Correctional Youth Centre: Ombudsperson Rita Venkatasamy: “Living conditions are horrendous”

Cases of mutiny at the Correctional Youth Centre (CYC) and Rehabilitation Youth Centre (RYC) have made headlines with the juvenile inmates wrecking havoc in those establishments. The Ombudsperson for Children, Rita Venkatasamy, along with her team, undertook an investigation in those establishments. From her interactions with the staff working in the centres and the teenagers there, the findings are damning. “The conditions at both the RYC and CYC are horrendous. The children do not have adequate education or health care, meaningful recreation, leisure activities. They have been abandoned by friends and families. When a child lives in such a condition, it has an impact on his development,” she said during a press conference on Thursday, higlighting her findings. She stressed on the urgent need to set up small therapeutic units across Mauritius. It is high time for Mauritius to follow guidelines and recommendations issued by the United Nations regading juvenile delinquency and children’s rights. Among the issues noted at the RYC Girls, there are some gory ones: lack of water, dirty washing machine, foul smell of water, sleeping in a locked room, girls not having access to toilets at night, bed bugs, inmates forced to use potty at night, pungent odours, drains remaining blocked, water stagnation, unhygienic toilets and bathrooms, no proper counselling and psychological support, very few outdoor games, unfriendly atmosphere among others. All this led her to say that “Mauritius has failed to put into practice what the UN committee has recommended since 1996.” Moreover, the legislations dealing with juvenile delinquency are outdated. “In 1999, there was a report on the administration of juvenile justice drafted by late Justice Ahnee. There were many responses to it but nothing was done. Despite all the recommendation, nothing has been done yet.” The three major offences that youngsters are involved in are: larceny, violence, possession of drugs. Since 2005, the RYC operates under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Security. By law, however, it falls under the responsibility of the Commissioner of Prisons. “There is confusion about the responsibility,” says the Ombudsperson. Some of the main recommendations outlined by Rita Venkatasamy are right to education; training members of the personnel on how to deal with issues, individualised interaction, and implementation of the Juvenile Justice Bill, clear policy on how to deal with the issues and set up small therapeutic units. “We must not go far to see best practices. Our probation home and hostel are good examples. They are different as compared to the RYC. A family atmosphere prevails there. We have local expertise and we must take advantage of it.” Following the press conference, the acting Commissioner of Prisons J. Rungadoo stated that the sayings of the Ombudsperson were true. “Since 2005, RYC Boys and RYC Girls are under the aegis of Social Security. The law has not been amended in this regards. I am responsible for the prisons and there is no such problem with the 2,500 detainees we have. I will give a supporting hand and make an appeal to everyone to give a helping hand. We are going to open a CYC for girls.”