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August 23, 2022  |  By JJAI News In News

JJAI reunites families in rural areas of Chiapas

JJI reúne familias en zonas rurales de Chiapas

Berriozábal is a small town in the Southern State of Chiapas. It is located only 15 miles, but over 45 minutes away from the State’s capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez on poorly maintained roads. This is the location of the “Villa Crisol” Juvenile Detention Center, one of only two detention centers for youth in the whole state. Youth spend months or years here living out their detention sentences – separated from their families– in this remote location.

It is well known that youth from ethnic and racial minorities, such as indigenous youth, are overrepresented in the Mexican Juvenile Justice System. These are youth who come from impoverished backgrounds, with very little understanding of the laws and, in some cases, who don’t even speak Spanish. Yet, they are detained and placed in a detention center miles away from their homes.

Furthermore, the Juvenile Justice System asks these youth to have visitations from their families to “prove” they have a solid family that will support them once they leave, but they do nothing to facilitate these visits. Most families cannot cover the expense to travel to another town as they have to work extensive hours. They would love to visit their children, to let them know they are still cherished, and to relieve their loneliness, but when they make less than the minimum wage ($8.40 USD) per day, a bus ticket seems completely out of reach.

JJAI provides transportation and meals to the families who want to visit their children in detention but cannot afford to do so. This is a part of our Mobilize and Empower Project and we are very happy to continue to provide this assistance to as many families as possible. This past June 12, three children and their parents benefited from this project. Personal hygiene kits were also provided to each youth, helping the families cover their children’s needs inside the detention center.

It is very emotional for our team to be able to help these families in such a way, while also realizing the enormous need for help in the rest of the country – it can be overwhelming. We will continue to provide assistance where possible as it is imperative to let these children know that there are people outside who support them even through hard times.

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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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    How the U.S. exports failed policies:

    • International Funding

    The U.S. funds more police, court, prosecutor and prison development projects around the world than any other funder.

    • Prison Accreditation.

    With U.S. financial support, the American Correctional Association (ACA) has accredited prisons in Mexico, Columbia and the United Arab Emirates. Many of these facilities have documented histories of grave human rights abuses, systemic child abuse and cartel infiltration despite accreditation and re-accreditation by the ACA.

    Senator Elizabeth Warren’s report on the failure of the ACA in the U.S. shows why the U.S. should not be funding the ACA overseas.

    • Police Training

    U.S. police officers with documented histories of misconduct are hired by the U.S. State Department and sent to developing countries to train police units. 

    • Mass Incarceration and Plea Bargaining 

    U.S.-backed plea-bargaining reforms have proliferated across the globe, endangering defendants’ rights to a trial and incentivizing excessive bail and pretrial detention.

    • Drug War Policies

    Drug war policies have led to the dramatic growth of incarceration in Latin America, particularly of women. 

    • U.S Criminal Justice Sold as the “Gold Standard”

    There is often an assumption that U.S. practices and policies represent a “higher standard,” are “more modern” and “more professional.” 

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    • Rejecting Key International Laws

    The US is not a party to key human rights treaties governing criminal justice, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child  and the American Convention on Human Rights despite the fact that nearly every country where the U.S. promotes its practices are parties to these international instruments.

    • Prioritizing Security Interests over Human Rights

    Security, not human rights or community safety, is the priority of the U.S. criminal justice’s foreign investments. This can undermine local reforms to limit police and prosecutor power or reduce incarceration.


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    “Convention on the Rights of the Child”

    “A Broken Prison and Detention Facility Accreditation System That Puts Profits Over People,” the Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren, December 2020. 

    “How Washington Exports Failed Criminal Justice Policies,”  Douglas Keillor, The Crime Report, August 27, 2020.

    “Prison: America’s Most Vile Export?” Baz Dreisinger, The Atlantic, September 30, 2015.

    “Rights of persons deprived of liberty and privatization of the penitentiary system in Mexico,” Hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, ACHR, April 7, 2016.

    “Privatización del sistema penitenciario en México,” Documenta, et al, 2016. 

    “Defund the Global Policeman”, Studart Schrader,  n+1 Magazine, Issue 38, Fall 2020, 

    Schrader, Stuart (2019) Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing, University of California Press.


    Guerrero

    Después de años de lucha y problemas de inseguridad, decidimos en 2022 cerrar nuestro proyecto en Guerrero. Pudimos implementar nuestro instrumento de evaluación previa al juicio para garantizar que los jóvenes de bajo riesgo permanezcan en sus comunidades. Y brindamos apoyo a más de 220 jóvenes, como parte de nuestro proyecto de Movilizando Voluntarios.

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    Chiapas

    Por invitación del Poder Judicial del Estado de Chiapas, realizamos un estudio para evaluar la viabilidad de implementar nuestros proyectos en la región. En 2022, nuestro equipo presentó los resultados y recomendaciones. El gobierno estatal ahora está decidiendo cómo quieren colaborar con nosotros en el futuro.

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    Guerrero

    After years of struggle and security issues, we decided in 2022 to close our project in Guerrero. We were able to implement our pretrial screening instrument to ensure low-risk youth stay in their communities. And we provided support to over 220 youths, as part of our Mobilize and Empower project.

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    Chiapas

    In the state of Chiapas, at the invitation of the state judiciary, we conducted a study to assess the viability of implementing our projects. In 2022, our team presented the results and recommendations. The state government is now deciding how they want to collaborate with us in the future.

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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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    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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    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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