wfn.org | Argentina: Order to Arrest Street Children Postponed After Church Protests

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Complaints of Abuse in Police Custody

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina/GENEVA, 25 October 2001 (LWI) - An order on
police to routinely round up street children and beggars in Buenos
Aires Province has been suspended following protests by the United
Evangelical Lutheran Church (UELC) and other sections of civil
society in Argentina.

Provincial Security Minister, Ramon Veron, has put on hold the
directive issued by the provincial police chief for coordination and
operations last August. The police force had been instructed to carry
out special operations and "bring before the juvenile courts any
children and young people found unprotected and/or begging on the
public highways." Spokespersons for non-governmental organizations
point out that the order has been "suspended" not revoked.

In a September letter to Veron and Buenos Aires Provincial Governor,
Carlos Ruckauf, the UELC said it considered the order in question as
"a mistaken interpretation" of the Supreme Court decision whereby the
Protection of Minors Act was declared unconstitutional.

The church said it was shocked to see the provincial police take
repressive action in a social situation already fraught with anguish.
This year the Buenos Aires Supreme Court had recorded 800 complaints
from minors citing ill-treatment when in police custody. Complaints
also are received through human rights' organizations.

The UELC letter said the police "as an institution had broken down"
particularly in dealing with issues concerning minors. The
overcrowded conditions in which detainees are held in police stations
meant that "minors are in contact with hardened criminals whose
records and mental problems show them to be dangerous."

The letter signed by UELC President Rev. Angel Furlan warned that the
action on street children and beggars is a violation of the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Argentina
ratified in 1994. The church called for the police order to be
lifted.

The letter further stated that the measure effectively implies that
it is a crime to be poor and complicates the already bleak picture of
poverty in the country especially in Buenos Aires Province where
there are an estimated 400,000 families living in poverty.

The UELC requested the Buenos Aires provincial administration to
commit itself to working with civil society on the implementation of
appropriate measures to deal with such families and their children.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 133
member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5 million of the
64.3 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its
member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical
relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights,
communication, and the various aspects of mission and development
work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

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