10 March 2009 - Child Rights at the Human Rights Council 50
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Children Have Rights Too!
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Human Rights Council: Week two sees children's rights take centre stage [news]
The usual hustle and bustle of the Human Rights Council has, for child rights activists at least, been imbued with special significance at the international forum's tenth session, held in Geneva, Switzerland.
For the first time in the history of the Council, set up in 2006, a full day's work will be devoted to the rights of children, thrusting the issue to the summit of the mechanism's agenda.
The dedicated event, held on Wednesday 11 March at the Palais des Nations, will include discussion of how the Convention on the Rights of the Child could be better implemented.
There will be an NGO statement from the Working Group on the Human Rights Council – a collection of representatives from child rights NGOs who work to ensure children's rights are integrated and mainstreamed into the work of the Council - as well as an interactive discussion and other statements. CRIN will be reporting on the event. To sign up to our special CRINMAILs on the Human Rights Council, visit: http://www.crin.org/email/subscribe.asp
Child rights week
Other events so far confirmed for this week include, on Tuesday, an event on violence in the juvenile justice system, and on Thursday a meeting about the integration of children's rights in the Universal Periodic Review mechanism (what is this?). We will inform you of other events as soon as we hear about them.
Special Procedures, including the Special Rapporteur on Trafficking, will be presenting their reports during the main (plenary) Council meeting.
It is also expected that at some stage during the session, a resolution on the rights of the child will be tabled and adopted. We will publish the resolution on CRIN as soon as it is available.
Further information
For more information, contact:
Child Rights Information Network
East Studio, 2 Pontypool Place, London, SE1 8QF
Tel: +44 (0)207 401 2257
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.crin.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=19790
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Side event on violence and juvenile justice [news]
A side event at the Human Rights Council addressed the issue of violence against children in the criminal justice system.
Ugo Cedrangolo, of OHCHR, began the presentations by emphasising that violence against children concerns not only children in conflict with the law, but also children in contact with the criminal justice system via other means, such as child victims and witnesses.
He divided the topic into three core areas: the deprivation of liberty, treatment and condition in detention, and the victims or witnesses of crime.
He noted violence often occurs right at the moment of arrest, or subsequent custody. “This has been recognised as one of the most dangerous situations for potential victims of torture”, he said.
Mr Cedrangolo explained the relevant standards governing the issue, including article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, General Comment ten of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and the 'Riyadh guidelines'.
Mr Cedrangolo highlighted the issue of pre-trial detention, whereby children may languish for months or even years in jail awaiting trial. Discrimination is an important component - children from certain groups are more vulnerable to coming into contact with the criminal justice system, such as migrant children, children from minority backgrounds, and children with mental health problems.
Secondly, he also drew the audience’s attention to the issue of status offences. Children are criminalised for incidents which would not be offences if perpetrated by adults.
Bernard Boeton, of Terre Des Hommes, said that from his field experience, “no institution can say that they have not had the problem, don’t have the problem or will never have the problem of sexual abuse”. Child protection policies, he said, were crucial: to protect children, to protect the staff and to protect the institution itself.
Jean Claude Legrand, of UNICEF’s Regional Office for CEE/CIS, said the fall of the Berlin wall had precipitated a huge increase in numbers of juvenile offenders.
He drew attention to the grave lack of data on juvenile justice. “There is a major black hole for the period between arrest and conviction: information is lacking, the rules are not known and the rights of children are not enforced”, he added.
He also mentioned that offenders below the minimum age of criminal responsibility are generally not provided with adequate responses. However, he also said that the window of opportunity for reform is open. Conditions of detention have improved, legal reform is underway. There are a lot of initiatives in the region. We need to make sure all blocks of the system are in place. There is still a tendency to apply a one size fits all model to address the issues.”
He concluded: “Reforming the systems without changing the minds will not be enough.”
Rait Kuuse, of Prison Reform International, detailed practical examples of PRI’s work in Georgia on violence and juvenile justice.
Nikhil Roy, of Save the Children UK, talked about advocacy strategies on juvenile justice. He provided ten advocacy strategies with which to combat violence in the juvenile justice system:
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evidence gathering
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alliance building
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building capacity of stakeholders
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working with the government
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making friends with the media
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using the international system
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influencing donors
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using the judiciary
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lobbying the law makers , including the opposition
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documenting good practice.
Questions from the floor
The director of Defence for Children International asked if the apparent rise in juvenile delinquency following the fall of the Berlin wall could be attributed to a true rise in criminality, or if the figures simply masked other factors.
Bruce Abramson remarked on the need to engage the broader society, and also the deficiencies in the draft guidelines on alternative care regarding this issue. He said: “There is discrimination against children accused of crime, as they are not included in the guidelines.”
Roberta Cecchetti, of the International Save the Children Alliance, raised the issue of criminal responsibility. She said: “It is still the major benchmark used by states to deal with children in conflict with the law. If there is responsibility, there is harsher punishment.”
She asked: “How can we help in delinking the minimum age of criminal responsibility from the reform of the criminal justice system?”
A representative from Human Rights Advocates asked what mechanisms were available to prevent the execution of, and life sentences handed to, juvenile offenders in countries such as Iran and the US.
Veronica Birga, of OHCHR, concluded by summarising the discussions, and in particular drawing attention to the UN Study on Violence Against Children, which emphasised how children’s low status was a primary component of violence towards them. She highlighted the ongoing efforts to appoint a Special Representative to the Secretary General on Violence Against Children.
Further information
For more information, contact:
Child Rights Information Network
East Studio, 2 Pontypool Place, London, SE1 8QF
Tel: +44 (0)207 401 2257
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.crin.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=19799
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Coming Up
Wednesday 11 March: Annual full day meeting on the rights of the child: the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Palais des Nations
Thursday 12 March: Side event: Using the UPR to promote the rights of the child, 2 to 4pm, Palais des Nations, room XXVII
Thursday 19 March: The reintegration of children in conflict with the law, Palais des Nations, room and time TBC.
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