Filenews 26 October 2022 - by Michalis Hatzivasilis
The Minister of Justice and officials have visited the Special Youth Detention Centre in Vlora, Greece. They went, they saw and left. It was judged that the model there is not suitable for the needs and data of Cyprus, so it will not be followed.
The Ministry of Justice is looking for a prison model for juvenile offenders since until now young people ended up in the Central Prisons. After the establishment of child-friendly justice with the passing of the relevant law for the dejudicialization of most cases, the competent ministry is in the search for the model of prisons where child offenders will be held.
The imprisonment of children will be the last resort when not all the measures provided for by the relevant law can be implemented. The youth detention prisons in Vlora, Greece, recently visited by Justice Minister Stefi Drakou accompanied by the ministry's senior human rights officer Aristos Tsiartas, reportedly do not seem to be the model Cyprus is looking for. It is a "tough" prison like the others that operate and does not resemble youth prisons. Programmes with scientists may very well be in place, but they refer to closed prisons. Cyprus is looking for a more modern model that in no way resembles a prison, but a place of hospitality, for as long as the sentence of the people sent there by the Juvenile Courts lasts.
According to the plans, people between the ages of 16 and 21 will be held in these prisons, and this will only be done after a court decision, after all other measures have been exhausted.
The Ministry of Justice has asked parliament to de-freeze funds of €950,000 which, however, is blocked and needs the approval of MPs. An initial discussion on the subject in the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market revealed disagreements as to who should be responsible for guarding the site. According to information from "F", the space will be managed by private individuals (food, cleaning, care, entertainment), but the police will have the safekeeping. There are reservations about this position, since in some way they will resemble prisons, and that is not the purpose of the law.
The discussions on the issue have not ended, but the Minister of Justice will try to convince the Parliament that it will be in the interest of the children that the police take care of the centre.
The relevant ministry has made its plans for the Child Detention Centre as it will be called, for the programs that will be implemented in it and who will enter to help reintegrate children into society. Initially, the space will have a capacity of 10 people with the prospect of being able to accommodate 25. Also, according to the plans it should be located in the districts of Nicosia or Larnaca (not within the cities). From the estimates made, the announcement of the tender, if the Parliament releases the relevant funds, will be made next year.
Cases with the dropper
It is noted that at the moment the child-friendly justice legislation is being implemented with the 'dropper', due to lack of infrastructure. In some cases, the Police have initiated the process for dejudicialization, i.e. young offenders not to be sent to justice.
However, we did not have too serious crimes at the hands of minors to see the resilience of the system and how it would react. At the moment there is not a single minor in prison.
By the way, it is mentioned that the Minister of Justice, during her visit to the premises of the Vlora Detention Center, was informed by the management, psychologists, social workers and therapists of KETHEA about the daily life of young inmates, the training programs and all the actions carried out. The Minister of Justice was welcomed in the prisons of Vlora by officials of the General Secretariat for Anti-Crime Policy of the Ministry of Citizen Protection.
