21 minor delinquents caught every day in Algeria

Delinquency among youth fell by 15 percent in 2012 compared to previous years. In 2002, justice prosecuted 12,000 minor delinquents while 8,000 were prosecuted in 2012, president of the National Office for Child Protection and Juvenile Delinquency Khira Messaoudane said on Thursday.

“School dropouts and the 1990’s violence crisis in Algeria were behind juvenile delinquency,” Messaoudane told a national radio channel.

She added that 2,870 minors  were involved in theft , 1,905 in assaults and 363 in vandalizing in 2012.

“Algiers is ranked first with 729 delinquents followed by Oran (west of Algeria) with 552, Annaba (east of Algeria) with 500 and Biskra (south of Algeria) with 246.”

President of Nada Network for Child’s Rights Defence Abderrahmane Araar believes that figures given by security forces “do not reflect reality.”

“There is another dangerous category which is in centers. It is a rate number. That means the number of delinquent minors is larger than official figures,” he told Echorouk.

He added that the number of 8,000 delinquents in 2012 is more serious than 12,000, ten years ago. “Current violence among minors is more dangerous than crimes perpetrated by young people in previous years. Now, we see minors involved in murders and smuggling across borders and exploited by organized criminal networks.”

Speaking about kidnapped children in 2012, Messaoudane said 204 cases were reported.

She believes that child kidnapping is not a new phenomenon in Algeria. “A total of 1,737kidnapped children in 2012 including 1,016 girls were rapped,” she said.

She added that children, parents and teachers should be careful as kidnappers do not have “apparent” indicators.

Specialized security troops are mobilized to handle cases of children victim of violence including rape.