Officials and lawyers recommend improving the legal and psychological conditions of juveniles in the Gaza governorates
Gaza, Publication and Information Unit:
Officials, lawyers and reconciliation figures recommended the need to improve the legal and psychological conditions of juveniles in the Gaza governorates, by activating juvenile courts and designating a judge specialising in following up their legal cases on one set day each week, working to press for their trials to be held at the premises of the Al-Rabee institution for social care in Gaza, and activating the role of the probation officer at the Ministry of Social Affairs in attending investigation and trial sessions for the juvenile.
These recommendations came during a workshop entitled "Towards activating courts dedicated to juveniles", held today by the Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution within the Justice for All project in the hall of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza, attended by representatives of governmental and human rights organisations and a number of reconciliation figures and youth groups.
At the start of the workshop, the deputy director general of the Conflict Resolution Center, Iyad Abu Hjair, stressed that his Centre communicates with the bodies concerned to improve the conditions of children in conflict with the law, including continuous coordination with the High Judicial Council, the Ministry of Social Affairs and the reform and rehabilitation centres (the prisons), to ensure a safe and calm environment for juveniles while they serve their sentences.
For his part, the director of the social defence department at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Ismail Tanira, explained that his ministry works to find work opportunities for qualified juveniles in order to train them in a particular trade suited to their abilities and ensuring their reintegration into the local community. He pointed out that the ministry works continually to activate the role of the probation officer in attending investigation and trial sessions for juveniles, in order to ensure that no errors or breaches occur against the juvenile and to safeguard their rights under international conventions and the Palestinian Child Law.
For his part, the head of the criminal prosecution at the Gaza court, Yahya Al-Farra, called for pressing to apply a 2006 draft law providing for a prosecution office specialising in juveniles and for introducing women to investigate juveniles, in order to reduce children's fear and apprehension during questioning, in addition to working to enact a law for determining juvenile cases away from adult trials. He explained that given the shortage of resources it is possible to assign a number of prosecutors to investigate juvenile cases, with training and qualification so that they know the social and psychological needs particular to juveniles.
On the procedures of the reform and rehabilitation centres in the prisons, the director general of the reform and rehabilitation centres, Lieutenant Colonel Nasser Deeb Suleiman, said that police station chiefs and investigators seek to give the juvenile the best treatment despite the shortage of resources, and that they work continually to summon the juvenile's guardian to attend investigation and trial sessions. He called for the need to designate rooms inside the prisons for dangerous juveniles accused of offences such as murder, to prevent them mixing with adult defendants and to protect the juveniles at the Al-Rabee institution from being exposed to danger from their dangerous peers in the prisons.
For her part, the lawyer at the Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights, Subhiya Juma, praised the positive performance of the management of the Al-Rabee institution for community care in dealing with juveniles and in seeking to reduce children's fears of the difficult investigation procedures applied to them. She stressed that the Palestinian Authority with all its bodies has adopted the international Convention on the Rights of the Child and must apply the provisions of the Palestinian Child Law to protect all members of the Palestinian people and to reduce abuse and penalties against juveniles.
The participants called for the need to activate the role of reconciliation figures, psychologists and social workers in following up a juvenile's case after their release from the care centres, in order to ensure their reintegration into society, to improve their behaviour and to ensure they do not return to crime, and to be keen to increase coordination between organisations in order to provide a safe environment for juveniles and their families.
