Articles & NewsFebruary 17, 2009 Jamaica's human rights organization says holding of children a major breach http://www.jamaicaobserver.com NANCY Anderson, the legal officer at the Independent Jamaican Council for Human Rights (IJCHR), has described as heinous, the holding of juveniles at the Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre in St Catherine, saying the practice is a breach of international standards that govern the detention of children, including Section 68 of Jamaica's Child Care and Protection Act. In fact, she said
her office will this week write to the Department of Corrections to
seek permission to review the individual cases of the juveniles as
there were children at the adult prison who had not been convicted
of any crime. Last week, approximately 60 juveniles housed at the all-female prison staged a riot, stabbing and injuring several warders and dousing others with excrement.
Since then, there have been several calls, including from the adult inmates who staged a protest, for the removal of the juveniles from the prison. Former medical officer for the Spanish Town Adult Correctional Centre, Dr Raymoth Notice, said the prison was not suitable for the girls, who he said were "products of society" and would need special attention in order to be rehabilitated. "Most of these girls have no mothers or no family," said Notice. "They are usually from broken family units and most of these kids usually rebel because of physical or sexual abuse they have experienced and they tend to act it out. Fort Augusta is certainly not the place for them." The girls were originally housed at the Armadale juvenile facility in the parish of St Ann but were transferred to the New Horizon Remand Centre in the Jamaican capital of Kingston after they were among a group who broke out of the place of safety and went to a street dance in a nearby community.
Some of those juveniles who broke out have since returned home, others have been taken back into custody, while others remain on the run. Notice's request for the removal of the girls from the adult prison could, however, prove a difficult task for prison authorities who have been grappling to create spaces in the overcrowded juvenile facilities. Acting Commissioner of Corrections June Spencer-Jarrett said there was not enough space to house juveniles convicted in the courts or those who are being held on remand. The Armadale Juvenile Centre, which was built to house 48 inmates, is in need of refurbishing, while a high-security centre for boys is still under construction in Montpelier, St James. Spencer-Jarrett said some juvenile offenders were prone to violence and were proving difficult to control. The juveniles, she said, were not foisted upon the prison population and staff at Fort Augusta after being sent there on the orders of a judge. "Section 68 of the Child Care and Protection Act gives the judge that right. Some of them are uncontrollable and are serving sentences for a variety of crimes," Spencer-Jarrett said. Anderson, however, said no judge can order a child to an adult remand facility. "It's not the judge who decides where they are put, it's the Department of Corrections that decides where they go," she stressed. She said there were children at the adult facility with no criminal backgrounds, only that they are in need of care and protection. "It does not make
any sense at all to me," said Anderson. Children's Advocate Mary Clarke, in the meanwhile, is calling for the Corrections Department to see to the speedy completion of the Montpelier facility. "I don't think Fort Augusta is the best place for them," she said. "We realise the constraints, but we need to get Montpelier in place with the right staff, assessment and counselling."
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