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November 19, 2020  |  By Marisol Marín In News

JJAI EXPRESSES CONCERN ABOUT SUICIDE ATTEMPTS AT THE PUERTO RICO DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION AND REHABILITATION (DCR in Spanish)

Mental health of every child in detention must be guaranteed so they can successfully reintegrate into society. The state must aid youth who go through its detention centers with positive, developmentally appropriate care.

Recently, the dangerous situation unraveling inside the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation (DCR) of Puerto Rico came to our attention, where several young people have attempted suicide.

The pandemic has exacerbated the situation in various parts of the world and even reduced health and education services within the prisons that should assist the emotional well-being of the people inside of them. Nonetheless, this is not an excuse to neglect the children detained in these facilities; people who must have their human rights guaranteed.

Our Response to COVID-19: https://www.jjadvocates.org/COVID19/

“Even before extreme measures were taken due to COVID-19, the system tells these young people that they are disposable. It should not come as a surprise that they now believe that to be true”, Douglas Keillor, executive director of Juvenile Justice Advocates International commented in this regard.

“The government has completely failed to protect these children from a mental crisis that was totally predictable as one of the effects of the pandemic during their confinement. Radical and immediate measures are urgently needed to save live”, added Mr. Keillor.

Mrs. Athelyn Jiménez Emmanuelli, a lawyer specialized in juvenile justice matters, said in an interview for Microjuris media that the services to the adolescent population of the detention centers should not be stopped or hindered under any circumstances.

She also mentioned during this interview that from the beginning of July to the end of September, a total of 23 young people – out of a population of almost 100 minors in custody – were hospitalized for threatening against their own health and remarked that not even one case of a child attempting against themselves should have occurred to figure out that something bad was happening with these teenagers.

That is why, as an organization, we demand that the authorities act accordingly and expeditiously, so that the children under their protection feel assured that the authorities must and will provide them the help necessary to prevent irreparable tragedy.

Call to action:

  • The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico orders the release of youth whose mental health cannot be safeguarded in this detention center. 
  • The authorities immediately implement mental health measures to protect all the youth including – access to in-person counselors, access to comprehensive educational and recreational programming, suicide prevention protocols in accordance with local, federal and international standards, access to regular family visits including in-person visits with social distancing, video calls and regular phone calls free of charge. 
  • If the authorities are unable to guarantee these measures, the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, should order monitoring of the facility utilizing internationally-recognized standards to guarantee the protection of youth (such as the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Juvenile Detention Facility Assessment).
  • If authorities are unable to guarantee the safety of youth in this facility, the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico should close the facility in the best interest of the youth.
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Webinar on COVID-19, Humanitaria Crisis for Youth in Detention in Latin America – Spanish only:

https://youtu.be/3MOSFq_hE1M

March 26th Webinar on COVID-19 and Challenges to the Juvenile Justice System in Mexico – Spanish only:

https://youtu.be/52zianCu_3A

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Guerrero

Los adolescentes en el sistema de justicia en Guerrero requieren de gran apoyo, servicios y protección del crimen organizado, por lo que nuestro trabajo se realiza bajo un nivel considerable de inseguridad pública. Somos la única A.C. trabajando para ayudar al gobierno para que los adolescentes tengan una verdadera segunda oportunidad.

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CDMX

Vista como líder nacional en las prácticas del sistema de justicia, la Ciudad de México tiene más adolescentes en detención que cualquier otra jurisdicción. Sin embargo, también ha desarrollado una unidad de seguimiento en libertad con numerosas alianzas con organizaciones. Nuestros proyectos fortalecerán esta área crítica.

JJI está trabajando en la Ciudad de México desde dos vertientes. En Alternativas a la Detención con un monitoreo que comenzó en 2019, pero por causas sanitarias y la pandemia por COVID, se retomó dos años después con un equipo de especialistas el cual ya está preparándose para continuar la actividad. En Movilizando voluntarios, se continúa con los esfuerzos para reunir a más adolescentes con sus familias, gracias al apoyo: “Reunificación familiar”. Así como también se han realizado entrega de enseres en los 6 centros.

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Durango

A pesar de tener un número menor de adolescentes en el sistema de justicia, Durango es una jurisdicción que busca la mejora continua. Durango es el primer estado donde tanto el poder judicial como el ejecutivo han firmado convenios de colaboración para la implementación de nuestros proyectos de Alternativas a la Detención.

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Chihuahua

Chihuahua es nuestro sitio piloto y un estado considerado líder en la reforma penal en México. Nuestros proyectos comenzaron en el 2016. Desde entonces, los tiempos en detención preventiva han disminuido, los adolescentes son supervisados con mayor eficiencia en sus comunidades y se ha mejorado la calidad de vida de aquellos adolescentes que siguen privados de su libertad.

En Chihuahua trabajamos con varios proyectos, como son el monitoreo que se trabaja en conjunto con la autoridad, y con los adolescentes y sus familias trabajamos en talleres, mesas de trabajo, eventos lúdicos, acompañamiento post penal, reubicaciones y traslados de familiares para audiencias y visitas, así como donaciones de enseres, ropa y material deportivo.

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Chiapas

Ante la apertura de los operadores del sistema de justicia para adolescentes del estado de Chiapas, a partir del mes de diciembre del año 2020 se tuvo acercamiento con los operadores que encabezan el Sistema de Justicia Penal para Adolescentes en el Estado de Chiapas, con el fin de coadyuvar en dicho sistema y en pro de todas las personas adolescentes Chiapanecos en conflicto con la ley. Tanto que el día 26 de abril del 2021, JJI realizó la presentación de proyectos ante los operadores del sistema penal para adolescentes en la Sala de Presidentes del Poder Judicial del Estado de Chiapas teniendo una respuesta de interés de los presentes.


En el tenor del desarrollo de la relación institucional JJI continuó aportando varias donaciones a los Centros de Internamiento Especializados para Adolescentes ubicados en los Municipios de Berriozábal ”Villa Crisol” y Mazatán “Zona Costa” del Estado de Chiapas, ha entregado Kit de enseres, insumos para la prevención del Virus SARS-CoV-2, canastas básicas conformados por alimentos y artículos de limpieza e higiene personal.

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Chihuahua

A national leader in criminal procedural reforms, our pilot project in Chihuahua started in 2016. Since that time the rates and duration of pretrial detention have declined, youth are being successfully supervised in their communities and new programs in the detention center have improved daily life for those children still deprived of liberty.

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Guerrero

Working under the shadow of significant public insecurity, the youth in Guerrero’s justice system are in dire need of support, services and protection from organized crime. We are one of the only nonprofits working to help the government and youth in detention get a second chance.

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CDMX

Looked to as the national leader in youth justice practices, Mexico City has more youth in detention than any other jurisdiction but has also developed a robust probation office and numerous alliances with nonprofits. Our projects will further fortify this critical work.

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Durango

Despite being a smaller jurisdiction, Durango is constantly looking to improve. Durango is the first state where both the Executive Branch and Judicial Branch have signed Memorandum of Understanding to launch the Alternatives to Detention initiatives.

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Chiapas

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