A/HRC/40/59/Add.2 Convention, any progress in these cases depends exclusively on the active participation of the victims as plaintiffs in the criminal proceedings. V. Deficiencies in the criminal justice system A. Lack of alternatives to detention 27. The Special Rapporteur notes with great concern that, in the course of the past 10 to 20 years, there has been a clear trend towards a hardening “tough-on-crime” policy throughout Argentina, apparently in response to popular concerns over a reported rise in violent crime and an erosion of public security. Such policies have translated into federal and provincial laws requiring mandatory detention even for non-violent crimes and have encouraged law enforcement bodies to crack down on crime predominantly through arrests and detention, to the detriment of any alternative means and methods of addressing the problem. 28. For instance, through Act No. 27375, in which the possibility for early release is restricted in relation to a wide range of offences, the progressive execution of sentences is severely curtailed and undermined and efforts towards the gradual social integration of convicts are reduced. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur regrets the delayed entry into force of the new Code of Criminal Procedure (Act No. 27063), which contains provisions limiting the use of pretrial detention. This trend is compounded by the entry into force of Act No. 27272 in September 2016, establishing a procedure for in flagrante delicto cases, by which suspects apprehended at the moment of committing a crime are brought before a court within 24 hours of arrest. Although the aim of this procedure is to shorten trials and achieve quick convictions, it entails a grave risk of discriminatory application to certain marginalized groups. According to information received both from the Chief Public Defender’s Office and from persons reportedly arrested under this procedure, such arrests have been conducted without qualifying as in flagrante delicto cases as required, and without the apprehended persons being informed of their rights. Instead, pressure was allegedly exerted on suspects to make quick confessions, which would allow an expedient adjudication and statistical resolution of pending criminal cases. 29. As a consequence of such policies, the prison population throughout Argentina is said to have tripled in the past two decades. The Special Rapporteur notes with particular concern that the prisons are populated mostly by young men from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, who seem to be particularly targeted by the new policy. He is also concerned that the number of women in prison is reported to have increased disproportionately in recent years, more than 70 per cent of them having been detained as a result of increasingly repressive legislation and judicial practice with systematic application of mandatory imprisonment of between six months and three years even to small-scale narcotics offences. 30. While the Special Rapporteur welcomes the Support Programme for Persons under Electronic Surveillance implemented by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights,2 he is concerned that the application of this alternative approach remains insufficient to mitigate prison overcrowding. In practice, deprivation of liberty still appears to be the preferred routine measure imposed by the judiciary in response to any suspected offence, despite the existence of alternative measures for suspects who pose no threat to public security and no risk of absconding or interfering with the investigation. B. Excessive length of pretrial detention 31. The Special Rapporteur received numerous and consistent complaints from detainees about the perceived excessive length of their pretrial detention and the prolonged absence of any meaningful investigative or judicial action taken on the part of the prosecuting or 2 Resolutions Nos. 1379/2015 (26 June 2015) and 86/2016 (23 April 2016) of the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. 7