Opinion (Rogério COPETO): VIOLENT CRIME IS PRAXIS.
Whenever starting a new school year, the theme of praxis is again the subject of discussion and not for the best reasons. This time it was news a practice that was to bury the young in the sand as they were given alcohol.
Rogério COPETO
Lieutenant Colonel of the GNR, Master in Law and Security and Homeland Security Auditor
Head of the Education Division / Command Doctrine and Training
We all know that practice is synonymous with tradition, but we also know that burying people in the sand is synonymous with torture, can not be considered "violent and abusive practice" and so it is not my intention to censor any tradition, be it academic or other nature, but censuring behavior that can be typified as a crime.
Academic traditions are lacking in any higher education institution, and I know from experience, because also I attended higher education institutions (civilian and military) and I know the difference between practice and conduct that may amount to the commission of the crimes of bodily harm, threats, coercion or injury.
However it should be noted that all listed crimes are parastatals, requiring the victim to submit the complaint respective, and the possible consent of the victim participation in these activities, express or presumed, It works as a cause of precluding wrongfulness of any crime, and for the author to be punished must be shown that it was committed with intent (fraud) or at least the author knowing the circumstances of his behavior were dangerous, yet he settled for the eventual results (dolo eventual).
Regardless of the aforementioned, the crimes they are public or semi-public must be reported to the authorities for them who have knowledge, because it is after the Public Prosecutor to determine initiation crime investigation or archive participation by lack of desire on the part of the victim to make a complaint.
So and return to news, the same reminds us of the tragic events in the Mill Beach, in Sesimbra municipality in December 2013 and killed 6 young, By not possibly have been committed some type of crime, but also because it happened on a beach and involved students from an institution of higher education.
Therefore and in the aftermath of this tragedy, the Ministry of Education and Science (MEC) He launched a campaign last year, entitled "Zero tolerance for violent and abusive practice", to combat "violent and abusive praxis", recommending to higher education institutions, "the inclusion in the respective disciplinary regulations of standards that clearly define that the student has a duty not to perform any act of violence or physical or psychological coercion on others, particularly in the context of academic praxis, and that such a practice, by act or omission, should be considered disciplinary offense“.
As part of that campaign, It is also provided an electronic mail address, praxesabusivas@mec.gov.pt and is still active, so that all students, victims or not, denounce such conduct, Last school year having been received 80 complaints and this year 2.
By constant reports of the existence of "violent and abusive practices followed" and statements by the heads of higher education institutions, who can not avoid the practice of this kind of praxis, it seems that the campaign launched last year has not had the desired success.
For the failure of the campaign will eventually contributed, from our point of view, transmitting the idea that "...perform any act of violence or physical or psychological coercion…" only constitutes a disciplinary offense and that such conduct should be sent, to an email address (knowing to those who receive and what fate gives them).
To reverse this situation, our opinion, that the campaign should be noted that the "violent and abusive practices followed" may eventually constitute the commission of a crime provided for and punishable under the Penal Code, in which case be communicated to the prosecutor or law enforcement authorities, or preferring to use the internet by accessing the portal Complaint electronics, and attend the facts.
So, We consider that when practiced "violent and abusive practices followed" crimes may be committed, and so it has to be treated as such, in accordance with the provisions of criminal law, and not in any rules, as a disciplinary offense, with the result that none of these behaviors is really punished, causing the perpetrators a sense of impunity.
Also to strengthen the fight against this phenomenon of "violent and abusive practices followed" I consider whether to expand the "Safe School Program" (PES), the higher education institutions, with the same objectives that exist for primary schools and secondary, which among other, aims to prevent and combat crimes inside and outside of schools.
We need our students the same kind of awareness and information, We need our younger students?
We need our university's proximity to security forces, as they need our students of primary and secondary?
We believe that students attending higher education need equally to information and outreach, although mostly, be of age. But when a campaign called "Zero tolerance for violent and abusive practice " redounds in failure, it seems that it should take stronger measures or soon will have another tragedy, involving college students.
It also required a change of attitude on the part of the entire population toward these behaviors, requiring that all of us, before these behaviors, as devermos denunciar, to cease immediately, because only the outrage on social networks is not enough to banish once our higher education institutions the "violent and abusive praxis".
