Diverting children away from police jails, a duty ...

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Author: Perfecto Caparas

Started: August 26, 2005, 7:16:31 am

Target: Secretary of Justice, Philippine Department of Justice

Category: Civil & Human Rights

Supporters:

Goal:

100,000

Goal Progress:

Status

Active

The Honorable Secretary
Department of Justice
Republic of the Philippines

The Honorable Justice Secretary:

In the name of thousands of children of the generations to come - we, members of government and non-government organizations and concerned individuals - would like to appeal to your good office to please uphold the best interest of the child principle enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the inquest prosecution stage by diverting children, especially girl-children and children with mental disabilities, in conflict with the law to the custody of their own family and/or responsible persons who would act as in loco parentis to ensure their appearance during trial rather than hauling them off to jail to suffer from dehumanization and trauma.

This way, a number of children would be saved and spared from further brutality occasioned by their illegal detention in cramped police jails in the company of adult prisoners during which children get tattooed, tortured, sodomized, and raped. We say spared from further inhumanity because in practice, and as the de facto state policy, children get arrested and illegally detained at congested police jails together with adults over long periods of time without access to legal, medical, social, and psychological assistance and services.

We are deeply concerned over this continuing human rights violation perpetrated against our voiceless children, especially in light of the fact that the turn of the century witnessed the growing number of children in conflict with the law estimated to have mushroomed to 52,000 last 2004.

In 2003, the office of Senator Francis Pangilinan estimated the number of children in conflict with the law to have jumped to 20,000. This could be considered a conservative estimate in view of the lack of monitoring and documentation on the worsening phenomenon of children in conflict with the law that is being aggravated by the gnawing economic hardships that victimize especially the children of the poorest of the poor. In 2002 alone, the Public Attorney's Office reported having rendered legal aid to 13,300 children in conflict with the law.

According to Bureau of Jail Management and Penology statistics, there were 1,936 children prisoners throughout the country as of April 2002, on top of the 96 children prisoners who had been sentenced during the same period. These children formed part of the 39,038 prisoners' population during the same period.[1]

Police child detention stands as the official norm, notwithstanding the fact that the law prohibits police child detention and mandates that a child "from the time of his arrest be committed to the care of the Department of Social Welfare."[2]

Police child detention itself should be criminalized pursuant to the letter and spirit of the Special Child Protection Act or RA 7610 as nothing could be more inimical to the psychological, emotional, social, and holistic development and well-being of children other than incarcerating them over long periods of time under sub-human conditions. This also contravenes the law against the infliction of any form of cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment and punishment under the 1987 Constitution, the UN CRC, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The Department of Justice is empowered to institute this diversionary measure during inquest proceedings based on the principle of parens patriae. This is also in compliance with the Philippines' treaty obligation.

This move is welcomed by all sectors of society.

The findings of United Nations experts have already shown that subjecting children to contact with the criminal justice system only exposes them to the virus of criminality as well as ingrains in them a deep sense of social antipathy and rebelliousness against authority. After suffering from prolonged detention occasioned by the snail-paced administration of justice - aggravated by child insensitive judicial players and retributive laws - children prisoners who metamorphose into hardened individuals because of this insidious child rights violation suffer from social stigma and ostracism.

What is widely considered as the cure therefore is even worse than the perceived problem of supposedly criminal behavior among the young who need our guidance and love.

In light of the enactment by the Honorable Supreme Court of the 2002 Rule on Juveniles in Conflict with the Law, which further entrenches in our municipal law the best interest of the child principle embodied in the Family Courts Act of 1997 or RA 8369, we propose the adoption by the Department of Justice of a humane, child-sensitive, and human rights-oriented alternative to child detention pursuant to the principles of restorative justice embodied in Section 4 paragraph o of the Supreme Court-enacted Rule on Juveniles - a form of justice that heals and seeks to identify, address, and eradicate the root causes of the perceived criminal behavior of children, repair the harm that has been done and indemnify the victim, as well as seeks to involve the family and the community in crime prevention and non-recurrence.[3]

Our proposed DOJ Memorandum Circular seeks to divert children age 10 to 14 to the custody of their parents and legal guardians and those age 15 and above to the care of DSWD. Those charged with victimless crimes like vagrancy, solvent-sniffing or illegal gambling should not be detained but released immediately to the custody of their next-of-kin.

Our proposed policy - which upholds the Tokyo Rules[4] - addresses the problem of jail congestion, overworked social workers, understaffed DSWD, BJMP, and PNP offices, lack of adequate facilities, and absence of budgetary allotment for children prisoners.

The judicial practice of subjecting children prisoners to prolonged detention pending the conduct of protracted court proceedings should likewise be criminalized for contravening the best interest of the child principle and the mandate of the Beijing Rules[5] that detention should only be a measure of last resort and undertaken only after proper consideration of the child's best interests, peculiar circumstances and special needs and characteristics.

Thank you very much.

Coalition to Stop Child Detention Through Restorative Justice

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[1] In 2001, there were 1,824 child detainees (consisting of 1,714 boys and 110 girls) on top of the 99 sentenced child prisoners who formed part of the total 37,158 prisoners during the period.
Children prisoners also made up 1,800 of the total 35,783 inmates in 2000, on top of the 130 sentenced boys and seven sentenced girls.

[2] PD 603 or the Child and Youth Welfare Code (Article 191) and the Rules and Regulations on the Apprehension, Investigation, Prosecution and Rehabilitation of Youth Offenders (Section 11)

[3] Further, Section 8 of RA 8369 provides that "alternatives to detention and institutional care shall be made available to the accused including counselling, recognizance, bail, community continuum, or diversions from the justice system."

[4] UN Standard Minimum Rules for Non-Custodial Measures

[5] UN Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice

Bleeding Heart (NOT) said 08/31/05, 2:22 pm (verified)

Not every child is a angel.Look at the whole picture. I guess we need to let each and every sweet loving child that was framed by the system go and live in your house. Bad Polce Officer for doing there job stopping the little angel caught inside a house with a playstation under there arm just go. Enough said.