Young offenders locked in “alarming” situation

A young offender arrested in Switzerland has a high chance of ending up in a prison for adults Ex-press

The situation of most young offenders held on remand in Switzerland is "worrying", a government study has found.

Owing to a lack of specialised detention facilities, most teenagers are housed alongside adult offenders and lack proper socio-educational support, according to the justice ministry report published on Monday.

The situation is particularly problematic in French-speaking Switzerland, where it is much more common to detain young offenders awaiting trial than in the rest of the country, the report revealed.

In general the requirements of the new law relating to young offenders are not being respected, say the authors of the study, who described the situation as “alarming”.

The Swiss charity Terre des hommes, which defends children’s rights, said it was concerned by detention conditions for young offenders.

“We advocate a different kind of justice for young people abroad, while in Switzerland neither the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child nor the penal code for young offenders are being respected,” John Orlando from Terre des hommes told Swiss radio.

Side by side

In 2005, of 1,005 minors remanded in custody 726 were held in prisons, 273 in special homes and six in hospitals. The study underlined that most prisons did not have appropriate facilities to deal with young offenders and that the lack of places in specialised facilities created a disturbing situation.

According to the authors, many young offenders, whether during their time in custody or following their sentence, are housed alongside older criminals. In 2004, 86 youngsters under the age of 18, including 44 on remand, were held in places for older detainees.

The justice ministry stressed that only a very few places of detention were designed in order to segregate adults and youngsters properly. It added that the current prison regime, which is essentially based on security measures, does not provide minors with the necessary socio-educational support.

With this in mind, the authorities have decided to put pressure on the cantons to accelerate the building of special young offenders’ facilities provided for by the new law. From January 2008 they plan to introduce an incentive scheme to encourage such construction.

If a canton is unable to guarantee proper building standards that meet federal laws, grants destined for other prison facilities could be reduced or cut.

“We need political commitment to make sure that conventions that have been ratified are applied. We intend to put pressure on the authorities to follow through with their actions,” Orlando added.

swissinfo with agencies

In brief

The new penal code for young offenders, which came into force in January 2007, stipulates that remanding a person in custody should be limited as much as possible.

When held, minors should be housed in specialised facilities or in a particular wing of a prison, separate from adults. Proper socio-educational support should also be guaranteed.

The justice ministry carried out its survey in 66 places of detention throughout Switzerland, including nine homes for young offenders, 51 prisons and six hospitals. Two-thirds of respondents answered the questionnaire.

Key facts

14,106 youths (11,189 boys and 2,917 girls) were convicted of crimes in 2005, according to the Federal Statistics Office. The figure is up about 2,000 on 1999.
62.7% of the convicted youths are of Swiss nationality.
The number of convictions for driving offences, attacks against people and property-related crimes has been on the increase since 1999, but there were fewer drug-related offences.