The pandemic also sets the stage for the NPMs to an unacceptable obstacle to public health and need to engage constructively with relevant authorities and in- be urgently addressed. Therefore, the recognition of the fluence law and policy on systemic issues that NPMs need to address these issues and the reduced num- have been raising for years, such as overcrowding and ber of on-site visits could represent an opportunity for alternatives to detention, or the excessive use of pre-trial NPMs to focus their attention and efforts on advocacy, detention. The COVID-19 crisis has brought to light the promoting legislative, administrative and judicial meas- fact that some conditions of detention (e.g., overcrowd- ures that could contribute to reducing overcrowding and ing, access to hygiene products and facilities) represent pre-trial detention. CURRENT PRACTICE – COLLABORATING TOWARDS COMMON OBJECTIVES In France, the NPM, together with the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) and the ombuds institution, publicly requested the Ministry of Justice to reduce the prison population and lessen overcrowding.16 The French Union of Penitentiary Directors issued a similar call, asking that the authorities make good on their commitment to have only one detainee per cell.17 In Italy, the NPM has been in close contact with penitentiary workers, volunteers operating in prison and a network of local oversight institutions.18 Together they identified common objectives and presented some co-ordinated recommendations to the authorities. In Honduras, the NPM advocated for the enactment of legislation aimed at reducing the number of pre-trial detainees. The law approved by the National Congress determines that individuals with pre-existing chronic diseases who belong to a risk group should have their detention revoked and replaced with a less severe non-custodial measure. Furthermore, the NPM worked with a team of medical doctors to identify detainees who fit that criteria and present a list of names to the Penitentiary Department and the competent court to enable their release. 16 Le Monde, Op-ed ‘Coronavirus : « Sauvegardons les droits fondamentaux pendant la crise sanitaire » [’Protecting fundamental freedoms during the heath crisis], 20 March 2020. 17 Ouest France, ‘Coronavirus. Les directeurs de prison appellent à faire de l’encellulement individuel une priorité’ [Prison directors call for making individual cells a priority], 20 April 2020. 18 The network is composed of regional, provincial and municipal guarantors for the rights of persons deprived of liberty, co-ordinated by the NPM. 7