CIDAC Reports Abuse and Institutional Failures Plague Mexico's Juvenile Prisons Mimi Yagoub - InSight Crime
go to original March 11, 2016

New research has uncovered worrying shortcomings and human rights abuses in Mexico's juvenile detention centers, suggesting the system criminalizes rather than rehabilitates young offenders and risks exacerbating rising youth crime.

A report released by The Research Center for Development A.C. (CIDAC) on Mexico's juvenile delinquents found a high rate of detainee abuse, long-term detentions without sentence, and judicial weaknesses that compromise delinquents' constitutional rights.

The report, named "Justice for Adolescents in Mexico," (pdf) is based on data from the National Statistic and Geographic Information System (SNIEG) and questionnaires answered by 167 youth detainees in the Mexican states of Durango and Baja California.

Over half of these detainees reported being physically and emotionally abused during their detention, while over 40 percent said they had been threatened or intimidated. Over half of respondents said they believed their treatment was bad or very bad, while around a third said it was "regular."

Mexico's slow judicial process means many youths are kept in custody for months before being sentenced (see graph below). In Durango, for instance, 100 percent of those interviewed had been kept behind bars during legal proceedings, while this figure was 93 percent in Baja California. The majority - around 65 percent - were held between one and six months before receiving their sentence, while between 3 and 4 percent were detained for over a year.



The high levels of preventative detention are exacerbated by a lack of resources focusing on youth delinquency. Only 3.8 percent of Mexico's Public Ministry agencies specialize in dealing with adolescents, and only 2 percent of the country's courts and tribunals are specialized in handling adolescent cases, according to CIDAC.

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Related: Mexico Youth Training Programs Guarantee Neither Education Nor Employment (Mexico Voices)

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