March through Tegucigalpa closes consultation on juvenile crime

Manuel Quintero, TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, February 1, 2004

 Shouting slogans and signing hymns in favor of peace, young Evangelicals from Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Taxi Heathrow Airport Salvador and Honduras held a march in the Honduran capital after two emotional and fruitful days of deliberations about the issue of juvenile delinquency.

The tranquility of the sunny Sunday morning was filled with the boisterous presence of 100 Central American young people who were joined by other young people and adults from local Churches in the one-hour march that attracted the attention of the local press. Three television channels covered the march, which concluded with a Christian music concert.

"This march is a demonstration of the will of Churches to work in favor of peace. We want a society of peace," said lawyer Noemi Espinoza, in the closing ceremony in the Obelisk Park in downtown Tegucigalpa. Espinoza is the executive director of the Christian Development Commission, the host body for the consultation on juvenile delinquency that was sponsored by the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI).

For his part, Pastor Israel Batista, secretary general of CLAI, said that the consultation demonstrated that Churches in the region have a common vocation for life and he called on all young people to "be peacemakers and not constructors of violence."

In the sermon at the closing ceremony, Pastor Eduardo Chinchilla, CLAI secretary for Mesoamerica, said that "Juvenile delinquency is organized and sows terror in our streets, but these young people are the new generations that look for violent solutions because they have no paradigms or hope."

For this reason, Central American governments "must measure the reach of the repressive laws and think more about creating viable routes for development and providing hope for young people."

The consultation included conferences about the legal framework of the so-called gang law, offered by Dr. Edmundo Orellana, former attorney general of Honduras and the culture of violence, presented by Psychologist Juan Gilberto Torres, of the Casa Alianza organization.

There was also a diagnostic about the national realties of four countries, focusing on the issue of juvenile delinquency, prepared by young people from the involved Churches and the testimony of young people who were involved in gangs and were rescued by their faith experience.

On the second day, young people worked in groups to carry out a more in-depth analysis and to present specific proposals to their Churches. Said proposals were discussed and approved in a plenary session and will be included in the final document produced by the consultation.

The Central American young people also approved the so-called "Monte Carmelo Declaration" that indicated that the problem of violence and delinquency associated with gang "has its roots in the causes and effects derived from wars, poverty, corruption, migration and neoliberal projects that have impoverished Central American people even further."

It is also rooted in family breakdown and situations of domestic violence and the lack of understanding many young people encounter in their families, they said.

In the declaration, young people also manifested their discrepancies with the ways the anti-gang laws are being applied. In their opinion, the laws do not represent a solution to the problem but rather spark greater violence, anxiety and fear among the population.

"We do not defend violence or delinquency, we are not in agreement with the actions of some young people in gangs, but we do believe that the methods that are used are not the most appropriate because they do not contemplate prevention of the crime or the rehabilitation of the young people," stated the document.

The declaration calls on the governments to review and adapt the spirit and contents of the anti-gang law according to international agreements that promote and protect the rights of the child and that they invest in rehabilitating young people linked to gangs.

The document also calls on them to review and evaluate the role of the police in the region and to place special emphasis on training these forces in knowledge about and respect for human rights.

The young people also call on governments to regulate the media, given their influence on children and young people and because they are the main disseminators of programs that extol violence.

Finally young people meeting in Monte Carmelo, called on Churches to review their proposal for youth work, offering young people greater support and autonomy. They also called on them to coordinate efforts and resources with local governments to deal with the issue of juvenile delinquency.