According to the judge of the Supreme Court of Angola and member of the CSMJ, Carlos Cavuquila, “more than approving and changing laws, the country needs to create appropriate infrastructures for the re-education process of minors in conflict with the law or victims of abuse”, suggesting that, in each province, “local authorities take on this role”.
Carlos Cavuquila, who spoke this Tuesday at the opening of the National Conference on Juvenile Justice, in Luanda, considered that the current situation in the country, marked by the lack of integrated centers for assisting children and adolescents, does not guarantee the implementation of juvenile justice.
It also considered that juvenile justice rooms in district courts have the power to apply criminal prevention measures to non-imputable children and young people, as well as to apply protective measures for the protection, assistance and education of minors.
“However, the application of these measures is not enough. The courts also have the power to monitor the implementation of the measures they apply, emphasizing the binomial welfare and punitiveness, which underlie juvenile justice,” he said.
He noted that the current situation “does not always allow for the observance of the aforementioned binomial”, highlighting that the CSMJ registers with “great concern” the absence of establishments to provide assistance to minors in conflict with the law.
Cavuquila argued that minors should be in re-education establishments, in detention facilities to deal with the “immediate resocialization of children based on their age”.
Speaking on behalf of the president of the CSMJ, the magistrate referred to cases of minors involved in various crimes, including homicides, but who, due to a lack of shelters, are returned to their families.
“There [within the family] they often continue to commit crimes. This paints a grim picture that we need to reverse as quickly as possible. We need to define responsibilities,” he stressed.
The judge added that the country only has four care and reception rooms for children and young people in conflict with the law, “insufficient to meet” the demand and defended the need to create these institutions throughout the national territory.
“We need at least each province to have a detention center for minors in conflict with the law,” highlighted Carlos Cavuquila.
