CRINMAIL 76:
NEW REPORT: Creating a non-violent juvenile justice system
SPECIAL EDITION VIOLENCE CRINMAIL
Violence against children in juvenile justice systems is a growing and global epidemic. A new report by the International NGO Council on Violence Against Children (INCO), launched in New York yesterday (16 October), addresses the many ways in which governments around the world are failing to protect children in conflict with the law. The report then presents a non-violent vision of juvenile justice.
This special edition CRINmail includes a briefing on the new report, which can be downloaded here.
Yesterday’s launch event included a speech from the Permanent Representative of Norway to the UN, Geir O. Pederson, who, in light of increasingly violent juvenile justice systems, expressed concerns about States lowering minimum ages of criminal responsibility – ie putting more and younger children through a violent system.
Other speakers included the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, Chairperson of the UN Committee on the Rights of the child, Kristen Sandberg, and Veronica Yates, Co-Chair of INCO and CRIN Director.
The report, “Creating a non-violent juvenile justice system", is a follow up to the 2006 UN Study on Violence against Children.
Background to the report
Justice systems that respect children’s rights are vital for open, safe and peaceful societies where everyone can grow up to respect the law and the human rights it protects. However, children around the world experience increasing violence in juvenile justice systems, with long lasting and horrific consequences.
Children in conflict with the law are now legally entitled to special consideration, and countries around the world are obligated to ensure that all children grow, develop, thrive and reach their full potential. As an integral part of this, justice systems must be designed and administered to respect children’s rights.
While children’s rights are unquestionably interdependent and require broad, comprehensive support, of critical importance to children in conflict with the law is the right to be protected from violence. From the moment of their apprehension through to their eventual release, children in conflict with the law risk traumatic and systematic exposure to violence. It seems, increasingly, that juvenile justice systems are perpetrating the very same violence against children that inspired their creation.
In recognition of this growing epidemic, the United Nations Secretary-General in 2006 published a World Report on Violence Against Children to examine the nature, extent and global magnitude of the violence experienced by children across all settings, including juvenile justice. The International NGO Council on Violence Against Children has been made responsible for ensuring that this work remains relevant, that its findings are disseminated, and that its recommendations are followed.
While international human rights standards have set clear obligations on States with regards to juvenile justice, there is little progress and in fact, many countries are moving backwards. It is clear that not enough progress has been made toward the elimination of violence against children in conflict with the law.
Consequently, the Council has published this report which reiterates the message that the non-violent juvenile justice imperative must be revisited. The report aspires not only to clarify the many ways in which governments fail to protect children in conflict with the law, but also to present a non-violent vision of juvenile justice. In effect, the Council proposes a model for what a non-violent system would look like.
The report illustrates the violent realities of juvenile justice by taking the reader through a hypothetical journey which compares the two systems (violent and non-violent) side by side. This journey is based on juvenile justice laws, policies, practices, reports, studies and anecdotes from around the world. By presenting information in this way, this report not only highlights the ways in which flawed juvenile justice systems perpetuate violence against children, but also shows how these systems can be reformed to ensure that each and every child who comes in conflict with the law is fully protected from all forms of violence.
For more information, contact:
International NGO Council on Violence Against Children
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.crin.org/violence/NGOs
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=31916
For more, visit CRIN's special violence microsite: http://www.crin.org/violence/
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{THE LAST WORD}
"I am saddened that we are so far from realising the detailed recommendations of the World Report on Violence against Children, and that the UN system seems so far from enforcing the relevant standards and convincing states that it is not only in the best interests of children but the best interests of their societies to move quickly to develop non-violent juvenile justice systems. There is no room for compromise here.
This report from the International NGO Council on Violence against Children creates an enriching vision of a non-violent juvenile justice system."
- Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, The Independent Expert who led the UN Study on Violence Against Children.
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