Amnesty International urges Madagascar to repeal tough castration legislation

A human rights body, Amnesty International, has appealed to authorities in Madagascar to stop the proposed move to severely punish anyone found guilty raping minors while using chemical and surgical castration. The organization said the move is cruel and degrading…

Amnesty International has called on the government of Madagascar to abolish a new law that allows for the chemical and surgical castration of anyone convicted of raping minors, saying it is “cruel, inhuman, and degrading”.

Last month, President Andry Rajoelina proposed amending the penal code to include chemical and surgical castration as punishment for those found guilty of rape against minors.

These revisions have since been approved by MPs.

In a statement, Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty’s regional director for East and Southern Africa, said rape cases remain under-reported in the country, and perpetrators often go free due to the victims’ and their families’ fear of retaliation, stigmatisation, and a lack of trust in the judicial system.

He added that,“ Implementing chemical and surgical castration, which constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, as a punishment for those found guilty of raping minors will not solve this and is inconsistent with Malagasy constitutional provisions against torture and other ill-treatment, as well as regional and international human rights standards.”

According to the United Nations, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children are human rights violations, and may amount to grave breaches of international humanitarian law.

If committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population, sexual violence can constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.