JEDDAH, 17 April 2003 — The Jeddah Juvenile Detention Center is the third of its kind and was built in 1979, Khalid Al-Nekadi, director of correctional institutions in the Makkah region, told Eqtisadiah, a sister publication of Arab News. It was built because rapid economic changes in the wake of the oil boom led to an increase in crime.
The center accommodates youngsters between eight and 18 referred by the police, the governorate, the Ministry of Justice, the anti-narcotics department and the public prosecutor.
M.A., 16, is one of the center’s inmates, here for 10 months for rape. He says he committed the crime because a friend led him astray.
“I was sitting with my friends one day and we started talking about sex. We talked about a lot of things that I’m ashamed to repeat now. I got so excited I ended up raping one of my younger friends.
“I was arrested and sentenced to 10 months in juvenile. I am sad that this happened; this is not how I wanted my life to be.”
F.H. is a 17-year-old high school student doing five years for robbery. He formed a gang with a group of friends who broke into small shops at first, later graduating to bigger stores and supermarkets. “We loved the idea of easy money. We tried to rob a big Jeddah supermarket, but things went wrong and we got caught.”
He is optimistic about the center’s ability to rehabilitate him. “If I hadn’t been caught, the stealing might have become a full-blown profession.”
Fifteen-year-old S.M. has been awaiting sentencing in a murder case for six months. “It all started with an argument, and when it turned physical, I took a big stick and hit him with it. I watched him fall, and he didn’t get up again. I ran away.”
K.A., 16, said he learned from being in the center. “I learned to control my anger here and not to allow it to take over my thinking.
He is here because he got into a fight with a friend and ended up seriously injuring the boy. “I lost my freedom,” he said. “Being in this place, at my age, is killing me.”
There are 400 youngsters in the detention center, 65 percent of whom are of foreign origin. There are no accurate statistics available on juvenile crime as many offenders are released without charge. Car and cell phone thefts top the list of juvenile crimes, followed by burglary and bank robbery. Next is rape, followed by sodomy. Only one percent of juvenile offenders are punished. The rest are sent into juvenile detention because of their young age and ignorance.
There have been no escapes, according to Al-Nekadi.
“A success story was a youngster who was in here for four years and later became a doctor in one of Jeddah’s leading hospitals. I think that is due to the continuous observation we give, and to the family visits. Men can visit on Sunday and women on Tuesday. Family visits play a vital role in the rehabilitation of juvenile offenders,” Al-Nekadi said.
