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Summary: “Time to Overcome the Contradiction between the Treatment of Juveniles in Detention and Democracy”
[9 October 2008] - Defence for Children International (DCI) is pleased to announce the successful completion of its three day conference and training “Ending Violence against Children in Juvenile Justice Systems: From Words to Action” which was held in Brussels from October 1-3, 2008 and hosted by DCI-Belgium on behalf of the movement. While confirming that the primary responsibility for ending violence lies with States, the conference marked a commitment by NGOs to take their own course of action in following up and responding to the recommendations of the UN Study on Violence against Children. DCI’s newly re-elected President, Mr. Rifat Odeh Kassis, opened the conference by reading the commitments set forth in DCI’s recently adopted Brussels Declaration. He reaffirmed DCI’s commitment to working to end violence and promote fair justice systems for children by strengthening advocacy and lobby, building effective partnerships, improving capacities, strengthening national presence, making better use of monitoring mechanisms and developing standards of quality and accountability across the movement. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the independent expert and author of the UN Study on Violence against Children, delivered a keynote speech to launch the conference. Mr. Pinheiro emphasised that the risk of violence for children is present at every encounter with the justice system, and that repressive policies existing in most places in the world only serve to generate discrimination and breed violence. Despite reforms in laws and policies to prevent violence in institutions, implementation remains a challenge. Although 120 countries fully prohibit violence in penal institutions for example, in at least 70 countries, the practice is still permitted. Mr. Pinheiro emphasised that the prevention of violence is possible and that it is time to overcome the contradiction between the treatment of juveniles in detention and democracy. He reviewed four key recommendations of the Study: 1) violence must be prohibited by law; 2) children in need of care and protection should be referred to welfare systems and diversion must be used whenever possible; 3) detention must be reduced – it should be used as a last resort and for the shortest time possible; 4) justice systems must be sensitive to the needs of children and their families and take their needs into account. Day one of the conference began with a review of the findings of the UN Study with respect to violence against children in justice systems and some discussion of the issues specific to the regional contexts of Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. On day two the conference moved from findings to solutions by exploring international initiatives to monitor violence against children and seek methods of response. Participants took part in parallel workshops which provided an opportunity for deeper discussion and practical hands-on participation. Civil society actions commonly identified by the participants were: to lobby for law reforms which prohibit violence against children; to mobilise for administrative reforms to accompany legislative changes; to build and consolidate partnerships with other stakeholders; to assist in providing professionals with training and technical resources for implementation; to advocate for accountability and transparency in detention centres; to work in collaboration with the new Special Representative on Violence against Children and international monitoring mechanisms; to facilitate the active participation of children and young people. Day three of the conference consisted of a series of training workshops designed to build the capacities of NGOs to undertake the above actions for addressing violence in justice systems. The conference was presided over by Ms. Virginia Murillo Herrera, President of DCI-Costa Rica The conference was a call to action by and for civil society to engage with government and other stakeholders and hold them accountable for ending violence against children in justice systems. DCI is committed to incorporating these common actions into its short and long-term institutional objectives and to work with NGOs, governments and other stakeholders to ensure that the recommendations of the UN Study become a reality for children one day. A more detailed report on the conference sessions will be available in the coming weeks at www.dci-is.org For further information about the conference, please contact: Laetitia van Haren, Executive Director, International Secretariat : director@dci-is.org Benoit van Keirsbilck, President, DCI-Belgium: bvk@sdj.be