The death of our children cannot be tolerated, especially when those deaths can be prevented. We will be posting a video at midnight on Saturday May 22nd, 2010, the one year memorial of the Armadale tragedy. See our video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssg4ELk3h3A
On May 22, 2009, a fire took place at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Center,in Jamaica which resulted in the death of 7 girls. The facility, designed to house 45 juveniles, housed 70 juveniles on the night of the fire.
Please join us in remembering these seven girls and help us raise the awareness of the situation of children under Jamaican state care.
A year ago, seven girls were killed in a fire of neglect at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Facility in St. Ann., Jamaica. A commission of enquiry ensued shortly after the incident and in its full report identified individuals to be held accountable and systematic improvements to be made. To this day, those changes have not taken effect.
Human Rights Organizations internationally have commented on the treatment of children in state care in Jamaica on several occasions. Over the past twenty years, reports of these organizations state that children are victims of severe abuse in children%u2019s homes and correctional facilities, that children in need of care and protection are placed in correctional institutions due to a lack of resources, and that children are placed in police lockups with adults. These actions are all in violation of Jamaica%u2019s Child Care and Protection Act, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice (The Beijing Rules), law which Jamaica has written, ratified and adopted respectively.
The inhumane treatment of the voiceless cannot continue. I petition that:
1. Full implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry be adopted, specifically:
No further correctional orders should be made to receive a child into the institution, until a vacancy exists. Legislation is required to implement this.
Training in psychology, anger management, stress control and counseling in dealing with young children, should be included in the course of training for correctional officers at Juvenile institutions and probation officers.
There should be a review of the senior posts of the department of corrections.
2. Those responsible for the deaths of the seven girls be held accountable
3. All children detained in lock-ups in police stations are moved immediately to appropriate places of safety and authorized juvenile detention facilities.
Thank you for your time.
