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412 juvenile crime suspects still in jail

Laws ignored

Staff Correspondent
At least 412 juvenile crime suspects are being detained in different prisons across the country for years - a clear violation of Child Law 1974 and Child Regulations 1976.
According to the law, juvenile criminals or crime suspects, aged below 16, are to be sent to juvenile correctional facilities named Juvenile Development Centres or Safe Homes under Directorate of SocialWelfare.
However, failure to properly execute the law is landing these juveniles in prisons where they run the risk of being sexually abused by other hardcore inmates. Moreover, the inmates might get these vulnerable juveniles hooked on drugs ana more serious criminal activities.
This concern was expressed yesterday at a meeting organised by the social welfare directorate on 'Transferring Detained Children from Prisons to Facilities under the Directorateof the Social Welfare'.The meeting was held at Divisional Commissioner'sconference room.
The meeting was told that 67 of the detained juveniles had been transferred to the juvenile correctional facilities from various prisons over the past month.
Brig Gen (retd) MA Kamal, the chief adviser’s special assistant for social welfare ministry, attended the meeting as the chief guest while Dewan Zakir Hossain, the social welfare secretary, was the special guest.
Among others. Dr Col Mohammad Ashraful Islam Khan, additional inspector general of prisons (AIG-Prisons), high officials of social welfare ministry and departments concerned from districts in Dhaka Division were present at the meeting.
Apart from failure to implement and update existing laws, lack of awareness and disregard for the rights of the juveniles have mainly contributed to the situation, the speakers pointed out.
Chief guest MA Kama) said, "The existing child laws are very old, but these are not even being implemented properly."
"The children are most likely to enter the crime world if they are made to stay inside the jails," whereas, "If they are transferred to juvenile development centres, they will have the opportunity for correction, motivation, skills training and healthcare," headded.
Secretary Dewan Zakir Hossain said the juveniles cannot be kept in jails as per the child laws.
Ignorant and negligent law enforcers are producing these delinquent children before the court and the court is usually sending them to jail custody.
"The law enforcers, being well aware of the child rights laws, should
send the children to the Safe Homes or the Juvenile Development Centres," said the social welfare secretary.
"After the arrest (of a juvenile], police should contact the social welfare directorate or the office of the deputy commissioner. If the charges are serious, the police should appeal to the court for sending the accused to a correction centre," headded.
AIG-Prisons Dr Col Mohammad Ashraful Islam Khan said the children confined in jails could be sexually abused by other inmates and they could pick up drug addiction from the inmates as well.
The court has the discretion to send the underaged criminals to juvenile development centres directly, headded.
Speaking over the phone, advocate Elena Khan, executive director of Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights (BSEHR), told this correspondent that the police deliberately or negligibly in their case Forwarding Report submitted to the court often mention that the offender is an adult over the age of 21.
The court, in most cases, do not verify the police's claim about the offender's age and send the offender directly to jail custody, she said adding that this practice raises questions about the effectiveness of the legal system of the country.