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Human rights group in Haiti wants better conditions for juvenile detainees

Published:Friday | October 19, 2018 | 11:09 AM
CMC photo

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – Human rights group, Citizens’ Initiative for Human Rights (ICDH), is calling for the authorities to put measures in place so that children in conflict with the law can effectively be rehabilitated.

The ICDH said that as part of its programme of monitoring prison centres in Haiti its members visited the Rehabilitation Center for Minors in Conflict with the Law (CERMICOL) to observe the conditions and to distribute hygiene kits.

It said that the Center has 101 children in five cells housed in two pavilions.

The Center has a school, offers courses at the professional level, has a dispensary, a reading room, a library, and a television.

The human rights group said that during the visit they observed that children had very limited access to leisure, leaving their cells only twice a week.

“Most children report being incarcerated for three to four years, without ever having the opportunity to go before a juvenile judge. Some, according to the statements of the young detainees, have committed minor petty theft,” the ICDH said, noting that one of the children claimed to have been incarcerated for three years without being tried for stealing three small bottles of rum.

“In this sense, the ICDH believes that much work remains to be done to seriously address the problems at the Center,” the human rights group said, noting also the absence of a nurse at the institution.

“ICDH recommends that the authorities provide the Center with the necessary services that can effectively rehabilitate children in conflict with the law and reduce the number of prolonged pre-trial detention, transform CERMICOL effectively into a rehabilitation center and finally provide it with clearly defined legal assistance service.”

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