Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service)- An initiative to set-up the Juvenile Court in Luanda, the Juvenile Justice Department within the Ministry of Justice and establish a network of prevention/rehabilitation Centres to become referral centres for the Court has been undertaken by the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute in collaboration with the Italian government and two Italian NGOs: Volontariato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo (VIS) and Centro Informazione Educazione allo Sviluppo (CIES). The Programme (financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) is aimed at strengthening Angolan institutions in their effort to set up and manage an effective juvenile justice system comprising efficient juvenile courts and related social services in a country still feeling the effects of 25 years of civil war.
Angola has a population of 13.6 million 50% under 15 years of age; it has an estimated 90,000 disabled children, 750,000 war orphans. Moreover about 100,000 minors are not with their family, they live on the streets exposed to the risk of sexual exploitation, violence, child labour ( see Fides 13 March 2003).
During the civil war (1975-2002), children were often drugged and made to perform the most dangerous jobs such as de-mining, while girl children were made sex slaves by militiamen. This has left many youngsters with post-trauma conditions and in need of urgent attention. The best way to help the youngsters is to reunite them with the family. However it is estimated that during the war at least 3 million babies were never registered and this makes it almost impossible to trace the family.
In this context Angola’s juvenile justice system collapsed and minors were tried by adult courts. Although not legally responsible before the age of 16, minor offenders were detained in the same cells as adults, and many were held for more than the maximum three month period of preventive detention, even as long as 14 months and very few were provided with a legal adviser.
The Programme is divided into two components: the judicial component is aimed at providing the local Ministry of Justice with technical and financial support to build the Juvenile Justice Court, the Juvenile Justice Department and the CPA; the social component foresees pilot actions in four target Municipalities that are complementary to the activities of the Juvenile Justice System. In particular, the setting up of four prevention/rehabilitation centres has been designed to operate in close collaboration with the Court as referral centres for minors in need of assistance and as notification points to the Court on situations of minors at-risk. The Centres will have to involve the local communities in their prevention/rehabilitation efforts.
The Juvenile Court is connected with social institutions and when passing sentence judges must take into consideration the psychological and social living conditions of the young offenders. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 10/5/2004, righe 36 parole 447)
