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A new program to rehabilitate juveniles who committed extremist- or terrorism-related acts has shown promising results, a report released Friday said. After nine months of participation in the program, 75 percent of the underage offenders fell within the lowest risk rating of engaging in violent extremism, compared to 39 percent upon arrival.
None of the 95 children who were released after participating in the program have reoffended.
Around 60 government officials, diplomats and civil society experts came together at the Grand Serail to launch the report. Titled “The rehabilitation of children in detention with offenses related to violent extremism or terrorism in Lebanon,” it is the first of its kind examining these issues in Lebanon.
It is the latest step in a Justice Ministry-led project called “Improved prison management and rehabilitation and reintegration of high-risk prisoners in Lebanon.”
The project is being implemented in close collaboration with the Interior Ministry and the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, with funding of over $1.4 million from Canada between 2017 and 2020.
The program comes in response to a spike in terrorist attacks between 2012 and 2016 that saw the increased recruitment and exploitation of children by armed groups. The report presents the results of a pilot program that seeks “reconciliation with life” among juvenile offenders.
“One of the characteristics of the national strategy for preventing violent extremism is to deepen the sense of hope in life and to emphasize that reintegration into the community is always available for any individual from the society,” Rubina Abu Zeinab-Chahine, the national coordinator for preventing violent extremism, said at the event.
The pilot program builds upon an existing rehabilitation approach implemented since 1999 in the juvenile wing of Roumieh Prison, and follows a five-step process that offers youth guidance, psycho-social support and educational and vocational training.
Social workers first put together the offender’s medical, social and legal file, before conducting an assessment of their needs and expectations.
They use this assessment to structure their guidance and support to the child and “ensure that the necessary measures are implemented to promote his social reintegration.”
In the penultimate stage of the program, the social worker helps the reforming offender implement a “life project” that will “place the child in a perspective of empowerment and allow him to develop his life course.”
Social workers then prepare them for release and arrange for family follow-up within the community.
The children are encouraged to actively participate in the rehabilitation process, and the youth’s family and community are involved throughout the program.
The social workers are trained to apply the program rules without discrimination and actively expose the children to a diversity of beliefs and points of view.
“What distinguishes this rehabilitation program is that it includes the stages of intervention that reflect the reality of the child in prison,” Justice Minister Albert Serhan wrote in the preface of the report.
He noted that due to the “encouraging” results, an action plan would be developed to implement the report’s recommendations. These include extending the program to include young adults aged 18-25.
Speaking at the launch of the event, Canadian Ambassador Emmanuelle Lamoureux told attendees that since the launch of the project, around 735 young detainees in Roumieh Prison and 43 in a facility for young girls had benefited from vocational training activities and psycho-social support.
Since 2012, 138 children aged 15-18 have been imprisoned in Lebanon on charges related to violent extremism or terrorism.
Source: The Daily Star
