Mozambique's National Penitentiary Service (Sernap) and the Maputo City Council signed a protocol on Tuesday allowing the execution of alternative sentences through the provision of socially useful work within municipal services.
The agreement provides for the creation of placements across different departments and services administered by the Maputo City Council, where individuals convicted under this sentencing modality will be able to serve their sanctions.
The measure represents a step toward implementing alternatives to custodial sentencing and reinforces a commitment to accountability and the social reintegration of offenders, enabling them to contribute to activities of public interest.
During the signing ceremony, Sernap Director-General David Arsénio described the protocol as a gain for the criminal justice administration system. He also highlighted the importance of institutional cooperation in the execution of alternative sentences.
According to David Arsénio, the provision of socially useful work can strengthen values such as accountability and discipline, while simultaneously creating conditions for the social reintegration of convicted individuals. The director-general further underscored the need to develop penal responses that go beyond punishment and contribute to the rehabilitation and social integration of offenders.
Maputo City Council President Rasaque Manhique argued that implementing the protocol could contribute to the education and resocialisation of convicted individuals. 'By accommodating the provision of socially useful work within our services, the municipality will be contributing to ensuring that the sentence also has an educational, social, and restorative dimension,' he said.
Under the new instrument, the City of Maputo will assume a direct role in the execution of non-custodial sentences, creating opportunities for the delivery of public utility services while reconciling accountability, discipline, and social reintegration.
Sernap has also indicated plans to introduce electronic monitoring bracelets in Mozambique before the end of the year as part of broader measures aimed at reducing overcrowding in the country's prisons. Implementation of the measure depends solely on the completion of the necessary legal framework to bring the system into operation.
Source: Diário Económico
Original article: https://www.diarioeconomico.co.mz/?p=530194
