Jordan Times
Friday, May 27, 2005
Project seeks to improve
juvenile justice in Jordan
AMMAN (JT) — A project to protect the rights of young offenders will be
implemented by key partners in the Kingdom between 2005-2007.
An agreement to that effect was signed recently by local authorities, the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the NGO Penal Reform International (PRI).
Implementation of the project will begin this year in cooperation with the
National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR), the Ministry of Social Development, the
Family Protection Department, the judiciary council, UNICEF and PRI.
Other partners are MIZAN Law Group for Human Rights, and the Family and Child
Protection Society in Irbid, according to an UNICEF statement.
“Juvenile justice is an issue that affects not only children involved in
criminal activities, but also children victims of poverty, abuse and
exploitation. The protection of children's rights is everybody's business, at
every level of society, in every function; it creates duties for presidents,
prime ministers, judges, teachers, doctors, religious leaders, soldiers,
parents, and even children themselves,” said Anne Skatvedt, UNICEF Jordan
Representative.
The document calls for legal amendments focusing on the reform, rehabilitation
and reintegration of children aged between 12 and 18 who have been in conflict
with the law. This involves diverting them away from reform centres and into
community services while establishing judicial and police units specialising in
children's issues.
“We are trying to introduce an international approach where you hold an offender
accountable for what they have done but divert them away from institutions and
try and introduce reconciliation techniques between victims and offenders,”
protection officer for UNICEF, Maha Homsi, told IRIN, the Integrated Regional
Information Networks.
“If we achieve the objective of the project, which is the amendment of
legislation and capacity building of agencies, it will be a great breakthrough,”
she added.
The number of young offenders in the Kingdom is not large and the majority of
offences are petty, such as burglaries or quarrels and disputes, Homsi said.
She explained that some 60 per cent of the youngsters were of school-age and had
committed crimes mainly because of ignorance of the law and therefore should not
be harshly treated.
In 2003, there were 5,878 male and 248 female young offenders, according to
government statistics. Of those, 180 boys and all of the girls were in need of
protection, as they had either run away from home or had not been taken care of
by their parents.
“This project is really important because a new concept will be put in our
legislation. Up until now when a child commits a crime he/she is sentenced and
sent to an institution,” Christine Faddoul, a lawyer at the NCHR, told IRIN. A
child can be detained in a centre for burglary in Jordan.
“Integration is the most important thing. By putting them inside we gain
nothing,” she added.
NCHR will deal with increasing the capacity and upgrading procedures within the
juvenile justice system.
A total of 22 professionals will be trained as core master trainers. Another 120
social workers, law enforcement officers and judges will be trained in
restorative justice techniques. The development of a comprehensive training
manual on juvenile justice procedures promoting restorative justice approaches
will also be produced, the UNICEF statement said.
To this end, a national training team has already been formulated to train
professionals working with children in conflict with the law. Four units in four
police centres working with these children are being upgraded.
“We will start training social workers and the police among others by the end of
June using local and international experts. There are centres for juvenile
offenders in the country but there is a need for better rehabilitation,” Homsi
said.
“Detention should come as a last resort and for the shortest period possible,”
she added. “There is harsh treatment in the centres and they are not the best
places for them.”
Activities in this respect seek to ensure that various temporary laws on
juvenile justice (Juvenile Law and Juvenile Monitor Act) are amended and adopted
by Parliament after their harmonisation with the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, and related international conventions, the statement said.
To complement this project, an Arab website “Noor” will be launched to help
ensure the existence of mechanisms and channels of information for decision
makers and opinion leaders on key issues pertaining to children in conflict with
the law. The portal will focus on issues requiring policy development and
legislative change in line with international standards.