Inspection of Juvenile Correctional Center Led by INSEC Central Office

A team led by the Informal Sector (INSEC) has conducted an inspection on August 22 at the Juvenile Correctional Center located in Ward 2 of Madhyapur Thimi Municipality, Sano Thimi.
Investigation Team members were Krishna Gautam and Bimal Paudel from INSEC Central Office, Samjha Shrestha from the Human Rights Convention Monitoring Coordination Center (HRTMCC), Kamal Prasad Paudel from Children as Zones of Peace National Campaign (CZOP), Bishnu Paudel from Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN) and Ashok Khanal and Shobhakar Budathoki from Bal Maitri Sthaniya Shasan Rastriya Manch.
While conducting an on-site inspection of the Juvenile Correctional centre, the team held discussions with the Police Chief, SSP Om Bahadur Rana, SP Janak Bahadur Shahi, DSP Robin Shrestha, and the police in-charge Nil Bahadur Giri stationed at the Juvenile Correctional Center. They also interacted with the inmates and provided information regarding the prisoner’s death on August 3 and the situation that unfolded at the facility.
After the death of 19-year-old Kamal Basnet of Manthali Municipality-3, Kathjor, Ramechhap, who was in the Juvenile Correctional Center for the crime of rape, on August 20, 221 people ‘escaped’ by vandalising the Juvenile Correctional Center saying that they did not pay attention to their care.
As per SP Prajit KC from the District Area Police in Bhaktapur, the search is still ongoing for nine of the escapees, and they have not been arrested yet.
In the juvenile correctional center, which has a capacity for 110 people, there are currently 297 individuals, comprising 70 prisoners and 227 detainees.
Among the 297 individuals, there are 254 boys and 43 girls. Even though the correctional center is supposed to accommodate children aged 12 to 18, there are only 131 individuals who are 18 years or younger.
Among the 297 individuals residing in the Children’s Correctional Center in Kathmandu, 154 are boys who are accused of rape.
Similarly, among them, there are 58 individuals facing charges related to killings, 21 for drugs, 16 for robbery, 13 for theft, 5/5 for attempted murder, accidental homicide, and unruly behavior, 3 for human trafficking, 2/2 for kidnapping, child marriage, reckless driving causing injury, rape, and traffic accident mutilation, and 1 each for criminal conspiracy, child abuse, hate crime, suspicion of crime, acid attack, personal dispute, and altercation cases. Currently, there are 21 inmates under police custody at the Rehabilitation Home, supervised by a team of 23 personnel.
Sub-Inspector Nir Bahadur Giri from the Children’s Correctional Center has shared that issues have arisen due to an inmate population surpassing the facility’s capacity, along with the absence of essential physical structures. He also added that in the Children’s Correctional Center, established in the year 2058, education is offered from class 5 to class 10. Additionally, students above class 10 are sent to schools outside of the Correctional Centre for their education.
Giri mentioned that currently, three female and one male teacher are employed to teach in the school operated within the Correctional Centre.
Although the administration of the correctional center has requested additional teachers, Giri mentioned that there hasn’t been any recruitment so far. One of the female inmates, who is in the correctional center, revealed that she had been assigned the role of a teacher within the facility. She added that her monthly salary is 1000 rupees.
An inmate in the correctional center revealed that the administration had been extensively violating the human rights of inmates within the facility and mentioned that the administration neglects issues related to career development and healthcare among the prisoners.
As mentioned by the inmate, “The administration does not pay adequate attention to our diet, mental development, and healthcare. Although there is a water source in the restroom, it doesn’t function properly. In terms of health supplies, the Children’s Rehabilitation Home only provides paracetamol and drinking water. Even when a prisoner becomes seriously ill, the administration doesn’t take them to the hospital for treatment.”
Another inmate informed INSEC that in cases of illness, the warden issues vouchers for treatment at the nearby Bhupendra Clinic. However, the clinic often returns the sick inmates, alleging that the administration has not settled the medical expenses for the inmates’ treatment.
When a patient’s condition becomes critical and complicated, they are transported to an external hospital only after contacting the patient’s family and receiving the necessary funds from the family members.
UCEP Nepal has been managing an educational Program for the underprivileged to the Children’s Correctional Center which is under the Prison Management Department.