Dear Editor,
In August 2010, the Juvenile Offenders Amendment Act and the Training School Amendment Act were passed in the National Assembly. The main amendments to these Acts had to do with the outlawing of whipping for any offences committed by students at the NOC, the only juvenile detention centre in Guyana.
In light of the above, we call on the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport to explain why reports indicate that one of the triggers identified for the recent escape of students and burning of NOC buildings was the alleged threat of “beatings” of male students by an NOC supervisor.
Other reports from students also reinforce allegations of beatings as a routine form of punishment. If these allegations of “beatings” are in fact true, we demand that appropriate sanctions as set out in the Juvenile Offenders Amendment Act and Training School Amendment Act be put into effect against the offending administrators, supervisors and other staff who carried out such acts.
We also demand that the students who have been charged with arson and escaped from custody be allowed immediate access to independent legal representation in keeping with their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Guyana has signed and ratified. The Guyana Legal Aid Clinic provides free legal aid to children in need of legal representation.
In addition:
(1) We call on the government to ensure that appropriate measures are put in place immediately to abolish the use of any form of corporal punishment at the NOC as outlined in the Juvenile Offenders Amendment Act and Training School Amendment Act.
(2) We call on the National Assembly to repeal the offence of “wandering” as children charged with this ‘offence’ are not offenders but victims of child abuse and neglect. Reports indicate that many students at NOC are there for “wandering” and are therefore being penalized for being victims and survivors of child abuse, which is an outrage.
(3) We call on the government to make good its 2009 promise to bring the Juvenile Justice Bill to parliament, and on the National Assembly to make the legislation a reality in 2012
(4) We call on the Minister to set up an independent Task Force to mount an investigation into the functioning of the NOC and to determine what triggered the events of August 23, 2012.
(5) We call for the NOC to be placed under an independent management committee comprising individuals with the necessary expertise, experience, interest and knowledge of human rights law and practice to run a successful juvenile rehabilitation centre.
(6) Reports in the media have indicated that NOC staff allegedly cannot manage without recourse to the whip. In order for juvenile justice to be implemented in a humane way in Guyana, we recommend a reorientation of those responsible for the institution. External expertise, which may be necessary to design and deliver the recommended reorientation programme, can be sourced from Guyana, as well as from the Caribbean and the diaspora.
(7) We recommend that a suitably reoriented and retrained staff complement at the NOC should also be provided on-going counselling and related services to ensure their own emotional health and capacities are in good working order so as to carry out their roles and responsibilities in a professional way.
Yours faithfully,
Danuta Radzik
Vidyaratha Kissoon
Krysta Bisnauth
Josephine Whitehead
Vanda Radzik
Leila Jagdeo
Andaiye
Ferlin Pedro
Chantelle Smith-Haynes
Karen De Souza
Janice Jackson
Faith Harding
Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth
Clonel Boston Samuels