Death of two children in detention in Honduras—the maximum security centre Nueva Jalteva must close
Tegucigalpa - Geneva, 26 June 2024. The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the Centre for the Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims and their Families (CPTRT) are deeply alarmed by the violent death of two children aged 13 and 16 years old who were detained at the Nueva Jalteva Pedagogical Centre on 18 and 23 June 2024. As we have denounced on several occasions, we note with deep concern the absence of conditions necessary for the protection and psycho-pedagogical development of children and adolescents in this centre and the violation of their fundamental rights.
According to information, the 13-year-old boy was strangled to death while in Module D3 of the Pedagogical Internment Centre, which he shared with 15 young people aged 19, 20 or 21. This is in apparent contravention of the age classification established in the Childhood, Adolescence and Family Code in Article 180a, which specifies three age groups to classify children in internment centres at the time they are deprived of their liberty: between 12 and 13 years, between 14 and 15 years, and between 16 and up to 18 years.
The CPTRT and OMCT consider that children and adolescents should never be detained in a maximum-security prison. These centres are not child-friendly places and do not meet the juvenile justice system's objective of reintegration into society. The State must implement the recommendations of the UN Committee against Torture to "ensure that conditions of detention in detention centres comply with international human rights standards.
We call on the National Institute for the Care of Juvenile Offenders (INAMI) to take the following measures:
- Close the Centro Pedagógico De Internamiento Nueva Jalteva.
- Investigate the circumstances and causes of the death of the two children and ensure that the perpetrators are impartially and thoroughly investigated and brought to justice.
- Ensure separation of children from adult detainees in all detention centres by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- Guarantee the hiring of technical and specialised personnel for the care of children in detention, made up of experts with recognised experience in psychology, social work, pedagogy, and legal and juridical orientation, who will adequately attend to the needs of the people in such centres.
- Implement a policy of individualised assistance to fulfil rehabilitation and inclusion in society programmes optimally.
- Guarantee that children and adolescents in all detention centres are provided with dignified and healthy conditions, such as a balanced diet in quality and quantity, sufficient out-of-cell time, access to light, and basic infrastructure such as bedding, hygiene, ventilation, and sanitary services.
We reiterate our calls for detention centres for children under 18 not to be run by national or military police, especially considering past practices of torture and ill-treatment committed by such forces inside detention centres.