In July of 2024, a 13 year old boy was rounded up by police in the State of Emergency.
At the time, the child's mother and the family's attorney Leslie Mendez sprang into action to try and get him out of the Wagner's Youth facility.
It took a few days, but the Ministry of Home Affairs agreed to remove the child from SOE detention.
But the family didn't let it rest there, they went to court to challenge the emergency declaration, his detention and the conditions of his detention. And now the High Court has made a pronouncement on the matter. On March second, Justice Marsha Alexander handed down her decision in which the child's mother partially succeeded in her claim: the judge found the detention was unconstitutional. The family's attorney Leslie Mendez spoke to us about it via Zoom:
Leslie Mendez, Attorney - Mother of 13 Year Old
"The court determined that he was detained under inhumane and cruel conditions."
"And the reasons for that is that the court strongly chastised that the child was not given access to his family for an inordinate amount of time, considering that he's a 13 year old in detention. the Wagner's facility in conditions that are quite similar are definitely, not at all different in real terms, In practical terms, to a prison, right? Adult prison."
"There were multiple occasions where access to an attorney and an access to his family was denied. And when we explored the conditions under which he was actually detained, he was detained under conditions similar to solitary confinement. He was allowed recess, recess or recreation for about an hour."
"And other than that, he was just placed in a cell the entire time that he was there."
"The court found that the cumulative, cumulative effect of all of these factors, in addition to the fact that the tribunal that was to review his detention, was not set up until about over two months after the court found that these conditions were unduly restrictive, and that they did amount to a breach of his right to protection against inhumane treatment."
And while the judge did find that there were breaches, she only awarded damages in the amount of $18,000 dollars. We asked Mendez about that:
Leslie Mendez, Attorney - Mother of 13 Year Old
"You know, with the greatest of respect, I do think that the damages that were awarded were for being modest for us to be able to really secure those objectives with respect so that we want damages. I think what is then what is the purpose of damages? I think that they're quite modest."
"But as I said, we are exploring right now, an appeal on the other issues that I also think are equally important."
"Specifically the, the, the decision to detain a child in the context of emergency powers, where you know that there are certain restrictions on when you know and you have accepted by your ratification of the convention the rights of the child that confinement in involving children is to be considered."
"So we definitely want to seek guidance from the higher court as to how really should our authorities be treating with these two principles that come into tension with one another? And how do we secure truly the rights of the child in this?"
We'll let you know if the family decides to proceed with an appeal.
