harms related to fines and fees.
Outcome Document: New Delhi Roadmap for Strengthening Access to Justice in the Global South by Improving Access to Legal Aid Services: In November, 2023, 191 participants from 51 countries in the Global South participated in the 1st Regional Conference on Access to Legal Aid: Strengthening Access to Justice in the Global South in New Delhi, India. The ideas shared and discussed during the sessions led to recommendations for improving access to legal aid in the Global South.
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