(MENAFN- Jordan Times) The committee entrusted with probing special education centres held the social development ministry, the Higher Council for the Affairs of Persons with Disabilities (HCD) and its representing members legally and morally responsible for violations in some centres.
The report, whose results were announced on Tuesday, painted an unflattering picture of the situation in a number of special education facilities, showing cases of ill-treatment, negligence and a severe lack of resources.
"We have found wooden and iron cages and sticks in some of them [the centres] that are believed to be used to beat and torture the children," Muhyiddine Touq, head of the committee and former commissioner general of the National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR), told reporters on Tuesday.
Investigations have showed that 12 centres out of the 56 facilities visited by the panel were in dire need of rehabilitation.
The centres were classified as those with "excellent" services and infrastructure, with fees varying between JD8,000 and JD24,000 each year, those with middle to limited resources but with good services and those with bad services and resources.
Earlier this month, the British Broadcasting Corporation aired a documentary depicting children in private special education centres being subjected to systematic violence.
His Majesty King Abdullah paid surprise visits to several private centres following the documentary and asked the government to investigate all facilities providing services to people with disabilities and hold accountable every person involved in the violations.
To this end, the social development ministry formed a committee to investigate the alleged violations.
The panel, which included legal, forensic and human rights experts, discovered violations that require immediate intervention, citing violence, lack of administrative and medical reports for children with disabilities and incompetent cadres in some centres.
"We also noticed inefficiency in dealing with the sexual aspect regarding residents at some centres, with some centres resorting to isolation or medications that suppress inmates' sexual urges," Touq highlighted.
He added that observations also showed undocumented, old and new bruises on the bodies of some children that were not self-inflicted and were not reported, while diagnoses of disabilities are contradictory in some cases.
Experts on the panel also discovered that some girls have been put in a public care centre in Karak Governorate upon an administrative decision, while five others used to leave with a female employee during weekends for unknown places and six others in other centres did not suffer from any disability.
They also showed that the workers in these centres earn "very" low salaries, work around the clock and do not enjoy job stability.
Panel members noticed that there were no Jordanian volunteers in the care centres and that all volunteers are foreigners,.
With around 70 per cent of beneficiaries at the centres are of other Arab nationalities, the committee blamed parents for not filing complaints over the violations against their children, said Touq.
He added that only 69 complaints have been filed with the committee during the two-week period, despite designating a hotline, fax and an e-mail address to receive comments.
Touq underlined that in addition to the HCD and the social development ministry, the NCHR and the health ministry are also to be blamed for not supervising the work of special education and disability centres.
He said the Ministry of Social Development was accountable since it is in charge of issuing and renewing licences of PWD care centres, while the HCD issues accreditation and quality control standards, which are not observed due to "failure in monitoring".
Touq also criticised the lack of clear legal provision that prohibit using violence or mistreatment against people with disabilities in special centres and the lack of regulations that enable the social development ministry to take immediate measures against violating centres.
Minister of Social Development Wajih Azaizeh agreed, adding that the ministry only managed to shut down two centres, the Amman-based Al Madar International Centre for Special Education and the Ibn Khaldoun Centre for Special Education.
"Under the current regulations, we should issue a one-month warning to violating centres even if the level of violation is intolerable," he said.
During the press conference, which also included parents whose children are among those who appeared in the BBC documentary, Azaizeh said he takes the "full moral and legal responsibility" for the findings of the report.
"It's a transitional government and I have an obligation to undertake full responsibility," the minister said.
He pledged to resolve the issue within a specific time frame, urging the panel to continue its investigation and help the stakeholders implement its recommendations, which included reviewing bylaws, placing cameras in care centres and improving the competence of workers.
Azaizeh announced the establishment of a unit responsible for care centres, urging committee members to investigate other centres affiliated with the ministry to ensure that no violations are taking place.
Meanwhile, HRH Prince Raad, Chief Chamberlain and president of the HCD, said the outcomes of the committee provide an opportunity to revisit regulations governing the rights of people with disabilities.
He added that there is a need to amend bylaws in order to give the council and the social development ministry wider authorities to monitor the work of special care centres and stiffen penalties taken against violators.
HCD Secretary General Amal Nahhas said the upcoming stage needs more joint efforts between the council and the ministry, noting that the HCD will hold a series of meetings with stakeholders at the ministry to arrive at an agreed on vision to protect people with disabilities at care centres.
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