"The report by the Ombuds Office for Children and Youths on the precarious situation in the juvenile detention centre in Vienna is in line with our observations and confirms my position on this virulent problem. The fact that a second independent institution is now also pointing out the abuses should be a wake-up call for the Ministry of Justice. The juvenile penal system is a single construction site that needs to be rectified as quickly as possible. More staff, more employment, training and care for young people are the order of the day," emphasises Ombudswoman Gaby Schwarz in response to the statements made by Viennese child and youth advocate Sebastian Öhner.
"The accommodation of juveniles in the Josefstadt prison, which is permanently overcrowded, was and is anything but ideal. The former Gerasdorf juvenile detention centre was closed before the new Münnichplatz site was completed. The juveniles and also the staff now have to pay for this serious mistake," criticises the Ombudswoman, who appeals to the Ministry of Justice to pull out all the stops in order to comply with the standards defined by the ministry itself in the juvenile detention centre. According to information from the Ombudsman Board, construction work on Münnichplatz is well advanced. "It remains to be seen whether the start of full operation at the end of the year, which has been postponed several times, can be honoured," says Gaby Schwarz.
Ombudswoman Gaby Schwarz: "The juvenile penal system is a single construction site that needs to be rectified as quickly as possible."