57 juveniles still languishing in Kashimpur jail
It is a clear violation of the Children Act, high court ruling, UNCRC and most importantly, setback in progress that has been made on releasing children from confinement, said sources at the 6th National Task Force formed for implementing a High Court order regarding child right.
Of the 97 children who were sent to Kashimpur jail, 57 are still languishing there. The decision of transferring the children was taken by the authority following an uprising in the Kishore Unnayan Kendra (KUK), Tongi.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The incident was sparked by the failure to escort six children to attend their court appearances on May 23.
"We are expecting to bring back the children to the centre by August 15," said M Hossain, the super of KUK.
Asked about the delay, he said they could not bring back the children as some construction works were going on as part of the safety measures in the centre.
Inmates of juvenile development centres have been persistently voicing their concerns since a long time over the delayed court process and the failure to take them to court on the case appearance day, the Taskforce sources said.
But the Children Act, 1974 clearly provides that a child's presence in court is not mandatory for court procedure, they mentioned.
"Moreover, instead of managing the matter by implementing the procedure, a drastic measure has been taken by transferring children to Kashimpur Central Jail. This is completely against the spirit of the Children Act, 1974, as well as the suo moto judgement by the High Court Division (Suo moto no. 248/2003), said a Taskforce source.
The High Court on April 9, 2003 issued a suo moto rule asking the authorities to immediately transfer the juveniles detained in jails to correction centres and other approved homes.
The source said that transferring children to adult jails from a development institute like KUK is a violation of rights of children and would cause further harm to them.
"Such protest on the part of children are rooted in the failure of the juvenile justice administration to deal with children's cases according to the Children Act, 1974," he said.
The Taskforce source suggested that the children should be brought back to the Kishore Unnayan Kendra, Tongi and start dialogue more effectively with the children to find quick and sustainable solutions in compliance with the Children Act, 1974.
The authority should conduct court process without delaying for children's appearance in court with support from probation officers, the Taskforce recommended.
On August 6, secretary of Local Government Division of the LGRD Ministry SM Jahurul Islam visited Kashimpur jail-2 to meet the 62 children who were then kept there under safe custody.
The children urged the Secretary to take them back to the Tongi KUK as soon as possible.
The secretary also visited the Konabari Kishore Unnayan Kendra to monitor the services delivered by the Department of Social Services to the inmates of the centre.
The Secretary during talks with the children in the centre was requested to develop the KUK as educational institute as there is no market value of the training currently provided by the centre.
On the 6th National Taskforce meeting held on November 27 last year, chairman of the Taskforce Dr Kamal Uddin Siddiqui directed the Local Government Secretary to form a committee to make a third party assessment to identify the appropriateness of a report placed in the meeting.