Horrendous murder turns focus on crimes by minors

Santo Domingo.- Despite the horrendous crimes committed by children and adolescents, the so-called Code of the Minor establishes that those who commit a criminal offense must be judged respecting all their rights, without being subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment . Nor can they be subjected to treatment that threatens their dignity.

In the case of bond or pretrial detention the Code of the Minor states that imprisonment should be the exception and only for 30 days, and that it could be extended for 15 days in justifiable cases.

When the minor is under 14, “the change of residence for personal protection is generally implemented as a precautionary measure; the obligation of the adolescent to appear periodically to the court or to the authority that designates him; the prohibition of leaving the country or the locality; the prohibition to visit and treat certain people, among others, as withholding at home.

The topic surges in the heels of the murder and sexual abuse of a 4-year old girl in Santiago, by two minors.