Nearly 10 million people—innocent or guilty—are detained in pretrial settings around the world each year, sometimes for months and even years before they are convicted or cleared of a crime. Meant to house people only temporarily, such facilities are usually overcrowded, and infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis spread quickly. Few pretrial systems are prepared to meet detainees’ health needs or provide even the most basic or essential medical care.
To address some of these concerns, the Open Society Foundations in 2009 launched the Global Campaign for Pretrial Justice. Since then, the initiative—a joint project of the Open Society Justice Initiative and the Open Society Public Health Program—has piloted several innovative interventions, including medical-legal collaborations, to ensure that pretrial detainees can access better-quality health services. These efforts are chronicled and examined in our new fact sheet, "Improving Health in Pretrial Detention: Pilot Interventions and the Need for Evaluation."
One of the projects featured is hosted by St. Petersburg–based Humanitarian Action. In Russia, the law allows for provisional release of detainees when their health conditions require it, yet the necessary medical examinations for release rarely take place. For one, law enforcement authorities often refuse to let physicians into pretrial facilities.
So Humanitarian Action found another way: the organization has coupled a lawyer with a forensic medical expert. When medical professionals are not allowed into the pretrial facilities, the lawyer instead asks the detainee a series of questions formulated by the doctor, who is then able to draw up an approximate diagnosis of the detainee’s health. Presented at court hearings, these conclusions can lead to an early release for the detainee or at least better conditions while he is incarcerated.
Such creative thinking should be rewarded, and in the case of Humanitarian Action, it has been. This month the organization has been nominated for a 2011 Innovating Justice Award, which recognizes the most promising developments in the justice sector. The winner receives up to €50,000 worth of services to continue their work.
Please take a moment to read more about Humanitarian Action’s accomplishments and acknowledge them with your vote on the Innovating Justice website.
A VERY FRENCH COUPE; mini test.(Sport)
Daily Mail (London) March 27, 2010 Byline: RUSSELL BRAY PEUGEOT RCZ GT 1.6THP Price as driven: [pounds sterling]25,050 On sale mid-May GOOD FRENCH manufacturer Peugeot has added street attitude to its range with the RCZ, a glamorous 2 x 2 coupe. The car is being built by Magna Steyr in Austria, which also makes the Aston Martin Rapide and is due to build Boxsters for Porsche.
PRICED from jus t [pounds sterling]20,450 -- yet with one of these on your drive, your neighbours wi l l think you've won the Lotto.
LOOKS the business, especially in white. And options such as trendy black wheels, painted brake callipers and different colour roof arches will have potential owners poring over the price list. this web site aston martin rapide
DESPITE the low-slung stance, getting into the RCZ coupe is easy, thanks to big doors. There's even space for two small children in the back.
BOOT is fairly roomy, and space can be increased by folding down rear seats.
WELL equipped. Entrylevel Sport models have sports seats, dual-zone airconditioning, alloy wheels, radio/Cd player with MP3 connection, USB port, black roof panel, twin sports exhausts and rear parking sensors.
GT models add bigger 19-inch alloy wheels, leather upholstery, electrically adjustable and heated seats, front parking sensors and automat ic l ights and wipers.
A SLICK six-speed manual gear change, noiseless cruising and a comfortable ride make the RCZ a good daily drive, but not a thrill machine.
THE frugal 1 .6-l i tre turbocharged petrol engine pulls like a train from low revs and returns 41mpg overall. The 2-litre diesel RCZ at [pounds sterling]22,250 can manage 53mpg. The modest Co2 emissions mean road tax of [pounds sterling]150 and [pounds sterling]120 a year respectively.
RARITY value may appeal. Peugeot says it only wants to sell 2,500 a year in the Uk, so you won't find the RCZ on every street corner.
BAD IT DRIVES more like a 'hot' hatchback than a sports car. Relatively high weight and size make it slow to respond to the steering; even more so with the diesel and its heavier engine.
THE handling isn't as sharp as, say, Audi's latest TT coupe or volkswagen's Scirocco coupe.
WIDE windscreen pillars can obscure other road users, such as motorcyclists. web site aston martin rapide
PEUGEOT'S guppy mouth styling is not to all tastes and the aluminium roof arches make the RCZ look like a blinged up Audi TT.
WITH only 1.6 litres under t h e b o n n e t , a l b e i t turbocharged to 197bhp, performance is more brisk than blitzkrieg, with 0-62mph in 7.5 seconds. Top speed is a claimed 147mph.
AFTER the dramatic exterior, the cabin is a let-down. it's comfortable enough, but the instruments and layout are predictable, with the exception of the clock, which looks rather like an expensive Hublot watch.
RUSSELL BRAY
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I support those who are working for basic human rights, and we want Justice for All. The human rights violations and pre-trial jail terms are Not to be sustained!! It's Wrong!