The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) expresses deep concern for at least 49 youths who tested positive to Covid-19 at the Davao City Children’s Village or Bahay Pagasa, a temporary shelter in Tugbok District for children in conflict with the law (CICL).

We recognise the prompt action taken by the local authorities to contain the outbreak and hope for the speedy and full recovery of the patients.

It is important to note that measures taken amid a health crisis should not undermine the fundamental rights of detained people, especially children, including their rights to adequate health care, food, water, and sanitation, while also upholding their right against ill-treatment. The risks posed by COVID-19 underline the need to dramatically reduce the number of children in institutions and detention facilities to protect not just the detainees but the health and safety of staff, visitors, and the wider society.

We maintain that under any circumstance, deprivation of liberty is never in a child’s best interest. For young men and women in juvenile detention, the pandemic has put an added emotional weight by being in isolation from their families and communities back home. Providing mental health and psychosocial support services that are age-appropriate and gender-sensitive must also be ensured to protect minors from any additional vulnerabilities and irreparable harm to children.

Juvenile justice agencies should also create more opportunities for families to connect via phone or video conference until restrictions on visitors are lifted to provide support to these children, especially those who are still recovering from the infection.

The Commission urges the government to evaluate child detainees’ release, with priority to children detained pre-trial; those detained for low-level nonviolent offenses; and those with medical conditions that may put them at particular risk of serious illness or death from coronavirus infection.

We push for a stronger implementation of the Juvenile Justice Welfare Act in the country during normal and pandemic times, and demand genuine government compliance to international laws on protecting children’s rights and welfare. Likewise, with the upcoming roll out of Covid-19 vaccines, we remind the government that everyone, especially those who are most vulnerable and at higher risk of infection like children in detention, should have equal access to vaccination.

Failure to address the needs of children deprived of liberty, or delayed implementation of coordinated responses, can increase suffering, cause irreparable damage to children, and can comprise the health and safety of the whole community.

Through our regional office, the CHR will look into the situation of the CICL in Davao City to probe if there are any human rights violations. ###