CRINMAIL 81:

Daily CRINMAIL: 6 March

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A Day in Children's Rights: 6 March

Welcome to the second of this week's special daily CRINMAIL on children's rights at the 19th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, from where CRIN will be reporting.

If you missed yesterday's CRINMAIL with news on 5 March discussions, click here.

And for full information on the 19th session and how you can participate, click here.

Freedom of religion

The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Mr. Heiner Bielefeldt, presented his annual report to the Human Rights Council today (read child rights extracts here), which was followed by an interactive debate. 

A discussion focused on the trend among some countries of banning religious clothing in certain settings. However, there was scarce mention on the effects of such bans, for example, those on Islamic headwear for girls in school. 

In reference to more religious States, one NGO notably said: “There is no compulsion in religion. So it is deeply ironic that [in some countries] the penalty for apostasy is death.” 

Find out what other issues were raised here.

Enforced disappearance 

The Working Group (WG) on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances also presented its annual report today (read child rights extracts here).

The interactive debate mainly focused on the enforced or involuntary disappearance of adults, but there was some mention of children's rights, including the effects on children of the disappearance of a parent. Egypt was one of only a few State delegations to recognise that children are also victims of disappearances. 

The Chair-Rapporteur of the WG, Mr Jeremy Sarkin, said at the end of the interactive debate that more analysis is underway on the relationship between children and enforced disappearances. 

Read about other issues raised during the discussion here.

Violence against Children

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on Violence against Children (VAC) presented her report on ‘Protecting children from violence in schools’ at a panel discussion. This report was a follow up to a meeting held in Norway last summer.

In response to the discussion, Peter Newell, Coordinator of the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children, stressed the particularly grotesque nature of VAC in schools – especially when it is legal – as these are institutions to which children are forced to go, and so are effectively also forced to be victims of violence.

Mr Newell summed up that law reform is the most basic measure that a State can take to tackling VAC in schools; but for such laws to take effect on the ground, their enforcement must also take place. And in cases where teachers are the perpetrators of the violence, they should be suspended from their role and prosecuted. 

Read more about the panel discussion here.

Juvenile Justice

Penal Reform International (PRI) held a side event on 'Solitary confinement and the implications for human rights' at which the Special Rapporteur on torture, Juan E. Mendez, said that "we need to recruit public opinion and explain the dangers of solitary confinement" to the individual.

Mr Mendez also said he believed there should be a total abolition on solitary confinement for all children under 18, and ended on a more positive note, saying: "There is some momentum gaining pace, but [there is] still a long way to go." Further discussions focused on solitary confinement in relation to prisoners on death row, people with mental disabilities and pre-trial detention. Read the full item.

During a joint PRI, Quakers UN Office and World Organisation Against Torture side-event on 'Female offenders - What difference can the Bangkok Rules make?', Dr Rani D. Shakardass, Director of the Indian NGO PRAJA, said the Rules - the first to address children of incarcerated parents - are very important because without them, women would have no form of protection. She was, however, sceptical about their "checklist", as it neglects the individual needs of women.

PRI's Tomris Atabay said the biggest challenge is to ensure that the Rules are incorporated into national - and prison - legislation. Other challenges included the lack of awareness and knowledge of the Rules and the entrenched attitudes towards women who offend. A new set of guidelines are set to be released soon. Read the full item.

Plenary Sessions:

• Joint panel discussion with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children and the Special Rapporteur Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
• Panel discussion on discrimination and violence based on sexual orientation

Side Events:

Juvenile justice: 'Age limits in juvenile justice'
Organiser: Defence for Children International (DCI)
Date & time: 7 March 2012, 12pm
Room number: XXIII

Violence: 'Preventing violence against children deprived of liberty -the cases of Benin and Uruguay'
Organiser: World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Date: 7 March 2012, 2pm
Room number: XXIII

To view the full list of side events, visit CRIN's 19th session page here.

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