United front: Marian Liebmann visits the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

‘Our aim as Quakers is to promote humanitarian criminal justice policies.’

Every year in Vienna, a small group of Quakers, who are experienced in criminal justice, attends a session of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. Friends World Committee for Consultation has ‘general status’ with the UN, which means we have the right to attend sessions and speak. The theme for 2023 was ‘Access to Justice’.

Our team this year comprised Nick McGeorge (a chartered psychologist), Penny Peters (a retired probation officer) and me (a restorative justice consultant). Logan Graddy (a prison chief psychiatrist) and Mia Graddy (a student) joined us from North Carolina.

We attend two kinds of session: plenaries, in which government representatives from all over the world present their views; and smaller ones in which resolutions are debated until consensus is reached. Sometimes this works smoothly; sometimes (as this year) the resolutions prove contentious, and agreement is difficult to reach. Our aim as Quakers is to promote humanitarian criminal justice policies, such as human rights, humane prison regimes, rehabilitation and restorative justice. 

Side events, put on by country representatives or non-governmental organisations, present new approaches or developments in the field. We usually try to present an event, sometimes with other organisations. This year we developed a presentation entitled ‘The Impact of Misogynistic and Aggressive Social Media on Children’.

Social media can bring people together, inform, educate, entertain, and open discussion. But it can also be deeply damaging. To counter this impact, we focussed on how to express feelings without violence, and how to use conflict resolution and peacemaking methods in school policy. Our presentation included information from the excellent Peace at the Heart report by David Gee, produced last year by Britain Yearly Meeting’s Peace Education team; they also provided us with video clips of children mediating conflicts in schools. The report is the most hopeful document I have read for a long time. It suggests we can provide an antidote to toxic hate, and can help children manage feelings, cope with conflict, and feel safe at school. It also demonstrates, with evidence and footnotes, how it is possible to transform schools into places where children and young people thrive, and can learn well as a result. We also included information from a course developed by Durham Friends Meeting in North Carolina, on relationships and sex.

Peace at the Heart concludes with recommendations that are being followed by many schools, and in public policy in Scotland. A travelling exhibition, also put together by the Peace Education team, will be hosted by the Scottish Parliament this September. A motion supporting peace education has been signed by MSPs from all parties. Scotland is clearly leading the way!

Our event was well received. We hope to make it into a YouTube video, so that it can be shared more widely.

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