Friday, June 20, 2008 Rehab to be restorative must include offenders, says group
THE Coalition Against Death Penalty (CADP) is pushing for what it calls restorative justice, where the rehabilitation is not only for crime victims but also for those who committed them.
The present justice system in the country views a crime as a violation of laws, so violators are prosecuted, said CADP vice president Rudolfo Diamante.
Diamante said that by committing crimes, the offender destroys relationships within the community.
While the present justice system makes the violators of law pay for their crimes through due process of law, with imprisonment as remedy, restorative justice restores broken relationships.
Accountable
“We are advocating that the offender will be able to restitute the crime committed directly to the victim. At the same time, the offender will also realize the crime he has committed and be accountable for it and be sorry for it,” Diamante told Sun.Star Cebu.
Diamante said the present justice system does not allow restitution as it “pulls out” offenders from society and does not allow them to interact with the victims.
Pain
“The present system is not satisfying the victim, is not satisfying the offender and it escalates the pain,” said Diamante.
CADP said that through restorative justice, one does not “repair the harm by harming,” but it repairs the damage by creating a relationship between the victim and the offender.
Traumatized
“You address the needs of the victim, as he has been traumatized by the experience. According to psychology, part of the recovery program is for the victim to engage with the offender and not fight it out in court,” said Diamante.
CADP is currently advocating for alternative means of imprisonment with volunteers working on the “victim offender mediation program,” where “volunteers act as mediators between the victim and the offender,” said Diamante. (EPB)
