Prisons, children will remain in cells with their detained mothers: the majority makes the postponement of sentences optional for pregnant women or mothers with 1-year-old children

ROMA – On August 7th, the Chamber of Deputies discussed the issue of mothers detained with their children in prison. But the Chamber was unable to express a common position in favor of the rights of innocent victims of girls and boys. With the approval of the “Prisons” Decree – the provision was approved with 153 votes in favor and 89 against – the majority has modified in a decidedly restrictive and punitive sense the provisions of the penal code that provided for the obligation to postpone the sentence for pregnant women or with children under 1 year of age, making the protection in force until now optional, which is now entrusted to the discretion of the judge. To date, between Institutes with Attenuated Custody for Detained Mothers (ICAM) and nursery sections of ordinary prisons, 19 women live in prison with their 22 children.

The crux of Article 12. In essence, what happened was that the joint Constitutional Affairs and Justice Committees of Montecitorio rejected all the amendments to the bill proposed by the opposition, especially those relating to Article 12 on detained mothers, which remains unchanged. There was a heated discussion in the Chamber also due to the absence, during the vote, of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Justice Minister Nordio.

Changes for incarcerated mothers. The new prison decree has been harshly criticized by charitable organizations and associations that deal with prison law. The most controversial central issue is – precisely – the one concerning detained mothers, fragile people with very complicated and often painful personal histories, who therefore need particular detention conditions, when an alternative reduction of sentence is not possible. But article 12 of the DL therefore officially makes the current obligation of postponement of punishment for pregnant women and mothers with children under one year of age.

And then he gets offended if they tell him he’s racist. Moreover, a message on one of the social platforms on which the Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, expresses himself – who gets offended if he is told he is a racist – also supported by the Lega parliamentarian, Simonetta Matone, was deemed literally “shameful”. Both have published generalizing and racist considerations – precisely – launching indirect invectives against the Roma population and the pickpockets of Milan.

We need protected family homes. In recent days theUNICEF Italy had underlined the need to find an agreement between the majority and the opposition to identify an adequate solution to make the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child concrete, without any discrimination whatsoever, supporting the need to finance the Protected family homes – ICAM: Institute with reduced custody for detained mothers – and prevent children from being forced to live in prison with their mothers. But our appeal has gone unheard.

Legal civilization and fundamental rights. The current law should be able to grasp and accommodate the demands of both legal culture and fundamental human rights. “The rights of boys and girls – as stated in a document of theUNICEF – should be above any generalization or instrumentalization and everyone should recognize and support their inviolability”.