A/HRC/28/29 systematically, even for minor offences. She also recalled that, while persons in pretrial detention must be considered innocent until proven guilty, if they had no opportunity to challenge the lawfulness of their detention they could remain in detention for years. As a result, in some countries, pretrial detainees made up the majority of the prison population. 7. Pretrial detainees could be subjected ill-treatment or torture, used to obtain a confession or to pressure them to inform on others. Although the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights requires accused persons to be kept separate from convicted persons and that they should receive treatment appropriate to their status, in a significant number of States accused persons were held in the same facilities as sentenced prisoners, including serious offenders. This greatly increased the possibility of pretrial detainees being subjected to violence. 8. Ms. Connors recalled that there had been a persistent failure in providing women with alternatives to imprisonment on an equal basis with men, in accordance with the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules). Women were also particularly affected by the lack of opportunity to challenge their detention because they were less likely to be able to afford bail costs. In order to reduce the risk of sexual violence, women, when in detention, including pretrial detention, should be separated from men and supervised only by women,. 9. Tougher laws and sentencing practices had led to overuse of incarceration, which, together with excessive use of pretrial detention, resulted in overcrowding. Overcrowding could facilitate the spread of infectious diseases, owing to inadequate sanitary conditions and health care; sub-standard living conditions, including poor access to food, water, clothing and physical exercise; and more generally, socioeconomic effects on detainees and their families. 10. In order to address overcrowding, Ms. Connors called for more systematic application of relevant international norms and standards. She also highlighted alternatives to prison sentences, including non-custodial measures, such as mediation, diversion, community services and administrative sanctions or fines. She called upon States to consider adopting sentencing guidelines that discouraged disproportionately long prison sentences, and to explore the possibility of sensitizing judges to possible alternatives to sentencing. She also pointed out that many States could benefit from making a greater effort to prevent reoffending, including through educational opportunities, vocational guidance and training on the rehabilitation of prisoners. 11. In conclusion, OHCHR had identified the protection of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty as a strategic priority in its Office Management Plan for the period 2014-2017. She reminded the Human Rights Council that the international community must advocate for greater political will to tackle the challenges facing the rights of persons deprived of their liberty, and that far more technical assistance and good practices should be made available to States that wished to improve their compliance with international norms. III. Summary of panellists’ interventions 12. The Vice-President of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Alberto Pedro D’Alotto, opened the high-level panel discussion, pointing out that the fact that the Council had convened the panel discussion showed that it recognized the importance of debate on the question of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty. 13. In his introductory remarks as moderator of the panel, the Chairperson of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Mads Andenas, reminded the Human Rights Council that States enjoyed a great margin of discretion in the formulation of their policies 4