adminMunyaradzi Simango : Lifestyle correspondent
Children who commit crime are getting a second chance at growing into responsible citizens after introduction of a programme of pre-trial diversion to provide them with alternate justice systems rather than imprisonment. Pre-trial diversion allows the redirecting of minor cases involving children from the formal criminal justice system to extra-judicial programmes, which use rehabilitative and restorative methods.Some of the diversion mechanisms include reparation, counselling, attendance at particular institution for educational or vocational purposes, victim-offender mediation, and the constructive use of leisure time, police cautions and family group conferencing.
The pre-trial diversion pilot programme implemented in five districts has registered success with statistics showing a positive impact. To date, 462 children, representing 90.3 percent of the individuals referred for diversion (353 males and 65 females) have successfully benefited from diversion services in line with national guidelines and standards.
Commenting on the initiative, UNICEF Access to Justice Programme Manager, Siyma Barkin Kuzmin said, “The programme is effective in rehabilitating child offenders as it ensures that they take responsibility and become accountable for their actions while providing an opportunity for reparations that benefit both the offended and the offender.”
“Diversion also prevents children from being labelled as criminals early in their lives for a mistake they made, and opens the way for education and rehabilitative procedures to come into play, while providing opportunities for community involvement in reforming child offenders.”
As part of the programme, 62 police stations have been trained on pre-trial diversion, and motorbikes have been procured for the diversion programme and the Legal Aid Directorate under the Ministry of Justice Legal and Parliamentary Affairs as well as the Victim Friendly Units under the Zimbabwe Republic Police to reduce transport challenges.
Children under the age of 18 in Zimbabwe are often caught up in conflict with the law after committing a crime. Most of these cases are minor offences, such as low value theft or causing public disorder, which attract imprisonment of less than one year.
Such offences are often results of children’s responses to peer pressure, family circumstances or the country’s tough socio-economic environment.
The majority of children involved in minor offences go through the formal justice system with consequences that include imprisonment and having a criminal record. This results in negative impacts on their lives such as social exclusion and stigma.
In light of the programme’s achievements, the Government has shown commitment by taking over payment of the salaries of 14 out of 17 diversion officers starting June 2016; an increase from 50 per cent as of December 2015 and zero percent at programme inception.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recommends that deprivation of liberty should be used only as a last resort and for the shortest period of time. The committee also recommends that children, whenever possible, are provided with alternative measures that support them to become responsible members of society in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was ratified by Zimbabwe in 1990.
It was in response to this the Government of Zimbabwe in partnership with UNICEF and other stakeholders, launched the pilot pre-trial diversion programme with funding from DANIDA in 2013.
The pre-trial diversion initiative is part of a broader DANIDA funded Access to Justice Program implemented by UNICEF in partnership with relevant Government Ministries. The broader program includes support for national policy and legislative reform framework, support for the Legal Aid Directorate to improve the provision of legal aid services, and capacity building for 24 courts across the country to deliver child-sensitive judicial services in line with the Protocol on the Multi-Sectoral Management of Sexual Violence and Abuse.
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