EDITORIAL - Will children in lock-ups forgive us?

Mary Clarke, the outgoing children's advocate, has been, barring loincloth and the slimming diet of honey and locusts, a John the Baptist crying out in the wilderness. From a cursory glance at the broken state apparatus which should protect children, it is not far-fetched to conclude that that cry has gone, for the most part, unheeded.

Despite pleas from human-rights lobbyists, dozens of juveniles still languish in lock-ups which have been condemned as inhumane and insalubrious. Children sleep in extreme discomfort. They are allowed little time for exercise and other meaningful activity. They suffer ignominy in executing excretory functions.

These concerns are not new.

Jamaican governments have had a spotty record with regard to preserving the human rights of the most vulnerable groups in our society, and children - particularly of poor and otherwise marginalised backgrounds - have been among the most notable victims.

It has been almost two years since the fiery tragedy at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre which led to the deaths of seven wards of the State. Such was the outrage then that Prime Minister Bruce Golding gave his word that his administration would ensure that juveniles illegally held in lock-ups would be placed in more appropriate facilities.

Misplaced hope

This newspaper was hopeful that the Golding administration would have held to that promise. That optimism, it seems, was misplaced. For up to March 11, the Office of the Children's Advocate revealed that almost 100 children were still being detained in police lock-ups. This scandalous and unconscionable trend, as condoned and enabled by the State, contravenes the law.

We make this observation in the light of the intent of parliamentarians in the House of Representatives to vote today on the much-discussed Charter of Rights, which has gathered dust on the shelf of time for nearly two decades. The charter, which is expected to replace Chapter Three of the Jamaican Constitution, seeks to further entrench fundamental freedoms and to make citizens more insulated from the trespass of their rights, or to give them greater avenues of redress where breaches occur.

But the confidence of the average Jamaican citizen cannot be expected to be strong if statutes currently in effect are trampled on by the very State whose responsibility it is to protect children within its borders. It would thus be difficult to change the minds of cynics who believe that the Constitution is not worth the paper on which it is written.

Insincere government?

The proposed remand centre on Metcalfe Street in Denham Town, west Kingston, is still not yet up and running, which compels us to question the sincerity of the Government's commitment to uphold the rights of children, as well as where this ranks on its list of priorities.

And it is with this in mind that the silence of Mr Rudyard Spencer, the minister of health, under whose portfolio children's affairs fall, and Mr Dwight Nelson, the national security minister, grows more eerie and disappointing as children's dignity is compromised with each passing day. As busy as they have been, as cheerleaders for the prime minister at the Manatt-Coke commission of enquiry, it would be heartening if they would use their platforms more forcefully in the advocacy of children's rights, particularly on the matter of illegal detentions.

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