92 mB reporT
The CAT also recommended that
Macau’s government should ensure that
solitary confinement “remains in all
cases a measure of limited duration and
of last resort, in accordance with interna-
tional standards’’.
These recommendations were made
public, according to the UN staff member,
because the CAT felt “uncomfortable’’
because under the Macau judicial system -
a continental European one - solitary con-
finement should not be an option.
The staff member added that there
was also the possibility that the report
gave the impression that it had been pre-
pared in haste: “My guess is there might
have been a misunderstanding about the
issue, because we cannot accept seeing
children subject to such treatment. Per-
haps the authorities did not have much
time to elaborate on the report. It looks
like they were pressed with time when
preparing it,’’ the UN staff member said.
Confused picture
Children are subject to isolation in
Macau but there seems to be a problem
with the choice of English words used in
the report Macau’s government sent to
A United Nations staff
member close to the
CAT has told Macau
Business that Macau’s
report included mention
of the existence of solitary
t
E
R
s
o
confinement for minors -
l
m
which raised the eyebrows
Í
s a
u
: l
of some member states
t
o
o
h
p
Geneva. ‘Solitary confinement’ sounds derstandings among UN member states, Diamantino dos Santos, a veter-
dramatic, while ‘isolation’ has a very Diamantino dos Santos, an advisor to the an police official, said he had already
different impact. The picture becomes security secretary and member of Macau’s informed the Secretary for Security about
further confused by another expression delegation to Geneva told Macau Business the concerns.
used here, the “individual room”. that the CAT concerns can be raised due “The [the Secretary] will take all
According to YOI’s director Bess to cultural misunderstandings. necessary steps regarding the issue. I re-
Wu, none of these descriptions are cor- “In many countries, especially com- ally don’t know whether solitary confine-
rect: “What we do is to allocate the minor mon law jurisdictions, one can be judged ment is being used in Macau,’’ he said.
to one individual room, with windows, as an adult at 16 or less. So I think the A legal adviser for the Secretary for
toilet facilities, good lighting conditions issue is more related to the jurisdictional Justice shares dos Santos’ view. He said:
as well as ventilation and under supervi- culture of each country or territory,’’ said “One should note that the age for a child
sion of doctors. We don’t have solitary dos Santos, adding, “In Macau there are to be criminally responsible varies ac-
confinement or isolation!” strict rules stating when to apply such cording to countries and jurisdictions. In
Although wording can create misun- correctional measures against minors.” Macau it is 16 and in the Anglo-Saxon
february 2009
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140