Alternatives to detention in Afghanistan
7 Mar 2011 Juvenile justiceAfghanistan
Alternatives to detention are essential for those who look at implementing a restorative rather than repressive approach of juvenile justice in Afghanistan. They represent a way to rehabilitate children in conflict with the law rather than just punish them. The objective of alternatives to detention is to develop children’s sense of responsibility, and offer them a chance to acquire skills and education during their sentence.
During the last decade, the juvenile justice system in Afghanistan has evolved quickly. The legal framework has been enriched with some of the most important international standards, such as the principle of detention as last resort (Art. 40 of the United Nations Child Rights Convention) and the principles guaranteeing a fair trial and a due process of law. In particular, the new 2005 Afghan Juvenile Code has raised the age of criminal responsibility from 7 to 12 years old and defined a set of 8 alternatives to detention, such as performing social services, conditional suspension of punishment or home confinement.
Until recently, these alternatives to detention have hardly been used by judges and prosecutors; the predominant trend so far has been to systematically send children to Juvenile Rehabilitation Centers (JRCs) regardless of the severity of the offence. For example, a 14 year-old child who committed a theft to survive can be detained with a 17 year-old murderer. This exposition to the justice process can have a very negative impact on juveniles.
The Child Rights Consortium (CRC) led and coordinated by Terre des hommes has been involved in juvenile justice issues since 2009. In order to help redress the current situation and encourage the application of alternative sentences, a workshop entitled “Workshop on the Implementation of a Comprehensive Restorative Justice for Juveniles in Afghanistan” was organized. The objective was to bring together professionals from different perspectives: judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, JRC directors, social workers, and representatives from the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled (MoLSAMD). The different sessions provided a frame to discuss the present juvenile justice issues; they contributed to improve the communication between the different stakeholders. They also represented a great opportunity for the CRC members to listen to how professionals imagine the future of the juvenile justice system.
The CRC has conducted this series of workshops from October 2010 to February 2011 in Jalalabad, Herat, Mazar and Kabul. Each session gathered around 40 juvenile justice professionals. Their positive impact has already been proved. In February 2011, Juvenile Judges who attended the training in Herat district have decided to apply alternatives to detention to 12 sentenced children (11 boys and 1 girl) who committed small offenses. Instead of closed detention, these children will spend their penalty in an open JRC, where they’ll have to attend educational and vocational activities in the JRC during the day. At night, they will be allowed to go back to their families. This remarkable progress follows exactly the line that CRC is pushing for and encourages the Juvenile Justice team to advocate further in that direction. The CRC aims now to build a new open JRC in Herat, in order to facilitate the implementation of alternatives to detentions.
Further information on Terre des hommes projects in Afghanistan
