PRESS RELEASE
URUGUAY: OMCT high-level mission calls for swift
implementation of CAT recommendations
Juvenile Justice
reform remains a priority
Geneva-Montevideo,
24 April 2015. At the conclusion of a high level mission in Uruguay the OMCT
calls for the new government to prioritize juvenile justice reforms to prevent
torture.
“The
overuse of detention of children and the appalling conditions of detention that
we found during our visit are clearly inacceptable in a democratic society. It is time that the openness of the
authorities displayed in our visits is translated into reforms that tackle
these long-standing problems”, summarized Carolina Barbara, OMCT Child Rights
Coordinator.
The mission intended to follow
up on the recommendations issued by the UNs primary anti-torture body (the Committee
against Torture (CAT) to the Uruguayan government in May 2014. On that
occasion, the Committee highlighted three areas of principal concern, among
which are : (a) to ensure or reinforce safeguards for persons who have been
deprived of liberty and accountability for acts of torture and ill-treatment;
(b) to ensure that the juvenile justice system is fully in line with
international standards; (c) to promptly investigate and ensure accountability
for acts of torture in the juvenile justice system and in order to do so ensure
the protection for the victims and witnesses.
The high
level mission was conducted with the support of OMCT’s local partner, the
Instituto de Estudios Legales y Sociales (IELSUR), the Committee on the Rights
of the Child in Uruguay (CDNU), and the Fundación Servicio Paz y Justicia
(SERPAJ).
In order
to examine the implementation of the recommendations, the OMCT visited and monitored
the women’s prison of Montevideo and a number of SIRPA’s[1]
juvenile detention centers. Throughout the visits the OMCT has noticed with
concern some conditions that may amount to inhuman and degrading treatment,
such as solitary confinement cells and insanitary conditions of detention. The
OMCT has also received complaints regarding mistreatments, long periods of
confinement, excessive use of medication in some detention centers, and the
persistence of reprisals towards staff who lodge complaints within SIRPA or
disagree with some of its established practices.
“We are particularly worried about information that employees
of SIRPA formally accused of acts of torture and abuse are simply reassigned to
other positions of work within the same system with continuous contact to the
detained children. Equally troublesome
is the information that employees who denounce violence and abuse have lost their
jobs as a form of reprisal,” concluded the delegation.
In
addition to the monitoring visits, the OMCT met with various authorities, inter alia the National Rehabilitation
Institute (INR); the new directive of the Adolescent Criminal Responsibility
System (SIRPA); the National Human Rights Institution (NHRI); the Supreme Court
of Justice; UNICEF; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and civil society
organizations.
The OMCT
appreciates the openness of the government of Uruguay and the NHRI for the
opportunity to establish a dialogue, as well as for the coordination and
support provided with during the visits and the interviews carried out at the
detention centers. We hope that the new government of Uruguay will prioritize
the legal and policy reforms in juvenile justice system in order to fully
comply with international law.
The OMCT,
together with IELSUR and CDNU, urge the State of Uruguay to:
1. Conduct a structural, legal and policy reform on the juvenile justice
system, prioritizing non-custodial measures for children in conflict with the
law.
2. Ensure that the new direction of SIRPA has an adequate budget to promote
the urgent structural changes needed in the detention centers, including the
evaluation of contracts of work, and adequate training for employees working
directly with the children.
3. Ensure adequate safeguards against the overuse of medication in the
juvenile justice system.
4. Guarantee that the National Preventive Mechanism has sufficient budget,
human resources and structure to monitor all places of deprivation of liberty.
5. Ensure safeguards against torture and ill-treatment in all places of
deprivation of liberty. Including the elimination of cells of solitary
confinement or punishment cells.
6. To translate the penitentiary reform in real structural changes,
guaranteeing conditions of detention in accordance with international human
rights.
Next
month the OMCT will publish a follow-up report to the Committee Against Torture
containing some of the information and the documents received during the
mission, as well as new recommendations.
Contact information:
OMCT,
Carolina Barbara, Coordinator of Child Rights Activities Tel. +41 (0) 22 809 49
39, Email: cb@omct.org
UruguayMission2015_English
2 pages / 317 KB
Uruguaymission2015_SPANISH
3 pages / 311 KB
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