Protecting Children in Pretrial Detention

Turkey has been shaken in recent weeks by a scandal over the sexual and physical abuse of young Kurdish children in detention centers in the southeast of the country. Following an unofficial investigation by opposition MPs, the Pozanti Juvenile Detention Center in the Mediterranean city of Adana was shut down, after accounts emerged of rape and regular beatings at the hands of prison guards and other inmates. The youngest such victim was 12 years old. A Justice Ministry report has subsequently recommended the prosecution of four current and previous directors and deputy directors at Pozanti, as well as 18 inmates.

This appalling scandal highlights the terrible vulnerability of young detainees in any detention system. International law, specifically the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), makes clear that justice systems owe a higher standard of care to children.

For those of us involved in the continuing Global Campaign for Pretrial Justice this issue is particularly troubling, given that the risks faced by young detainees are generally greater before a court appearance than after.

One of the first challenges in is that while there is plenty of anecdotal evidence on children being held in pretrial detention, it is difficult to secure hard data on the extent of the problem in different criminal justice systems. Children are often detained in adult as well as juvenile facilities, which may be run by different government agencies, making it harder to get exact numbers. Some data gatherers will have statistics on one group; for example, the International Centre for Prison Studies’ World Prison Brief has some data on children in adult prisons, but none on exclusively juvenile facilities. But it is hard to get data on both groups.

It is clear though that pretrial detention is worse for children in a number of ways. They are less likely to be aware of their rights, or to have access to legal assistance which means a lack of judicial review and oversight. As demonstrated by the Turkish scandal, and similar endemic problems identified in the United States, children in any place of detention are also at heightened risk for abuse from both prison officials and other prisoners. These risks increase when juveniles are held in adult detention.

There are other, less obviously brutal risks too. A child who is detained is more likely to drop out of school and face diminished chances of getting a job, and while there are few studies examining the phenomenon for the un-convicted population, this can happen even when charges are dropped or the young person is acquitted.

Juveniles awaiting trial are also often not able to get access to support services such as counseling or psychological assistance—where they exist—since these services are often only provided to convicted detainees as part of “rehabilitation” efforts. Children with mental health problems can thus see a progression of their illness, and youth in need of programs and services often cannot get access to these while in this legal limbo.

Regrettably, this issue does not get enough attention from advocates. Even without exact data it is clear that the proportion of children in pretrial detention is comparatively small, compared with the adult population. Cash-strapped NGOS that focus on pretrial justice issues necessarily focus on the far larger adult population.

It is also clear that the lack of research on the extent and nature of child detention “contributes to a failure to ensure the protection of children in conflict with the law” as observed by the Interagency Panel on Juvenile Justice. Given that violations of rights at the pretrial stage—when arrestees are presumed innocent—carry on and magnify as justice proceedings move forward, it is imperative that we research and address this stage of the juvenile justice system.

A first step towards remedying the human rights violations suffered by children in conflict with the law must involve appropriate measuring of child detention and its concomitant problems.

Meanwhile, while the extent of the problem emerges, countries should seek to comply with international norms by implementing programs that encourage pretrial release and community alternatives to pretrial detention. In the state of Morelos in Mexico, a program of this kind recently celebrated its one year anniversary. Its success in a country where children can be recruited into violent cartels is evidence that these programs can make rational decisions about incarceration that protect the safety of the community and the rights of the child. The law is clear and the need is urgent, alternatives to detention, should be the norm rather than the exception.