Surgical castration bound for child rapists
In early February, Madagascar’s National Assembly, followed by the Senate, adopted a law to impose surgical or chemical castration on child rapists. Last week, the government council validated the decree, which is now in force.
For perpetrators of rape of children under 10, the amendment provides for a sentence of surgical castration. “It also includes the possibility of resorting to chemical or surgical castration for rapists of children aged 10 to 13, and chemical castration for perpetrators of rape of minors aged 13 to 18,” national media reported.
Today, the decree only concerns the sentence of surgical castration, which will only be applied in certain cases, as chemical castration is considered unconstitutional.
Amnesty International strongly criticizes this decision.
The NGO considers castration as "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment", stressing that chemical or surgical castration cannot solve the problem of rape of minors.
For Amnesty International, the text poses an ethical problem. The NGO states that this treatment is "not compatible with the Malagasy constitutional provisions against torture and ill-treatment, as well as with regional and international human rights standards", highlighting the irreversible damage caused by castration.
(MH with AsD - Source: Linfo.re - Illustration: Unsplash)