European Central: Luxembourg In Hot Water Over How It Detains Children

Pierre Matgé/Luxemburger Wort

Luxembourg is not the only nation in the world to detain children and this is not the cause of recent controversy. Instead, the problem is how it detains children alongside adults in the same facilities. Children ideally should never be held in the same facilities but if they are, they must always be strictly separated from the adults. The reality, however, in Luxembourg is that children being held at the Luxembourg Prison have hours each day of unsupervised contact with the adults. The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture advises Luxembourg to stop this for the sake of protecting the children. 

Proper Facility For Children

The nation has been planning to build a facility exclusively for children but the construction has not yet started. The Minister for Children and Youth in Luxembourg, Claude Meisch, stated that it may take years for the facility to materialize. It is planned to be built in the Dreiborn area, a town in southeastern Luxembourg near the border it shares with Germany. The project has been delayed for decades by politicians, at this point almost 30 years. This can be a bit surprising given Luxembourg’s status as the wealthiest nation in the European Union. If any EU member state would have the funds for a project such as this it would be Luxembourg. 

Luxembourg does already have a facility for children in Dreiborn which has been operational since 2017, yet has a capacity of only 12 children. This appears to not be sufficient if the nation six years later is still holding children amongst adults in prison. While it may not be one of the top priorities currently due to inflation and a sharp rise in living costs following lockdowns for the COVID-19 pandemic and invasion of Ukraine, a new facility still must be constructed sooner rather than later. This is particularly true if Luxembourg wants to be seen as a leader in achieving a better world. 

Depending on the design of the prison, if there is a separate wing where there would be a clear separation between adults and children, Luxembourg could potentially do as other European Union nations have and rent out prison cells in other nations. This could be done until Luxembourg is able to construct a new facility. As Luxembourg would not be the first EU nation to do so, there should be no legal troubles as long as it guarantees that prisoners temporarily held in other nations are being treated in accordance with how they would be in Luxembourg. Examples include Denmark renting prison cells in Kosovo and Belgium doing the same in the Netherlands. This would prevent anything bad from happening in the current facility currently where adults and children are able to mingle without sufficient supervision. The focus should be on protecting minors, and this could hypothetically be achieved before a separate facility is constructed.

Concerns About Luxembourg Prison Conditions

In Luxembourg, 43 percent of people detained are awaiting trial, compared to the average of 28 percent in Europe. At the moment, Luxembourg has no national legislation limiting the amount of time a person can be detained pretrial. The Committee against Torture of the United Nations is concerned about the lack of a time limit for detainment before trial. There have also been complaints that Luxembourg tends to automatically assume people will flee before trial and detain them in prison rather than evaluating cases individually, checking to see if conditions truly exist to suggest these defendants would flee if not held. If that’s the case, there is no reason to hold these people before their trials. 

There is also concern over Luxembourg’s practice of taking photographs of the genitals of unaccompanied minors in an attempt to verify their ages when they do not possess any documentation proving their age. This practice seems to be very intrusive and begs the question if there are no other ways to verify the age of unaccompanied minors. Rather than including photos, there could be simple documentation stating whether medical experts believe each individual to be a minor or not. In general, this would seem to potentially fall under child pornography legislation. In Luxembourg, however, child pornography legislation is unfortunately vague and is likely not a potential avenue in order to stop these photographs from being taken. Currently, national legislation for child pornography in Luxembourg does not conform with international standards. The main concern is that child pornography is not clearly defined, potentially leaving children at risk. Luxembourg has been identified as a destination country for human trafficking, which is yet another reason to ensure potential unaccompanied minors are treated with respect. They must be treated with dignity and respect, rather than take nude photographs of them as if they are a product rather than people. 

Conclusion

Having a separate facility for children is important for their safety and to eliminate the potential risks that sharing a facility with adults has for children. It is crucial Luxembourg construct this facility as soon as possible. Luxembourg has the highest GDP per capita in the European Union, and its failure to safeguard children makes it difficult for the European Union to criticize the treatment of prisoners elsewhere in the world. Luxembourg must also update its legislation regarding pretrial detainment and child pornography to better safeguard its citizens and unaccompanied minors as well. Poorer nations can attempt to justify the poor conditions of prisoners by pointing to the problems Luxembourg faces despite being one of the wealthiest nations worldwide. If the European Union wants to be seen as a global actor, it needs to ensure that it is living up to its own expectations first.