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AAANOBODY===S CHILDREN@@@ Jamaican Children in Police Detention and Government Institutions Human Rights Watch New York $$$ Washington $$$ London $$$ Brussels Copyright 8 1999 by Human Rights Watch. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN: 1-56432-230-0 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number Cover design by Rafael Jiménez Addresses for Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10118-3299 Tel: (212) 290-4700, Fax: (212) 736-1300, E-mail: [email protected] 1522 K Street, N.W., #910, Washington, DC 20005-1202 Tel: (202) 371-6592, Fax: (202) 371-0124, E-mail: [email protected] 33 Islington High Street, N1 9LH London, UK Tel: (171) 713-1995, Fax: (171) 713-1800, E-mail: [email protected] 15 Rue Van Campenhout, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Tel: (2) 732-2009, Fax: (2) 732-0471, E-mail:[email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org Listserv address: To subscribe to the list, send an e-mail message to [email protected] with Asubscribe hrw-news@ in the body of the message (leave the subject line blank). Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Human Rights Watch conducts regular, systematic investigations of human rights abuses in some seventy countries around the world. Our reputation for timely, reliable disclosures has made us an essential source of information for those concerned with human rights. We address the human rights practices of governments of all political stripes, of all geopolitical alignments, and of all ethnic and religious persuasions. Human Rights Watch defends freedom of thought and expression, due process and equal protection of the law, and a vigorous civil society; we document and denounce murders, disappearances, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, discrimination, and other abuses of internationally recognized human rights. Our goal is to hold governments accountable if they transgress the rights of their people. Human Rights Watch began in 1978 with the founding of its Europe and Central Asia division (then known as Helsinki Watch). Today, it also includes divisions covering Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Middle East. In addition, it includes three thematic divisions on arms, children=s rights, and women=s rights. It maintains offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, London, Brussels, Moscow, Dushanbe, Rio de Janeiro, and Hong Kong. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly. The staff includes Kenneth Roth, executive director; Michele Alexander, development director; Reed Brody, advocacy director; Carroll Bogert, communications director; Cynthia Brown, program director; Barbara Guglielmo, finance and administration director; Jeri Laber, special advisor; Lotte Leicht, Brussels office director; Patrick Minges, publications director; Susan Osnos, associate director; Jemera Rone, counsel; Wilder Tayler, general counsel; and Joanna Weschler, United Nations representative. Jonathan Fanton is the chair of the board. Robert L. Bernstein is the founding chair. The regional directors of Human Rights Watch are Peter Takirambudde, Africa; José Miguel Vivanco, Americas; Sidney Jones, Asia; Holly Cartner, Europe and Central Asia; and Hanny Megally, Middle East and North Africa. The thematic division directors are Joost R. Hiltermann, arms; Lois Whitman, children=s; and Regan Ralph, women=s. The members of the board of directors are Jonathan Fanton, chair; Lisa Anderson, Robert L. Bernstein, William Carmichael, Dorothy Cullman, Gina Despres, Irene Diamond, Adrian W. DeWind, Fiona Druckenmiller, Edith Everett, Michael E. Gellert, Vartan Gregorian, Alice H. Henkin, James F. Hoge, Stephen L. Kass, Marina Pinto Kaufman, Bruce Klatsky, Josh Mailman, Yolanda T. Moses, Samuel K. Murumba, Andrew Nathan, Jane Olson, Peter Osnos, Kathleen Peratis, Bruce Rabb, Sigrid Rausing, Orville Schell, Sid Sheinberg, Gary G. Sick, Malcolm Smith, Domna Stanton, and Maya Wiley. Robert L. Bernstein is the founding chair of Human Rights Watch. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report is based on research conducted in Jamaica from late August to early September 1998 by Rosa Ehrenreich, Clovene Hanchard, Glenn McGrory, and Robert Sloane. (Rosa Ehrenreich is the Acting Director of the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School and the faculty instructor of the Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic. Glenn McGrory and Robert Sloane are members of the Yale Law School Class of 2000, and Clovene Hanchard is a member of the Yale Medical School Class of 1999). The report was written by Rosa Ehrenreich, Clovene Hanchard, Glenn McGrory, and Robert Sloane, and edited by Lois Whitman, the director of the Children's Rights Division, and Michael McClintock, Deputy Program Director. Sarah DeCosse of the Human Rights Watch Americas Division and Joanne Mariner of the General Counsel=s Office provided additional helpful comments on the manuscript. We wish to thank the Government of Jamaica for providing us with helpful background information and access to government facilities where children are detained. In particular, we are grateful to Winston Bowen, the Director of Children's Services, to Claudette Hemmings, the Deputy Director of Children's Services, and to Ambassador Marjorie Taylor, Minister of State and Special Envoy on Children, all of whom were extremely generous with their time and assistance. We also wish to thank Colonel John Prescott, Director of the Jamaican Department of Correctional Services, June Jarrett, Director of Juvenile Institutions, and Francis Forbes, Commissioner of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. We are also grateful to the numerous members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force who provided access to police lockups and who patiently answered our questions. In Kingston, many people provided us with helpful background information. In particular, we wish to thank Lloyd Barnett, Dennis Daly, Nancy Anderson, Hilaire Sobers, Leo Aquiano, Carol Samuels, Afshan Khan, Judge Soares of the Kingston Family Court, Father Richard Albert, Reverend Norbert Stephens, Claudette Parris, Sipzroy Bryan, and Neville Webb. Finally, we wish to thank the many Jamaican children who told us their stories. In this report, we have changed their names to protect their privacy. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. SUMMARY .....................................................................................................8 II. RECOMMENDATIONS..............................................................................16 To the Government of Jamaica.............................................................16 Legal Reform .........................................................................16 Police Detention of Children..................................................16 Children in Detention and Custody, Generally ......................17 Access of Children to Counsel and to the Courts...................18 Other Recommendations to the Jamaican Government..........19 To the Jamaican Constabulary..............................................................19 To the Department of Children=s Services............................................20 To the Department of Correctional Services ........................................21 To the United Nations ..........................................................................21 To Donor Governments........................................................................22 III. BACKGROUND.........................................................................................23 A Context of Rising Juvenile Crime.....................................................24 Political Violence and the Emergence of Youth Gangs .........25 Relations Between the Urban Poor and Jamaica=s Constabulary..........................................................27 Agencies With Responsibility for Children............................28 The Role of the Police .............................................28 The Children=s Services Division.............................29 The Department of Correctional Services................30 Relevant Legal Standards.....................................................................30 International Legal Standards ................................................30 Protection from Violence, Injury, and Neglect ........31 Access to Health Care, Education, and Recreation.........................................................32 Rights of Children Accused of Criminal Offenses ....................................................32 Rights of Children in Detention...............................33 Domestic Legal Standards......................................................35 The Jamaican Constitution (1962)...........................35 The Juveniles Act of 1951 .......................................35 Legal Aid .................................................................38 Jamaica=s 1993 Report to the U.N. Committee on the Rights of