Caritas Sri Lanka - SEDEC

A two-day workshop aimed at creating awareness on child rights among prison officials was launched on 9th June 2011at Vishva Niketan International Peace Centre in Moratuwa under the Caritas Child Protection Program (CPP).

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the National Director of Caritas Sri Lanka SEDEC, Rev. Fr. George Sigamoney, while welcoming the thirty senior prison officers who were attending from all parts of the country, said that child protection is a top priority program of  SEDEC, focusing on the many difficulties and problems faced by children everywhere, including child abuse, child labour and child trafficking. Setting out the Caritas vision and mission, Fr Sigamoney said that as the social arm of the Church in Sri Lanka, SEDEC recognizes the " signs of the times " and implements a wide range of projects and programs that answer to the social issues of the day. This service is done without any considerations of ethnicity or religion, he pointed out, adding that " all our work is based on love for our fellow beings " and that the Caritas Child Protection Policy launched in 2008 has now gained national and international recognition.

Mr.H.M.J.N. Upuldeniya, Director of Research and Training in the Prisons Department in his address noted that while senior prisons officers were the target group for the current workshop,  four more batches of officers in junior ranks would be following similar sessions in the coming months, bringing the total number of participants under this program to 200. He said that children are in prison under unfortunate circumstances, due mostly to the mistakes of their parents and that the prison authorities try very hard to protect the rights of these children. In Kalutara, a separate unit was recently set up for children whose mothers are in jail. Mr. Upuldeniya thanked Caritas for arranging this program because a good knowledge of child rights was found to be an important guide for prison authorities in their work.

Dr. Ms. Charika Marasinghe, Freelance Consultant and Researcher who was the chief resource person for the workshop, presented an outline of the training module developed under the theme " Capacity Building of Prison Officers on Management of Child Abuse and  Juvenile Delinquency within a Child Rights Framework ". She said that the collaboration between Caritas and the Prisons Department is a positive sign of how Government institutions could cooperate with civil society and religious groups in undertaking such meaningful steps in various areas of concern.

Prisons Commissioner, Mr. H.M.N.Dhanasinghe in his remarks made on behalf the Commissioner General of Prisons, Major General V.R.de Silva who had excused himself  due to unforeseen circumstances, mentioned the vital role of law enforcement agencies such as the Police, the Prisons and the Courts and said that the present Caritas initiative is very timely.

Mr. Dhanasinghe lamented the position of children whose parents are in jail and the resultant social stigma faced by them. He mentioned that quite often children in the care and custody of the Prisons Department are produced in courts by prison officials who act as their witnesses/custodians. Even children who have not committed any offence, as well as some under-16 children who should actually be under the care of Probationary Officers, are also among this category. This is an unfortunate situation because children who have not committed any offence can ask why they are being produced in courts by prison officers, Mr. Ganasinghe said, adding further that children born in prison were up to now issued with birth certificates indicating the prison as the place of birth but steps are now being taken to avoid doing so in the future.