Angolan president João Lourenço today called for zero tolerance for sexual violence crimes against minors, which is tending to reach “alarming proportions,” as well as greater attention to the vandalism of public property.
Lourenço made the appeal at the inauguration ceremony of eight new Supreme Court advisory judges in Luanda, stressing the need for particular attention to these two types of crime.
“Without prejudice to the need to combat all crimes, we are greatly concerned by the crime of sexual violence against minors, which is reaching alarming proportions in our country, as well as the crime of vandalising public property,” he said, adding that “zero tolerance must be applied” to these crimes, or control will be lost.
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“The appeal I make is that all of us — the executive in drafting legislative proposals — seek to discourage the practice of these crimes, that the National Assembly facilitates their approval, and that you, the courts, equally take measures that discourage others from committing the same crimes,” he stressed.
Lourenço said justice, like all other institutions of state power, bears great responsibility for the social peace the country seeks, with all branches called to contribute to “good justice.” “The three powers work towards this end — the executive has the responsibility to draft legislative proposals, which are submitted to the legislature for approval, and finally the courts have the responsibility to interpret and enforce the law.”
Earlier this month, the president of Angola’s Bar Association, José Luís Domingos, reported that 9,669 cases of child sexual abuse had been registered in the past three years, with 960 cases recorded up to December last year, describing the figures as “alarming” and calling for more efficient mechanisms to combat the phenomenon, including a reassessment of the criminal sentencing framework.
