Washington, DC - A U.S. delegation is traveling to Vienna, Austria to advance international cooperation on important anti-crime and criminal justice issues at the 25th UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) meeting, taking place May 23-27. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Luis Arreaga will lead the U.S. delegation, which includes representatives from the State Department, U.S. Department of Justice, and the Atlanta Police Department.

A major focus of this year’s CCPCJ meeting will be criminal justice responses to prevent and counter terrorism. The Commission will bring together experts and practitioners from nations around the world to examine counterterrorism finance, the threat of foreign terrorist fighters, and the importance of building reliable criminal justice systems and institutions that promote human rights and the rule of law.

In addition, the United States is sponsoring a resolution to promote access to criminal legal aid, which is a necessary component of a fair, humane, transparent, and effective criminal justice system, as well as a key objective of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The United States will also host two side events during the Commission. One event, which will feature a speaker from the Atlanta Police Department, will explore ways to prevent and counter bias-motivated crimes against members of vulnerable groups, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons. A second event focuses on the use of alternative sentencing measures for terrorism-related offenses as a way to promote disengagement and rehabilitation.