The effectiveness of Kampiringisa National Rehabilitation Centre for children (KNRCC) in promoting, protecting, and fulfilling the rights of juvenile delinquents in Uganda

Abstract

Juvenile delinquency has been a major threat to most communities and families across the globe. It has led to the establishment of juvenile detention facilities as one of the control measures where juveniles who have been found to be delinquent are detained so as to be rehabilitated. The gist of this study was from the fact that both the international, regional and national human rights instruments have emphasise that all juveniles, including those in detention facilities, have rights which need special care and protection because of their age. However, at KNRCC, the only juvenile detention facility in Uganda, conditions seemed to be far from being conducive yet juvenile delinquents had nowhere to go. The main objective of the study therefore, was to establish whether KNRCC was effective in promoting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of juvenile delinquents. The study adopted qualitative method of research with 54 respondents. These included juvenile delinquents, social workers and Assistant Probation and Social Welfare Officers who were purposively selected due to their knowledge on the subject matter. Standard methods of data collection; interviews, focus group discussions and observation were used. The field data was analysed manually by arranging it according to the respective specific objectives of the study. To each objective, themes were created in consideration of the research problems in the literature reviewed. This was followed by rearranging data under each objective according to the related themes and presented in comparison with the literature reviewed. From the study findings, it was established that due to various measures that were in place at KNRCC such as counseling, educational and vocational training, simple farming practice, resettlement, aftercare and allowing independent human rights auditors to visit juvenile delinquents, KNRCC effectively promoted, protected and fulfilled the rights of juvenile delinquents such as the right to health, the right to education, freedom of religion, the right to privacy and the right to food, among others. Though some challenges were still reported to be faced in the due process of promoting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of juvenile delinquents at KNRCC, it was most importantly recommended that Government of Uganda puts in place all that is required to ensure that KNRCC serves the purpose for which it was established putting in consideration the need to promote, protect and fulfill the rights of juvenile delinquents.