TRUTH

UNVIELED

When asked to me ,whats the biggest sin on Earth?I said ,its illeteracy or ignorance.Illeteracy is the main root cause for the bigger problems we all are facing today.Walk down by the streets and we find that children are begging ,selling newspapers ,water,and stuff when their soft hands deserved to do something more,when their minds were deserved to think as others.Why is all this?Major problems are of the children commiting crimes.They aren’t educated and neither their parents are so who will guide them for the right?They get into an illegal acts and ruin themselves aswell as others.

I am putting up an article read in Sunday times of India .These stories didn’t quite make headlines in 2006 but should have.

Here’s the UN’s list of stories the worls needs to read.1 million children worldwide are living in detention ,often without sufficient cause:most have commited petty crimes and minor offences like vagrancy,begging and alocohol abuse.No child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.So states the Convention on the rights of the child,one of the seven core treaties of the international human rights framework.But,according to UNICEF ,an alarming number of children around the world are being deprived of their liberty,held in detention without sufficient cause.The convention stresses that imprisionment of a child shall be used “only as a measure of last resort and for shortest appropriate period of time”,but many children are rounded up simply for being a nuisance or perceived as a threat.Moreover,most of them are not tried ,and are held for months and in some cases years,often without access to legal aid.Also in keeping with the convention ,legislation in most countries requires separate facilities for children to prevent abuse and exploitation by adults.Yet detention with adults is routine in many countries.UNICEF estimates indicate that more than one million children worldwide are living in detention as a result of being in conflict with the law.

The term ‘children in conflict with the law’refers to anyone under 18 who comes in contact with the justice system as a result of being suspected or accused of commiting an offence.Most children in conflict with the law have commited petty crimes or such minor offence as vagrancy,truancy,begging,alcohol use.Some of these are known as ‘status offence’and are not considered criminal when commited by adults.These children are most from the deprived communities and families and are criminalized for simply trying to survive.Often they are held under deplorable and inhumane conditions.Physical abuse is common and children suffer deep trauma resulting from torture and interrogation.Child victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation are often revictimised

Children in detention are mostly subjected to violence by staff ..they may be beaten ,caned,painfully restrained,and subjected to humiliating treatment such as being stripped naked and caned in front of other detainees .Girls in detention facilities are at particular risk of physical and sexual abuse ,according to the UN study on violence against children released in august.Children in detention are also at self harm risks or suicidal behaviour ,the study says.Putting children in prison instead of seeking alternative stigmatizes them as delinquents,robs them of opportunities for jobs and scholarships and exposes them to others who have commited more serious crimes .It also increases the likelihood of children breaking the law once again.

Are there alternatives for detention?UNICEF says yes.

Its recommendations:Don’t imprision children simply trying to survive ;divert children who have commited minor crimes away from criminal justice system ;use detention only as last resort ;when children are imprisoned they should be kept separate from adults ;governments should monitor the situation closely at a minimum having records of how many children are in jail and how long they have been there.A point to note is that to avoid a criminal offence we are doing a criminal of keeping the kids in jails .

Isnt childhood in jails a criminal offence?