Les centres d’encadrement des mineurs en conflit avec la loi au Cameroun (1953-2017)

Abstract

The supervision of children in conflict with the law in Cameroon is a major concern for the government. It has its roots or origins in the French colonial period. Indeed, the French authorities to whom the management of Cameroon had been entrusted successively by the League of Nations (SDN) and the United Nations (UN) are the first initiators of the policy of supervision of juvenile offenders in this territory. . During the mandate period, a first attempt to create a structure or institution aimed at supervising juvenile delinquents had been undertaken. It had materialized through the establishment of the penal colony of Malimba by Edéa in 1933. This first attempt had been a failure, since the structure had been closed in 1939. It was during the period of supervision that this policy framework had taken a decisive turn following the effective establishment of a social service in French Cameroon followed by the birth of the two institutions for the supervision of juvenile delinquents, namely the Institution Camerounaise de l'Enfance (ICE) and the Douala Reception and Observation Center (CAO) in 1953. After Cameroon's independence, several other structures were created, notably the CAO of Bafoussam, the ICE of Maroua, the Home Ateliers of Douala (HA), the Bortstal Institute of Buéa, etc. These various institutions for supervising minors in conflict with the law that exist in Cameroon have the mission of reintegrating or socializing socially maladjusted minors through three main axes, namely, educational action (psycho-social care ), school and remedial education; apprenticeship in trades or vocational training. It is from these main pillars that our study, which is centered on a case study, namely the ICE of Bétamba, aims to examine or evaluate the relevance or effectiveness of policies for the supervision of juvenile offenders in Cameroon. For its realization, we made recourse to several sources. These are written primary sources (MINAS archives), oral sources obtained through various interviews, secondary sources (dissertations, articles and books) and finally, iconographic sources. Overall, it emerges that the rehabilitation strategies of minors in conflict with the law in Cameroon have obtained some positive results, but remain ineffective in most cases. This means that their results are mixed.