allAfrica.com: Mauritius: 'Detention Centres Must Start Rehabilitating Offenders' (Page 1 of 1)

In view of the recent CSO report on the increasing rate of juvenile delinquency, the Ombudsperson for Children points at the need for rehabilitation to avoid repeated offences. An opportunity to look into the work of detention centres for youth.

The rehabilitation youth centre should be the last resort for young people committing lesser offences.

"A child is not born a criminal." The Ombudsperson for Children, Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra, recently had the confirmation of what she has always thought, "There are more cases of juvenile delinquency and the offences are more serious". But instead of simply sentencing those children, she wants to make sure they will be properly rehabilitated so that there is no repetition of the same offences. However, the Rehabilitation Youth Centre and the Correctional Youth Centre seem to have failed in that respect so far. This is why she sent a report to the prime minister (PM), Navin Ramgoolam, on detention centres where she has made recommendations to make them more efficient.

It has been mentioned several times that prison guards should clearly not be the ones to take care of young delinquents. "Ideally, prison guards should not be responsible for that but if they must be, then they should at least get proper training to look after young people," the Ombudsperson for children said.

The first problem about children committing offences or crimes is that they are directly sent to the RYC or CYC while there are other possibilities. "Many juveniles who have committed lesser offences find themselves alongside hardened criminals who have committed far more serious crimes - this is clearly undesirable because it can only lead them towards more criminality later on," Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra immediately pointed out.

It is clear that the CYC has not delivered the expected results in the recent past as far as rehabilitation is concerned. On the contrary, it was even the place of abuse and violence by some guards last year. This is just when the Ombudsperson for Children sent her interim report to the PM - to point at the fact that guards responsible for these violent acts should be punished. "If I judge by the PM's reaction to the first report - when he immediately transferred the persons responsible for the bad treatment of one of the detainees - I have confidence that the PMO will be taking up the various proposals to improve the lot of young delinquents," she commented.

The problems of the detention centres are not new. In his report on the reform of the administration of justice, former judge Robert Ahnee had already pointed at the lack of rehabilitation in such centres. "I based some of my recommendations on his own report," acknowledged the Ombudsperson. But in view of the latest report of the Central Statistics Office (CSO), which gave an alarming overview of the juvenile delinquency (said to have increased by 41% within a year), it appears to be high time for action.

"We already have community service and after-care services by the probation office when young people come out of detention centres," stated Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra, but there should be other initiatives taken to make sure these delinquents will benefit from their stay in these centres.

Among the recommendations made to the PM, the Ombudsperson office mentioned the possibility of having "open educational centres for young delinquents where they would be properly rehabilitated, trained to integrate places of work and even attend school during the day". Even though the CYC has made some improvements by proposing tailoring and woodwork, for instance, it may well not be enough.

She also suggested the smooth removal of children from those institutions through the setting-up of half way homes. "This would imply that they would go through another institution that is less hard than the CYC before going back to their families," she highlighted.

Instead of watching violent films on television - which should be "forbidden" - art, music and cultural activities should be encouraged just as "intelligent in-door activities like chess" or sports and the participation in competitions or activities by non-governmental organisations.

Shirin Aumeeruddy-Cziffra also regrets the "lack of proper psychological treatment and follow-up done by clinical psychologists". Likewise, when children are released, there must be "intensive supervision and support because they are led to meet other criminals and go back to their former lifestyles". In the United Kingdom, for instance, the "youth offending teams" are there for this follow-up. In Mauritius, this team could be made of the Child Development Unit, Child Protection Unit, "street tutors" and the "minors" squad'.

The detention centres should also have a proper mechanism for reporting violence in the centre so as to fully investigate when a case is reported. "At the end of the day, these young people should come out of these centres rehabilitated and confident enough to look forward to want and be able to face life outside the centre," the Ombudsperson for Children wishfully concluded.

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