JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF PEDOPHILES

Rabat   Families of pedophilia victims and the human rights association Matkich Wladi  are campaigning to make penalties harsher for convicted pedophiles, in order to stop the rise in cases of sexual exploitation of children.

Unlike other human rights organizations working to abolish the death penalty in Morocco, Matkich Wladi (Don't Touch My Children) and the mothers of the victims appeal to lawmakers to impose chemical castration or death as punishments for convicted pedophiles.

In an interview on Radio Sawa yesterday, Najiba Mounibe, the president of Matkich Wladi said she "realized that the current penalties included in the criminal law of Morocco are not enough to reduce the sexual exploitation of children.''

She added that initially, the association solicited the death penalty for the rapists of children under two years old.' "Yet, many voices from the victim's families believed that chemical castration is the solution."

Chemical castration involves administering medication — via injection or tablets — to take away sexual interest and make it impossible for a person to perform sexual acts. The effects are reversible, after the person stops taking the drug.

Mohamed El-Khadraoui,  a judge at the Court of Cassation in Rabat, told Radio Sawa that "the process of chemical castration has been used in various forms, either forcibly as a sentence or as a way for offenders to reduce their jail time in several countries including Argentina, Australia, Estonia, Israel, Moldova, New Zealand, Poland and Russia."

Earlier this year, Moldova legalized the practice for men convicted of  sex crimes against children.

The practice of forced chemical castration has been called "inhumane treatment" by Amnesty International. The group released a statement after Moldova's legalization of the practice, stating that "any crime shall be punished in a way that abides by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights". Clearly, in the case of raped minors, public opinion has shifted towards harsher sentences.

In response to Matkich Wladi's request, a sociologist stated to Radio Sawa that "the human rights association's attempts to push the authorities  to impose the barbaric punishment are doomed to failure."

"This is an extreme idea and should not be supported by  associations claiming to defend human rights," he added. "

Edited by Jessica R