Tonight, the attorney for the mother of a 13 year old detained under the SOE has written to the Minister of Home Affairs and CEO of the Prison demanding answers.
Leslie Mendez says she visited the Prison today to speak with the child but she was turned back. She says, quote, "prison authorities informed me that I would need to obtain a court order to gain access to (him)."
But, she alleges that this is unconstitutional since she can find no provision in the SOE Statutory Instrument, quote, "that exempts...a detainee's right to access legal representation, much less that of a child detainee."
So, she's asking the Minister and the Prison CEO to indicate the legal basis limiting the detainee's access to an attorney. She adds, quote, "This request is made especially in light of information received regarding (the child's) detention conditions, which indicate that he is not merely detained, but is being held in what the prison authorities and inmates refer to as "the hole." This means that his detention is a more severe and restrictive form of detention. Alarmingly, we have been further notified that the individual accused of shooting at (him) a couple months ago is also confined in "the hole" with him, raising serious concerns about his safety and the overall reasonableness of his detention.
Mendez adds, "in all decisions affecting a child, the best interest of the child must be the paramount consideration...Furthermore, detention, even in cases of a child in conflict with law, should be treated as a last resort. Here, it appears that a tactic of preventative detention is being employed against a child, which is in direct conflict with multiple international human rights conventions, more notably the Convention of the Rights of the Child, to which Belize is a signatory."
Mendez's letter was sent today, we'll see what the Minister and the CEO say. For the record, the CEO has told us that the 13 year old is being held at the Wagner's Youth Facility.
