Author: NNAPES (Page 2 of 2)

On behalf of the NNAPES Platform, adolescents Cruz Jiménez (Proyecto Caminante, Dominican Republic) and Manuel Fleitas (Gurises Unidos, Uruguay) participated in the forum Suffering in the Shadows: The Impact of Drug Imprisonment on Family Members .

The event was organized by the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), with the collaboration of ChurchWorld Service, the International Drug Policy Consortium, RIMUF, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico and our NNAPES Platform.

The adolescents gave their testimonies about the change generated in their lives and in the lives of their family, having an adult reference deprived of liberty.

Cruz made recommendations to improve Dominican prisons, while Manuel told about the process to obtain his mother’s house arrest. This sentence marked an unprecedented event for Uruguayan jurisprudence and was possible thanks to the advocacy work of civil society together with the protection of the country’s social policies.

At present, the deprivation of liberty for crimes of micro-trafficking particularly affects women and their children, deepening the situation of vulnerability in which they already found themselves.

“Prison always transcends the family and those outside have to take charge. You have to work double to provide food to the person who is imprisoned, you have to have time to go to court and also how we accompany our children in this matter”, said Andrea Casamento, member of the Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture of Nations United States, and also, director of ACIFAD and member of RIMUF.

Lucía Alvarado from CAIFAM (Mexico), also a member of the Red de Mujeres Familiares, expressed that the costs are high, since the families have to bring everything they need so that the relatives deprived of their liberty survive, in addition, they they experience situations of vulnerability when they are checked by prison staff. “Most of us are women, we are stigmatized and discriminated against, both by custody personnel and in the courts,” she remarked.

Along the same lines, Cruz commented that he would like prisons to improve, and that there would be metal and substance detectors so that no one has to go through the screening experience. The adolescent also made recommendations on the raids and the moment of detention of the relatives.

Regarding these issues, Casamento commented that being part of the Subcommittee for the Prevention of Torture has allowed him to introduce aspects that the body itself was not contemplating: “I tell them, ‘do you talk to the relatives in line?’ ‘Oh, we hadn’t met noticed’. The collateral effects of the penalty are beginning to enter international organizations. We have to take the voices to these organisms so that these problems are known”.

For his part, Manuel told about the process to obtain house arrest for his mother, in which the Best Interest of the Child was highlighted. “The separation was not only possible with my mother, but also with my brothers, since we did not know where we could end up,” Manuel said.

Regarding the house sentence, Colleta Youngers, Principal Advisor of WOLA, commented that “it can also be very limiting, since there are difficulties that women find themselves if they cannot carry out activities to support the family, if they cannot work, they it makes it difficult for them to be a mother” and urged to think beyond home measures.

The purpose of the course called “Protection and Differentiated Care between children and adolescents with relatives deprived of liberty” is to provide care with a rights-based approach to children and adolescents from the Penitentiary System and the National Civil Police in the time of visits to prisons.

It is an initiative of the Colectivo Artesana with the support of Unicef ​​and the Swedish Embassy. “For us it is a great satisfaction, it has been 15 years of work and we are seeing how this process that we had already been working on is being institutionalized, but that it was possible to specify and advance through the sentence reached in the Court,” said Andrea Barrios, director of Colectivo Artesana at the launch of the course, adding that while civil society organizations can contribute, it is important that the State assume responsibility.

More than 600 officials of the Penitentiary System and the National Civil Police will be receiving the training, which will be virtual and will last 4 weeks, where topics such as the rights of children and adolescents and the implementation of sentences will be addressed.

Also participating in the event were the Director of the Penitentiary System, Luis Rodolfo Escobar; the Deputy Director of Studies and Doctrine, Juan Antonio Aguilar Alfaro; the Magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice, María Eugenia Morales; and the Judge of First Instance for Children, Juan Orlando Calderón.

For his part, Escobar stated that “this training will contribute to the axis of prison transformation in favor of children and adolescents.” In turn, Alfaro indicated that the course will strengthen the capacities of Crime Prevention personnel to improve the treatment of children and adolescents who visit their relatives, as well as to give them decent treatment.

The Third Dialogue on Children and Adolescents + Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IDH) was held. It was an instance in which children and adolescents from the region spoke with the judges about different topics.

The event was organized by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Save the Children, Sweden Sverige and the Paniamor Foundation. It had the support of the NNAPES Platform, Rednnyas, Molacnats, Interdistrict Network of School Municipalities, Action for Children and Peace and Hope.

On this occasion, the central theme was to exchange on participation in the mechanisms of the Inter-American Court.

From the NNAPES Platform, Matilde Rautes (Nicaragua) and Constanza Silva (Chile) participated, who represented other children and adolescents with adult references deprived of liberty from Latin America and the Caribbean. The adolescents presented the Court with various recommendations to take into account in the participation process, taking into account the stage before, during and after the instance before the Court.

Regarding the previous stage, they mentioned the need to hold meetings prior to participation to discuss this instance and provide inputs for educators to accompany children and adolescents in this process. Also, the adolescents mentioned the importance of knowing the date and time of the events to be organized and that these do not interfere with their educational activities.

Matilde and Constanza also provided recommendations for organizations that work with children and adolescents. In this sense, they stressed the need to carry out a process of prior work and reflection with other children and adolescents. In addition, strengthen the use of technologies and have all the information about the event. On the other hand, they also referred to the possibility that children and adolescents have emotional support before, during and after the activity.

Regarding the instance during the participation, for the adolescents, they must be flexible and friendly instances, that have an active listening, that their participation is valued and that they are respected as subjects of law. Participations must also be organized so that children and adolescents are the first and that there are no long waits, Matilde and Constanza specified.

Regarding the post-participation stage, the adolescents urged that children and adolescents should be informed about the process that continues after the hearing, about what aspects are going to be taken into account and what the final result is.