Legislation in place for juvenile detention centre

May 20, 2008 News

Minister of Human Services Priya Manickchand said the government has passed legislation to have juveniles housed separately from the general prison population.
The Minister said this should pave the way for the construction of a detention centre to accommodate young offenders.
She emphasised that juveniles should never be kept along with seasoned criminals or amongst the adult prison population.
However, Manickchand stated that given Guyana’s limited resources it was not economical to have such a facility to keep juveniles.
“They are supposed to be held separately but given our limitations and constraints, as is the case with every developing nation, we could not afford it,” Manickchand said.
There has been growing concern about the bundling together of young offenders with adult detainees in the available holding facilities.
Although the legislation is in place, there is no clear indication on when the construction of a juvenile centre will begin.
Most young inmates are kept at the Ruimveldt Police Station, placing additional burden on police ranks to keep watch over them.
Police sources, who visited the detention area, had admitted that the inmates were being housed in what they described as awful, appalling and horrifying conditions.
They disclosed that one juvenile was even infected with HIV and had not been isolated. There were others with oozing sores, skin rashes and other communicable infections.
In March, police ranks stationed at Ruimveldt foiled a breakout from the location when 13 juveniles set fire to the lockup area.
The juvenile prisoners waited close to midnight and using a cigarette lighter set fire to the western wall with the intention of weakening the structure.
However, police officials observed the flames and three fire tenders which were summoned to the scene quickly put out the blaze.
Police had detained a minibus driver who allegedly slipped the cigarette lighter to the prisoners during a visit to the station.
The juvenile prisoners, among them two facing murder charges, had been temporarily transferred to the Golden Grove Police Station.
Juveniles have escaped at least five times from the same lockups in the past two years even attacking two sergeants and a female corporal with bottles.

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Legislation in place for juvenile detention centre

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