ETLJB 25/06/2014 -ETLJB has been compiling reports on cases of incest in East Timor for several years. Below are some of those reports. Now, a news article has again raised the issue of incest. According to an English translation of an article published in Tetum in The Dili Weekly yesterday (24 June 2014), Timor-Leste's Prosecutor-General, Jose Ximenes said that last year the prosecutor general's office submitted a proposed amendment to the criminal code to the Ministry of Justice especially to add an article to criminalise incest because neither the criminal code nor the anti domestic violence law does so.
He added that the problem of incest was a very grave problem that needed serious a attention because it affected the credibility and dignity of the nation, one that has a Catholic religious majority.
He said that the the criminal code does contain and article criminalising sexual assault but if it is with consent then it is not a crime so the issue of incest needs a solution by amending the criminal code.
"I have a mandate as the prosecutor general to discuss with legal bodies regarding the need to amend the criminal code to add an article criminalising incest where consent is not an element making it a crime whether there is consent or not involved," said Prosecutor General Ximenes when he participated in a ceremony to launch the annual report of the the organisation for legal aid for children and women (ALFELA) at Vila verde in Dili.
He added that the Prosecutor General of the Republic did not have the power to initiate legislation and only the National Parliament and the government can initiate this legislation, but added that he has still not obtained a response on the submission made to the ministry of justice.
"We also ask the members of the national parliament to pay attention to this a issue," he asked. Source: The Dili Weekly.
See aslo
Dili District Court hands down a sentence of 20 years imprisonment in a case of incest “Girls live in danger and are unsafe in their own homes”
Child Sex Offender Sentenced to 15 Years Imprisonment
Incestuous pedophile father sentenced to 9.5 yrs jail
The Social Problem of Incest in Timor-Leste Latest Report records 49 minors victims of incest
Incest in East Timor - Justice Group says many parents in state of moral degradation
Incest in East Timor
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