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Summary: This book explores practical problems
relating to youth justice reform in sub-
Saharan Africa within the framework of
international law. Introduction
This book explores practical problems relating to youth justice
reform in sub-Saharan Africa within the framework of international
law. It draws directly on the experience of governmental and non-
governmental agencies in nine countries: Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana,
Lesotho, Liberia, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Its aim
is to assist policy-makers and practitioners at all levels to develop
coherent strategies reflecting local financial, institutional and
cultural realities.
State obligations
All African states, with the exception of Somalia, have ratified the
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which obliges them to review
legislation and practice in relation to Articles 37, 39 and 40. These
articles deal with:
· torture and the deprivation of liberty
· rehabilitative care
· and the administration of juvenile justice.
A small number of countries have also signed the African Charter on
the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which places questions of
juvenile justice in an African context.
The key issues
In the volatile conditions of contemporary Africa, the problem of
overhauling juvenile justice systems is dwarfed by wider social,
economic and institutional concerns. However, justice is a key area
of social policy, dealing with growing numbers of children and young
people who have been marginalised and displaced by conflict and socio-
economic change. In this context, governments, communities and non-
government agencies face enormous challenges. Working from case study
material that describes local realities: inadequate budgets, weak
judicial institutions, family and community structures undergoing
rapid transformation, we have brought together some of the core
issues in youth justice that c onfront policy-makers, practitioners
and communities. The book includes:
·analyses of the process of child law reform and of new approaches to
sentencing and crime prevention within the formal system
·a discussion of youth justice and social policy issues in the
context of urbanisation
·an analysis of the role of traditional and non-formal justice
systems based in community structures
· and an overview of problems relating to crimes committed by child
soldiers.
Many factors will shape the outcome of the problems that we describe:
decentralisation; the changing role of the state in Africa; and the
influence of international donors and financial organisations in
setting policy agendas. Although these wider political and economic
questions are not the main subject of the book, there is an
increasing need for practitioners to analyse and document their work
in a way that allows them to engage with these issues. The importance
of action research and analysis is therefore emphasised throughout.
The abuse of children within justice systems
Violations involving the abuse of children within official justice
systems are at the heart of calls to move away from the incarceration
of young offenders and from centralised systems. Accounts of these
violations are perhaps less prominent in the case studies than might
be expected. However, rather than catalogue abuses that are well
described elsewhere (Human Rights Watch 1995; Human Rights Watch,
1997), our aim has been to discuss policies and programmes that offer
alternatives to the centralised systems in which these abuses occur,
and that take children out of their immediate communities regardless
of the threat they pose to themselves or other people. Abuses that
are widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, as they are in many
other parts of the world, include:
· children subjected to long remands in custody because courts fail
to sit
· children forgotten by the system who may spend years in jail if
they have no family to bail them out
· regular municipal council round-ups of street children, who are
kept in conditions that violate basic human rights
· remand centres that are frequently overcrowded and understaffed,
and fail to provide sufficient food, clothing, sanitation, beds and
bedding, occupational or educational facilities
· sexual abuse of children held in adult prisons and other
institutions
· sentencing of children to prolonged periods of detention for minor
offences such as theft of a cob of maize or an apple.
The fact that some of this abuse is not intentional, and reflects
state poverty rather than malevolence, does not excuse or reduce its
harm.
The framework of international law
The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on
the Rights and Welfare of the Child provide the standard for the
process of reform explored in this book. These documents, discussed
in detail in Ch apter 1, set our the values and principles that
should underpin the juvenile justice system in states that have
ratified them. They also provide a framework for decision-making on
practical issues, for example: how to handle persistent and violent
young offenders; how to treat children indicted of war crimes; and at
what age young people should pass from the juvenile to the adult
system.
However, these documents do not provide a blueprint for reform, and
important questions, such as the age at which children should be held
responsible for criminal actions, are determined on a local basis.
Juvenile justice systems also vary in the age range covered by their
jurisdiction; whereas the Convention on the Rights of the Child deals
with all people under 18, some juvenile justice systems include
adults up to 21 or 23 years of age or even older. This can create
further difficulties in separating children from adults in prisons.
Wider issues, such as financing juvenile justice systems during a
period when public expenditure is decreasing globally, are also
outside the remit of international law, although this factor has a
profound influence on a state's capacity to implement the law.
Although the Convention on the Rights of the Child is concerned with
formal systems of justice, there are elements of traditional justice
systems that ate highly relevant to juvenile justice: in particular,
the principle of restorative justice (see Chapter 1). Whilst in some
respects justice rooted in local community structures is closer to
principles laid out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child than
many formal systems, in other respects it can be arbitrary and
brutal. Conflict and complemenrarity between formal and non-formal
systems are themes that run through the book. The impact of Sharia
law on juvenile justice practice is not highlighted in the particular
case studies that are presented here. However, the impression that
Islam has made on both formal and non-formal legal systems in sub-
Saharan Africa is an important issue that future research should
elucidate.
Structure and content
Chapter 1 explores concepts and theories relevant to sentencing and
crime prevention strategies such as deterrence, restorative justice
and diversion. The chapter also outlines the main instruments of
international law and the UN rules and guidelines governing juvenile
justice. The rest of the book describes and analyses practical
experience.
Chapter 2 focuses on law reform in relation to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, and the African Charter on the Rights and
Welfare of the Child. It reviews experience in Uganda, South Africa
and Ghana and considers the wider process of law reform and
attitudinal change.
Chapter 3 discusses the implementation of alternative sentencing
strategies and describes projects that promote new approaches to
crime prevention in three of Africa's wealthier nations: Ghana, South
Africa and Zimbabwe.
In Chapter 4 the links between urbanisation and juvenile justice are
considered, with examples across the economic spectrum: Angola,
Ethiopia and South Africa.
Chapter 5 focuses on traditional and informal systems of justice,
with examples from Angola, Lesotho and Ethiopia, and gives an
overview of international trends in reintroducing restorative justice
for youth crime.
Chapter 6 addresses the complex issues of child soldiers and war
crimes, and includes an overview of international human rights law
relating to juvenile crime, with examples from Rwanda and Liberia.
A summary of key policy and practice issues for government
departments, national and international NGOs (non-governmental
organisarions), and the broader international community, completes
the book.
Priorities for juvenile justice
The focus of juvenile justice, as stated in the African Charter,
should be to ensure that the treatment of every child found guilty of
infringing the penal law shall be his or her reformation,
reintegration into his or her family and social rehabilitation"
(Article 17, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child).
One of the major constraints is the shortage of research and local
policy debate on juvenile justice; this adds to the difficulties
facing governments wishing to introduce reforms that promote the
social reintegration of young offenders and reduce rates of juvenile
crime. Although the book deals with these themes in the context of
sub-Saharan Africa, many of the issues raised and approaches
described in the case studies are relevant to other regions in the
developed and developing world. We therefore hope that the book will
raise awareness of current debates in Africa, and encourage a more
active dialogue between researchers and practitioners in various
countries who are working towards the common goal: promoting
children's rights within the justice system.
Save the Children (UK) has a particular interest in this area, having
supported government efforts to research and reform juvenile justice
systems in Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho and Uganda during the
1990s. Radda Barnen - the Swedish Save the Children - has written
extensively about juvenile justice in Africa as it relates to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child.
REFERENCES
Human Rights Watch/Africa, Children of Sudan Ssaves, Street Children
and Soldiers. Human Rights Watch; New york, 1995.
Human Rights Watch/Africa, Police Abuse and Detention of Street
Children in Kenya. Human Rights Watch: New york, 1997.
Contents
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
INTRODUCTION
State obligations
The key issues
The abuse of children within justice systems
The framework of international law
Structure and content
Priorities for juvenile justice
1 JUVENILE JUSTICE: THE GREAT DEBATE International instruments
relevant to juvenile justice administration
Key concepts
Agenda for action and research
2 CHILD LAW REFORM
Introduction
The process of child law reform: John Party Williams
Legal and procedural reform in South Africa: Tseliso Thipanyane
Children's law reform in Ghana: Andrew Dunn
Introducing child rights through law reform in Uganda: Kassiano Wadri
Agenda for action and research
3 THE FORMAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: INFLUENCING PRACTICE
Introduction
Reorganising the juvenile justice system in Ghana: Andrew Dunn
Community service in Zimbabwe: T.P Uchena
Diversion from courts or prison: NICRO, South Africa
Agenda for action and research
4 URBANISATION AND ISSUES OF JUSTICE
Introduction
Urban crime and violence in South Africa: Graeme Simpson
Street children in Angola: S&gio de Assis Calundungo, CIES
Working with the police in Ethiopia: Tedla Gebremariam
Agenda for action and research
5 TRADITIONAL JUSTICE SYSTEMS
Introduction: Roland Thacker
Traditional justice systems in Lesotho: Roland Thacker
Traditional justice in Angola: Ministry of Social Assistance and
Rehabilitation
The potential of traditional institutions in Ethiopia:
Yitayew Alemayehu
International trends in the re-emergence of traditional systems:
Ann Skelton
Agenda for action and research
6 CONFLICT, WAR CRIMES AND CHILDREN
Introduction
Using international law to protect children's rights in war:
Dan Seymour
Post-genocide reform of children's law in Rwanda: SCF Rwanda
Child killers, chaos and crime in Liberia: Una McCauley
Agenda for action and research
7 PROPOSALS FOR A NEW AGENDA
INDEX
136pp Owner: Cella Petty and Maggie Brown