2 detention, rather than making other arrangements for pre-trial supervision in the 3 community.” 4. The excessive use of pretrial detention in the Americas has also been acknowledged by other bodies of the Organization of American States (OAS), such as at the Third Meeting of Officials Responsible for Penitentiary and Prison Policies, where reference was made to the “excessive use of preventive detention,” and it was estimated that in the region “more than 40% of the prison population is on pretrial 4 detention” . 5. The foregoing situation exists in spite of binding international norms that are very clear in recognizing the presumption of innocence and the exceptional nature of pretrial detention; the broad recognition of these rights at the constitutional 5 level in the region; and the political will expressed at the highest level by the States 6 twenty years ago in the framework of the Summits of the Americas, where governments made the commitment to “[t]ake the necessary steps to remedy inhumane conditions in prisons and to minimize the number of pretrial detainees” (The Miami Plan of Action, 1994). 3 UNODC, Report on the High Level Expert Group Meeting (from Latin America and the Caribbean) on the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the treatment of prisoners, August 3-5, 2011, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, paras. 9-14, available at http://www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prisonreform/Reports/Report_High_Level_EGM_Santo_Domingo_3-5_August_2011_English.pdf. 4 OAS, Third Meeting of Officials Responsible for Penitentiary and Prison Policies of the OAS Member States, Remarks of Ambassador Adam Blackwell, Secretary for Multidimensional Security, on behalf of the OAS Secretary General, available at: http://www.oas.org/es/ssm/docs/speeches/abIII_PrisonsMeeting_2012_09_14.pdf. Similarly, the Recommendations of the Second Meeting of Officials Responsible for Penitentiary and Prison Polices of OAS States (Valdivia, 2008), urged States to apply pretrial detention in keeping with due process standards, while respecting the principles of exceptionality and proportionality (B.ix). Also, at the First Meeting on this topic (Washington, 2003), authorities responsible for penitentiary and prison polices of the OAS States had already identified as a major challenge for the region the “high percentage of prisoners still awaiting trial.” (Meeting Report). Both documents are available at: http://www.oas.org/dsp/english/cpo_documentos_carceles.asp. 5 On this issue, see: Constitution of the Argentine Nation Article 18; Political Constitution of the Plurinational State of Bolivia Articles 23 and 116; Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil Article 5; Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile Articles 19.3 and 19.7; Political Constitution of Colombia Articles 28 and 29; Political Constitution of the Republic of Costa Rica Article 37; Constitution of the Commonwealth of Dominica Article 3.4; Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador Articles 76.2, 77.1, 77.9 and 77.11; Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador Articles 12 and 13; Political Constitution of the Republic of Guatemala Articles 13 and 14; Political Constitution of the Republic of Honduras Articles 69, 84, 89, 92 and 93; Political Constitution of the United Mexican States Articles 16, 18 and 19; Political Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua Articles 33 and 34; Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama Articles 21 and 22; Constitution of the Republic of Paraguay Articles 12, 17 and 19; Political Constitution of Peru Articles 2.24b, 2.24e, 2.24f and 139.10; Constitution of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay Articles 7, 15 and 16; and Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Articles 44.1, 44.5 and 49.2. 6 See also (a) Third Summit of the Americas, 2001, Quebec, Canada, Plan of Action, available at: http://www.summit-americas.org/III%20Summit/Esp/III%20summit-esp.htm; (b) Second Summit of the Americas, 1998, Santiago, Chile, Document on Human Rights, available at: http://www.summitamericas.org/Human%20Rights/HUMAN-RIGHTS.htm; and (c) First Summit of the Americas, 1994, Miami, USA, Plan of Action, available at: http://www.summit-americas.org/i_summit.html.