The Attorney General in the Freundel Stuart administration on Wednesday charged current authorities with failing to institute comprehensive interventions to address the root causes of juvenile delinquency and rehabilitate offenders.
With an apparent uptick in violent crimes committed by minors, Adriel Brathwaite, in a statement suggested that the public apologies recently issued by offenders barely scratch the surface.
Brathwaite was speaking against the backdrop of two separate acts of violence allegedly carried out by minors that resulted in the slaying of a 19-year-old girl and the death of a ten-year-old boy who died Wednesday.
The attacks were followed by a video of 13-year-old boys slapping elderly men on the backs of their heads that raised the ire of many in society. A public apology from the two boys responsible was made to the elderly men in the presence of advocates Kemar Saffrey and Corey Lane.
In his response to the events, Brathwaite said that instead of “parading” young offenders in front of the media, the Government ought to embark on an urgent push to modernize the Juvenile Justice System with the view of saving the country’s children.
Brathwaite said: “The boys have apologised. The media moves on to the next story. The actors move on to the next issue, but our present juvenile justice system would not have adequately addressed the issues which may have contributed to the boys’ behaviour,” Brathwaite contended.
“We would require a psycho-social analysis of each child, a review of their living conditions and familial support.
“Suitable resources, whether they be from welfare, child care, probation, police, NCSA obtained and applied, so that these boys would truly have the opportunity to reform and realise that slapping the elderly for fun is just not allowed in modern Barbados.”
The former AG who served under two Democratic Labour Party administrations from 2008 to 2018 noted that between 2014 and 2017, research was carried out on juvenile justice reforms and a draft bill prepared and circulated, and after the “events of 2018” – a reference to the general election that unseated the DLP and its entire slate of incumbents and challengers – the bill never reached Parliament.
But Brathwaite said that two years in Government has given the Barbados Labour Party administration more than enough time to enact modern legislation.
He continued: “Our modern juvenile justice system would require much training of all, including police, magistrates, welfare officers, the church [and] all who would possibly be in contact with a minor who comes into police custody and before the courts.
“Our system would and must see two victims in any incident and provide for both. The system supports, where possible, the offended party.
Damage to property, for example, may be put right by the child or his family, and where possible, every attempt is made to reform the child. I have deliberately used the word ‘child’, because we at present are quick to call them ‘criminals’ and forget that they are our children in need of our guidance, love, support and direction.” (KS)
