CRINmail 129: October at the UN
In this issue:
View this CRINmail in your browser.
This edition of Children’s Rights at the United Nations CRINmail reports on the debates on children’s rights at the UN headquarters in New York earlier this month.
As always, if you have any feedback on this CRINmail, please email [email protected].
Best wishes,
The CRIN team
As reported during last month’s edition, the UN General Assembly’s (GA) 69th session is underway in New York. The Third Committee of the GA met throughout the month to discuss social and humanitarian affairs and human rights issues. Read CRIN’s guide to the GA.
A debate dedicated to children’s rights was held on 15 and 16 October with a focus on the elimination of violence against children in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice, early and forced marriage and child mortality.
Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children said that for millions of children, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) was “a broken promise”, and that levels of domestic violence, child neglect and abuse are increasing because of high rates of unemployment and cuts in social spending.
In a wide-ranging discussion, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography highlighted the gravity of the situation; from the abduction of girls in Nigeria to the sale of girls and women in Iraq and rampant abuse and violence, rights abuses affect millions of children worldwide.
Leila Zerrougui, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, called children the “primary victims” of armed conflict and expressed concern about the trends of detaining children on security charges and attacks on education and health care facilities.
A draft resolution on the elimination of violence against children in the area of crime prevention and criminal justice was presented to the GA. The draft resolution strongly condemns all acts of violence against children, reaffirms the duty of the State to protect children from all forms of violence in both public and private settings, and calls for the elimination of impunity, including by investigating and prosecuting, with due process, and bringing all perpetrators to justice. The draft text also urges Member States to take all necessary and effective measures to prevent and respond to all forms of violence against children who come into contact with the justice system as victims, witnesses or alleged or recognised offenders, and to develop and implement a comprehensive crime prevention and justice system policy.
Reports of the Secretary-General relevant to children’s rights were presented to the Committee on the following issues:
-
The status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Highlights from the report include:
“The [CRC] conveys the idea of children as active participants in their own development, rather than as mere recipients of adult protective care” (para.22).
“Children facing the criminal justice system often see their rights compromised, including as a result of violence while deprived of liberty and inhuman sentencing, flogging, stoning, amputation, life imprisonment and even the death penalty. As persons who are victims, witnesses or offenders, in need of protection measures, affected by status offences or criminalized for involvement in petty crime, children face long periods of pretrial detention and may be exposed to physical, psychological and sexual violence (see A/HRC/21/25)” (para.39).
“The lack of information on sexual and reproductive health in a number of countries restricts adolescents’ ability to make informed decisions about their health” (para. 40).
“Persisting challenges in realizing child rights are often attributable to a lack of priority and investment rather than to a lack of knowledge of the most effective, life-saving and equity-promoting interventions for children. The Committee has emphasized that States, whatever their economic circumstances, are required to undertake all possible measures towards the realization of the rights of the child (see CRC/GC/2003/5). There nonetheless remain significant gaps in translating policies into budget allocations for key policies and programmes to improve the situation of children and the realization of their rights. Further progress requires a major, committed increase in the efforts of national governments to mobilize resources, including through official development assistance and tax revenues, as well as political will to prioritize children’s rights in resource allocation.” (para.65)
-
Report on the follow-up to the special session of the General Assembly on children.
The report assesses the steps taken in 2013 to achieve a world fit for children, highlighting gaps and setting out next steps needed. The report is prepared each year in response to GA resolution S-27/2, adopted in 2002, and resolutions 58/282 and 61/272, in which the GA requested the Secretary-General to report regularly on progress made in implementing the Plan of Action entitled “A world fit for children”. In 2002, delegations from 190 countries attended the session, adopting the Declaration and Plan of Action entitled “A world fit for children”, committing themselves to a time-bound set of goals for children and young people, with a particular focus on (a) promoting healthy lives; (b) providing quality education; (c) protecting children against abuse, exploitation and violence; and (d) combating HIV and AIDS.
Also under consideration were the report of the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) for Children and Armed Conflict and the SRSG on Violence against Children:
-
The report of the SRSG for Children and Armed Conflict covers the period from August 2013 to July 2014 and describes trends, selected issues of concern and progress made over the past year.
The report takes note that “the past 12 months have witnessed an escalation of conflict in an increasing number of countries/areas and situations, including the Central African Republic, Iraq, Nigeria, South Sudan and the Syrian Arab Republic and, most recently, in the State of Palestine and in Libya. There was also increased instability in several other situations.”
The report also highlights that “children have been deprived of their most basic rights in many situations. They have witnessed and sometimes even been forced to commit atrocities. During the reporting period, attacks against civilians and the conduct of hostilities in populated areas have resulted in a spike in documented cases of killing and maiming of children in several situations. Children are being killed in aerial shellings with barrel bombs or rockets, in attacks carried out with increasingly sophisticated improvised explosive devices, or are being shot on their way to school.”
The newly appointed Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, also submitted her report to the GA describing her activities so far under this mandate.
The Special Rapporteur explained that she will adopt a child-centred approach and that all activities to prevent and combat the sale and sexual exploitation of children will be designed and developed in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Special Rapporteur intends to conduct her first thematic report on the issue of information and communications technology and sexual exploitation of children.
This year’s report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and the protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, focuses on the right of the child to freedom of expression.
According to the Special Rapporteur, measures to restrict children’s rights with the alleged aim of protecting them are “disproportionate” and “undue”. States should strengthen efforts to uphold children’s right to freedom of expression and access to information. To this end, the report analyses international standards on the issue, looks at how these rights are violated, and presents examples of how to promote these rights. Among the examples are: encouraging children to organise and take part in politics, encouraging child-led advocacy, and ensuring children’s access to information from a range of sources.
Here are some of the report’s conclusions:
“Children’s right to freedom of expression is well established by international human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child. But in practice, recognizing children as full subjects of rights — the vision set out in the Convention — requires a shift in laws, policies and attitudes. Respecting, protecting and promoting the right of children to freedom of expression is at the heart of this shift.” (para. 79)
“Too little has been done to give effect to the right of children to freedom of expression and many obstacles to the realization of this right for children remain. Unchallenged authoritarian attitudes frequently shape the relationship between adults and children in schools and within families. More worryingly, as communications technologies evolve, some States have adopted disproportionate restrictions on freedom of expression, presenting them as measures to protect children from harm while, in effect, they limit the rights of children and adults.” (para. 81).
“It is clear that States have a fundamental obligation to protect children and that it is the duty of adults to provide children with guidance. Child protection and freedom of expression must not, however, be addressed as opposing goals. On the contrary, it is by supporting children to develop good communication skills and to learn the positive uses of new technologies that we can enhance their capacity to protect themselves from harm.” (para. 82)
Read our policy paper on access to information.
The Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, presented his report to the GA on the exercise of the rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association at the multilateral level.
He expressed concern over the apparent blocking of NGOs by certain States on the ECOSOC Committee of NGOs. Getting ECOSOC status allows NGOs to participate fully in the UN system. Without it, they are confined to the sidelines - unable to submit questions, attend UN sessions or hold side events in their own name. But some Committee members (which is made up of States) appear to have employed tactics to deny access to NGOs critical of governments and select their own jury at the UN. CRIN is among the organisations that the Special Rapporteur cites in his report as having been “arbitrarily deferred” for many years.
The Special Rapporteur says such States have acted in a manner contrary to the spirit of resolution 1996/31, which stipulates that the ECOSOC Committee “should ensure, to the extent possible, participation of non-governmental organisations ... in order to help to achieve a just, balanced, effective and genuine involvement of non-governmental organisations from all regions and areas of the world”.
In his final recommendations, the Special Rapporteur urges the UN to reform the ECOSOC Committee “to prevent Member States from blocking accreditation applications with perpetual questioning and unilaterally vetoing applications.”
With partners, CRIN recently launched a campaign urging ECOSOC to stop blocking access to legitimate human rights organisations.
Further information:
The Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, Farida Shaheed, presented her new report on the impact commercial advertising and marketing practices have on the enjoyment of cultural rights. The report focuses on freedom of thought, opinion and expression, cultural diversity and ways of life, the rights of children with respect to education and leisure, academic and artistic freedom and the right to participate in cultural life and to enjoy the arts.
The Special Rapporteur recalled the States’ duty “to ensure that business activities and operations do not have an adverse impact on children’s rights, mentioning specifically marketing to children of products with a potential long-term impact on their health” expressed in the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s (CRC) General Comment 16.
The report also addresses how advertising can contribute to the promotion of detrimental behaviours, attitudes and stereotypes, including the impact that images of women as sex symbols have on the health of young girls.
The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Kishore Singh, presented his annual report to the GA focusing on the responsibility of States towards the rapid growth of private education providers.
“Education must be protected from the forces of privatisation... Education is not a privilege of the rich and well to do; it is an inalienable right of every child” said Mr Singh.
The report addresses many of the concerns that have emerged in terms of State obligations for the provision of the right to education as well as respect for the principles of social justice and equity, which are core principles of the UN system.
According to the new report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, presented to the GA, the increasing use of armed drones within domestic law enforcement risks depersonalising the use of force and infringing the rights of individual citizens.
He noted the requirement under human rights law to use the minimum amount of force required by the circumstances of each case, citing an increasing number of examples in which individuals were killed or seriously injured as a result of improper use of weapons considered to be less lethal.
Drones hover over communities 24 hours a day, creating a constant, physical reminder that anyone could be killed at any moment - some strikes have killed children while they were in their bedrooms or classrooms.
In an insight into the effects of the US drone programme on children's lives published on CRIN's website, Katie Taylor from Reprieve, explains how drones are terrorising entire civilian populations, nearly half of whom are children.
The US drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia have targeted homes and community gatherings, leaving no safe space for children to escape the possibility of being injured or killed. Not only are children killed for the alleged crimes of their family members or neighbours, but - to use the military slang of drone pilots - hundreds of children have become ‘bug splats’, killed by drones whether specifically targeted or not. Read the report.
Earlier this year, the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) published a report declaring that “the State operates an all-encompassing indoctrination machine that takes root from childhood to propagate an official personality cult and to manufacture absolute obedience to the Supreme Leader...The gravity, scale and nature of these [rights] violations reveal a State that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world.”
Marzuki Darusman, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK, called on the GA to refer the report that documents wide-ranging and ongoing crimes against humanity in the DPRK to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
He also urged the GA to submit the report to the Security Council.
The detailed account of rights abuses in the 400 plus page report make for harrowing reading. Below are some of the key findings for children’s rights.
-
“Repatriated women who are pregnant are regularly subjected to forced abortions, and babies born to repatriated women are often killed. These practices are driven by racist attitudes towards interracial children of Koreans” (who usually have Chinese fathers, and the mother has been sent back to the DPRK by China). The Commission also noted that the denial of reproductive rights of women in forced labour camps in the country is “enforced through punishment, forced abortion and infanticide”.
-
“The State has used food as a means of control over the population. The Commission is particularly concerned about ongoing malnutrition of children and its long-term effects. The State denied humanitarian access to some of the most affected regions and groups, including homeless children. While acknowledging the impact of factors beyond State control over the food situation, the Commission finds that decisions, actions and omissions by the State and its leadership caused the death of at least hundreds of thousands of people and inflicted permanent physical and psychological injuries on those who survived”.
-
“Violations of the rights to food and to freedom of movement have resulted in women and girls becoming vulnerable to trafficking and increased engagement in transactional sex and prostitution.”
-
“In an attempt to keep Pyongyang’s “pure” and untainted image, the State systematically banishes entire families from the capital city if one family member commits what is deemed to be a serious crime or political wrong. For the same reason, the large number of street children migrating clandestinely to Pyongyang and other cities - principally in search of food - are subject to arrest and forcible transfer back to their home provinces, experiencing neglect and forced institutionalisation on their return.”
The Commission’s full report is available online. Read our full review of the report in the February issue of this CRINmail.
Download the report of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
You can access all human rights report submitted to the GA here.
The Human Rights Committee concluded its 112th session today. The Committee reviewed the compliance of six States with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR): Burundi, Haiti, Israel, Malta, Montenegro and Sri Lanka.
The Committee also adopted General Comment 35 on article 9 of the ICCPR on liberty and security of the person.
CRIN submitted information to the Committee prior to the half day discussion on article 9 and comments on the first draft.
On immigration detention, the Committee believes “children should not be deprived of liberty, except as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, taking into account their best interests as a primary consideration with regard to the duration and conditions of detention, and also taking into account the extreme vulnerability and need for care of unaccompanied minors” (para. 18). CRIN believes that children should not be detained for immigration-related purposes and State parties should take measures to ensure that national legislation does not allow for the detention of children in such cases. The Committee’s position on that matter risks weakening the relevant standards and is at divergence with the approach of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
The Committee recalled that article 9 guarantees everyone’s right to liberty and security. “Everyone” includes, among others, girls and boys, soldiers, persons with disabilities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons, aliens, refugees and asylum seekers, stateless persons, migrant workers, persons convicted of crime, and persons who have engaged in terrorist activity.” (para. 3)
The Committee also explains that “the existence of a disability shall not in itself justify a deprivation of liberty but rather any deprivation of liberty must be necessary and proportionate, for the purpose of protecting the individual in question from serious harm or preventing injury to others. It must be applied only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, and must be accompanied by adequate procedural and substantive safeguards established by law.” (para.19)
Regarding the notice of reasons for arrest, the Committee stresses that “for some categories of vulnerable persons, directly informing the person arrested is required but not sufficient. When children are arrested, notice of the arrest and the reasons should also be provided directly to their parents, guardians, or legal representatives”. (para. 28)
The Committee attempts to explain the meaning of ‘promptness’ required when an individual is arrested or detained on a criminal charge. The person should be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power and “an especially strict standard of promptness, such as 24 hours, should apply in the case of juveniles” (para. 33)
While explaining the requirement that the person detained is entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release, the Committee emphasises that “pretrial detention of juveniles should be avoided, but when it occurs they are entitled to be brought to trial in especially speedy fashion” (para. 37). Regarding detention awaiting trial, the Committee says that “pretrial detention of juveniles should be avoided to the fullest extent possible”. (para. 38)
The General Comment includes a paragraph on the relation of article 9 (liberty and security) to article 24 on the protection of children reminding that article 24 “entails the adoption of special measures to protect the personal liberty and security of every child, in addition to the measures generally required by article 9 for everyone.” The Committee expressed that “a child may be deprived of liberty only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time [and that] the best interests of the child must be a primary consideration in every decision to initiate or continue the deprivation.” The Committee also highlights that “the child has a right to be heard, directly or through legal or other appropriate assistance, in relation to any decision regarding a deprivation of liberty, and the procedures employed should be child-appropriate.”
Read the full text of General comment 35.
Visit the Committee’s session page for more information and catch next month’s edition of the CRINmail for a review of children’s rights in the Concluding Observations to the reviewed States party.
The GA elected 15 States to serve on the UN Human Rights Council for a period of three years beginning on 1 January 2015: Albania, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Ghana, Latvia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Paraguay, Portugal and Qatar.
Bolivia, Botswana, Congo, India and Indonesia were re-elected for a second term.
The Council’s outgoing members are: Austria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Kuwait, Peru Philippines and Romania.
The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) urged the 15 new members to uphold the highest human rights standards and fully cooperate with the Human Rights Council.
“It is regrettable that several of the newly-elected States have not shown respect and support for the work of non-governmental organisations and human rights defenders at home or on the international stage,” said Michelle Evans, ISHR’s New York Manager and Advocacy Coordinator.
The General Assembly elected Angola, Malaysia, Venezuela, New Zealand and Spain to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for the next two years.
Those elected will fill seats to be vacated on 31 December by Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, Republic of Korea and Rwanda. Chad, Chile, Jordan, Lithuania and Nigeria will continue to serve as elected Council members during 2015, completing the second year of their respective terms. All new Council members will take their seats on 1 January 2015.
The main role of the Council is to help maintain international peace and security. Children’s rights in the context of armed conflict are also a major discussion point. Read more about what the Council does on child rights.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has revised the chapter of the Manual on Human Rights Monitoring on Engagement and Partnerships with Civil Society.
This chapter deals with monitoring the situation of civil society actors, protecting them and establishing partnerships with them in the context of human rights monitoring.
For other chapters of the Manual, please visit this link.
- Committee on the Rights of the Child: 1st of March 2015 for the review of
Benin, Brunei Darussalam, France, Gabon, Haiti, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Ireland, Kenya, Maldives, Oman, Peru, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
- Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: 9 January 2015 for the review of Gambia, Paraguay and Tajikistan.
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: 2 February 2015 for the review of Azerbaijan, Denmark, Ecuador, Eritrea, Gabon, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives and Tuvalu.
- Committee Against Torture: 9 February 2015 for the review of Colombia, Congo, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain and The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
- Committee on Migrant Workers: 20 March 2015 for the review of Kyrgyzstan, Peru, Sri Lanka and Uganda.
- Committee on Enforced Disappearances: 9 January 2015 for the review of Armenia, Mexico and Serbia.
- Universal Periodic Review (UPR): 23 March 2015 (tentative dates) for the review of Micronesia, Lebanon, Mauritania, Nauru, Rwanda, Nepal, Saint Lucia, Oman, Austria, Myanmar, Australia, Georgia, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Sao Tome and Principe.
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences: Afghanistan from 01 November to 10 November.
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence: Côte d'Ivoire from 10 to 20 November.
- Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders: Burundi from 14 to 26 November.
- Special Rapporteur on cultural rights: Botswana from 14 to 26 November.
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples: Paraguay from 21 to 28 November.
- Working Group on people of African descent: Sweden from 1 to 5 December.
- Working Group on discrimination against women: Spain from 9 to 19 December.
- Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and association: Kazakhstan from 19 to 30 January.
Back to top
Closing
“The Special Rapporteur reiterates that the ability to peacefully assemble and freely associate is a key aspect of a vibrant democracy and critical for development. In today’s globalized world, the meaning and practice of democracy stretches beyond national boundaries. Multilateral entities thus have positive responsibilities to actively protect peaceful assemblies and to establish and maintain an enabling environment for civil society. This is all the more valid when multilateral institutions claim to represent States, which are the primary actors accountable for the respect and promotion of civil liberties.”
The report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Maina Kiai, on the exercise of the rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association at the multilateral level. para. 86.
Back to top
| 
