CRINmail 157:
In this issue:
On Friday 23 September, CRIN attended the Committee on the Rights of the Child's Day of General Discussion (DGD) on the topic of “Children's Rights and the Environment”. The DGD is organised once every two years to foster a deeper understanding of the content and implications of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as they relate to specific articles or topics.
The participants present on the day took part in two working groups, with one focusing on 'Children's exposure to environmental toxicants' and the other on 'Children and the effects of environmental degradation'. Both panels included experts in children's rights, the environment, and several children who were invited to speak about their rights, activism and the state of the environment in their countries.
During the lunch break the CRIN team also attended a side event on 'The Unsound Management of Chemicals and the Rights of the Child', hosted by the permanent mission of Uruguay and co-sponsored by CRIN and Terres Des Hommes.
Read our special CRINmail for a detailed review of the day.
The Human Rights Council held its 33rd session from 13 to 30 September. For more information on the session, you can refer to the programme of work, view the reports for the session, and read summaries of the meetings that have taken place. Other information can be found on the homepage of the Human Rights Council website. Below is a summary of the developments concerning children’s rights.
The Council held a panel discussion on Youth and Human Rights, following the adoption of a resolution on the same theme in June, to discuss the exercise of human rights by young people. The Envoy of the Secretary General on Youth, Ahmad Alhendawi, said in a video message that significant gaps remained in human rights protection for youth, including access to political rights, the right to seek health services, and the right to education. He recalled that the first ever organised Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law will focus on “Widening the Democratic Space: the role of youth in public decision-making”. Johanna Nyman, President of the European Youth Forum, urged the Council to call for the preparation of a report that would map the obstacles that young people face in accessing their rights. She also suggested the establishment of a Special Procedure on the human rights of young people, such as an Independent Expert or Special Rapporteur.
The session also saw the launch of the new General comment No. 19 of the Committee on the rights of the child on public budgeting for the realisation of children’s rights. During an event organised by children's rights organisations, the States which are party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child were reminded of their obligation to invest in children’s rights and to make all the rights enshrined in the Convention a reality. Professor Jorge Cardona, a Committee member, stressed the principles that need to guide public budgeting for children’s rights: effectiveness, efficiency, equity, transparency, sustainability. For a short presentation on the General comment, see the video produced by Child Rights Connect.
A side event was held to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the UN Study on Violence against children (UN Study) and examine the main achievements made since the launch of the study in 2006. Panelists discussed emerging challenges and opportunities for accelerating progress towards the elimination of all forms of violence against children in the context of the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During the past ten years, 50 States introduced legislation to ban corporal punishment in all settings, including in the home, the latest State being Paraguay. A representative from the World Health Organisation (WHO), presented the new 2016-2020 strategy of the Global partnership to End violence against Children and explained that the Partnership aimed to: 1) build and sustain political will to achieve the SDGs; 2) accelerate action at the national and local level, and 3) strengthen the collaboration between countries, civil society and other stakeholders.
The Council held its half-day annual discussion on the rights of indigenous peoples, focusing on the causes and consequences of violence against indigenous women and girls, including those with disabilities. Adam Abdelmoula, Director of the Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division, said that indigenous women and girls who had suffered violence faced too many barriers in accessing justice, including sheer discrimination or mistrust in the judicial system. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, urged States to develop mechanisms that allowed indigenous women and girls to pursue other means of recourse against violence if they were unable to obtain support and access to justice within indigenous communities.
In a resolution on the human rights situation in Burundi, the Council decided to create for a period of one year a commission of inquiry. The Commission will conduct a thorough investigation into human rights violations and abuses in the country since the eruption of violence following the disputed candidacy of President Nkurunziza in April 2015. The Commission will also identify alleged perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses in Burundi with a view to ensuring full accountability.
Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry on Syriasaid that six years into the Syrian conflict and five years into the Commission’s work, the Commission’s ability to access information sources was as critical as ever. Presenting the Commission’s latest report, he stressed that children remained one of the groups most vulnerable to human rights violations. The Commission found that boys have been recruited to fight and many children attempted to leave the country on their own, but instead of safety some found themselves being held abroad for weeks in unsanitary detention cells.
Human rights and toxics
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Toxics (SR), Mr. Baskut Tuncak, warned during the biennial Day of General Discussion that thewidespread childhood exposure to toxics and pollution has triggered a ‘silent pandemic’. In his annual report the SR reminded States and businesses that they have an obligation to prevent children from being exposed to toxics and pollution, and that myriad rights are violated when States and businesses fail to prevent the exposure of children to toxics and pollution. He also stressed that children are arguably the most vulnerable to toxics and pollution, as they are completely defenseless in their early years. They are impacted in ways in which adults are not, exposed at higher levels than adults, and can be born pre-polluted through toxic chemicals found in their mother’s body.
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia
The SR focused her annual report on marginalised groups, using discrimination as a lens to view the prevailing human rights situation. Her report noted that continued efforts are needed to reach the most vulnerable groups, including children, demonstrated by a lack of progress in reaching targets on child labour and child malnutrition. A number of other key children's rights issues were also addressed, including the detention of children with medical needs and psychosocial disabilities with adults and in poorly equipped facilities, the failure to include indigenous culture and traditions in school curriculums, and the need for Cambodia to improve secondary school enrolment and completion rates.
Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia
The report of the Independent Expert (IE) on the situation in Somalia highlighted the progress around the political, security, national and State-building processes in Somalia and welcomed the accession by the State to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, major challenges around the rights of women, children, persons with disabilities and other minorities were raised. The IE warned about the impact of children being recruited by armed groups and while some have been captured and subsequently transferred to rehabilitation facilities, many remain in detention and some have even been sentenced to death.
Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Central African Republic
The IE’s annual report notes that the situation for children in Central African Republic remains worrying as they continue to be victims of violence, sexual violence and are recruited by armed groups. Many children continue to be kidnapped by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and are being used to carry stolen goods or for other support roles, while abducted girls are often kept as sex slaves. The IE encouraged the establishment of rehabilitation centres for children in conflict with the law.
Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery including its causes and consequences
The SR’s annual report focused on the issue of debt bondage. The SR highlighted that children are particularly vulnerable to debt bondage and in such situations can be vulnerable to additional rights violations, due to their lack of access to education and opportunities to participate in cultural or recreational activities. The SR highlighted the threat of women and children becoming trapped in situations of bonded labour because of debt contracted, or inherited by other members of their family.
Special Rapporteur on sale of children
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. In this context, the SR produced a handbook, a fact sheet and a child friendly version of this fact sheet on her mandate, with the support of Plan International. The fact sheet and its child friendly version are available in the four working languages, English, Spanish French and Arabic.
The UN Secretary-General (SG) has created a new mandate to combat reprisals against human rights defenders. Assistant Secretary-General, Andrew Gilmour, will be given a special mandate to receive, consider and respond to allegations of intimidation and reprisals against human rights defenders and other civil society actors engaging with the UN.
A recent report from the SG shows that reprisals take many forms, including travel bans, the issuance of arrest warrants on terrorism charges, detention and torture, surveillance, death threats, attempts to frame activists for criminal acts, defamation, and intimidation.
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) held its 90th session from 2 to 26 August. It reviewed eight States’ compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination:
Greece: The Committee expressed concern over the ineffectiveness of the guardianship system for unaccompanied children, the lack of sufficient appropriate accommodation for such children, and the de facto practice of detaining them, including in substandard conditions and with unrelated adults.
Lebanon: The Committee expressed concern over the fact that women married to foreigners are not able to pass on their Lebanese nationality to their children and that the majority of Syrian children born in Lebanon and children born of undocumented migrants do not have official birth certificates.
Pakistan: The Committee expressed concern over the de facto existence of the scheduled castes (Dalits) and that discrimination against them, particularly in the area of employment and education continues. The Committee was also concerned at the repeated reports on abduction of Dalit women and girls for the purpose of forced conversion to Islam and forced marriage.
South Africa: The Committee expressed concern over the continuation of harmful cultural or traditional practices against women and girls, such as Ukuthwala, which can be tantamount to forced child marriage; and the multiple forms of discrimination faced by black and marginalised ethnic women and girls, who are strongly impacted by poverty and lack of access to basic services, in particular housing, education, health care, and equal employment opportunities.
Sri Lanka: The Committee expressed concern over the lack of quality education, higher drop-out and child labour rates than the national average of Tamils of Indian origin.
Ukraine: The Committee expressed concern that despite progress, Roma children continue to face difficulties in accessing education, leading to low school attendance and high illiteracy. The Committee was also concerned that Crimean Tatars who went to regions under the authority of the State party face difficulties with regard to access to employment, social services and education and lack support.
UK: The Committee expressed concern over the new counter-terrorism measures adopted, including the collection, retention and sharing of information on individuals, particularly children, without their consent or the consent of their parents/guardians. The Committee was also concerned that children continue to held in immigration detention facilities.
The Committee’s Concluding Observations to Paraguay are not yet available in English.
The Committee on the Elimination of all Form of Discrimination against Women held its 64th session from 4 to 22 July. It reviewed eight States’ compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of all Form of Discrimination against Women
Albania: The Committee expressed concern over the high dropout rate of girls in rural or remote areas and girls belonging to linguistic or ethnic minorities, due in part to early marriages and traditional sex-role stereotypes.
France: The Committee expressed concern over the fact that Muslim women and girls are exposed to a heightened risk of discrimination and Islamophobic and anti-Muslim acts; and over the high rate of teenage and/or unwanted pregnancy, particularly in overseas territories and among disadvantaged groups of women.
Mali: The Committee expressed concern over the increasingly young age at which excision is performed (average of 4.3 years); the lack of effective mechanism of protection from prevailing forms of slavery, the sale of and trafficking in children, debt bondage, serfdom and forced or compulsory labour; and the extremely low completion rate for girls at the secondary level.
Myanmar: The Committee expressed concern over social and cultural stigma, which deter women and girl victims from reporting sexual and gender-based violence. The Committee was also concerned over the lack of an adequate budget for the education sector, which, coupled with discriminatory stereotypes regarding the education of women and girls, limits their access to education; and the fact that marriage of girls under 14 years of age, with parental consent, is legal.
The Philippines: The Committee expressed concern over the high prevalence of gender-based violence against women and girls and the low reporting of incidences of violence, in particular domestic violence and sexual violence, due to stigmatisation and discrimination against victims; the fact that statutory rape under the law is limited to cases where the victim is under the age of 12; and the increasing incidence of online sexual exploitation and abuse of children.
Turkey: The Committee expressed concern over the significant increase of prostitution in areas with high concentrations of Syrian refugees, particularly girls and young women aged 15 to 20; the fact that virginity testing authorised by a judge or prosecutor remains legal even if the woman or girl refuses to consent to the intrusive practice; and the ongoing practice, particularly in rural and remote areas, of giving girls as brides to settle blood feuds.
Uruguay: The Committee expressed concern over the high rate at which girls are dropping out of formal education, mainly owing to early pregnancy; the high rate of early pregnancy; and the fact that marriage at 16 years of age is legal.
The Committee's Concluding Observations to Burkina Faso, France and Honduras are not yet available in English.
The Committee against Torture held its 58th session from 25 July to 12 August. It reviewed four States’ compliance with the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Kuwait: The Committee expressed concern over the fact that minors are not separated from adults in police stations and that male guards in police stations may be guarding female detainees after their arrest.
Mongolia: The Committee expressed concern over the lack of a comprehensive juvenile justice system, as well as lack of juvenile court and the fact that detained children are not separated from adults in all circumstances.
The Committee’s Concluding Observations to Burundi and Honduras are not yet available in English.
- Committee on the Rights of the Child: 1 November for the review of Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Ecuador, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan and Vanuatu under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Guinea and Vanuatu under the Optional Protocols to the Convention, on involvement of children in armed conflict and on sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
- Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: 31 October for the review of Argentina, Italy, Portugal, Togo, Turkmenistan and Uruguay.
The SR on torture, Juan Méndez called on Brazilian legislators to protect the rights of children in conflict with the law by rejecting a proposed constitutional amendment that would lower the age of criminal responsibility of children. The appeal came as the Brazilian legislators prepared to vote on reducing the age of criminal responsibility of children from 18 to 16 years of age for certain crimes. Concerns were also raised by the SR about the pending legislation that is seeking to raise the maximum length of prison sentences for children over 14 years of age who are in conflict with the law from three to ten years.
To mark International Youth Day, the IE on foreign debt and human rights and the SR on the right to health warned about the impact of commercial advertising directed at young children which they state instils at an early age a culture of overconsumption and indebtedness. With many child-directed advertisements promoting consumption of unhealthy foods with high sugar content and little nutritional value, regulating child-directed advertising for food products can substantially improve health and reduce the burden of health-care expenditure.
The SR on freedom of opinion and expression stated his concern at the upcoming trial of a teenage Singaporean blogger over his social media posts. The trial is one of several cases in Singapore that reflect a widening crackdown not only on controversial expression, but also political criticism and dissent. “Tolerance and the rights of others are legitimate aims for any state to pursue. However, the criminalisation of a broad range of legitimate, even if offensive, expression is not the right tool for this purpose, and may well have the opposite effect,” the UN expert stressed.
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THE LAST WORD
19 September Summit for Refugees and Migrants
The UN’s inaugural Summit for Refugees and Migrants took place on 19 September 2016 in New York. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al-Hussein, stated that the world was “failing” those most vulnerable, and slammed “the bigots and deceivers, [who] in opposing greater responsibility-sharing, promote rupture”. The language used in the resulting agreement is problematic, stating that detention for children can be used as a measure of last resort. This loophole allows States to continue immigration detention of children, something which many experts consider to be a violation of their rights under any circumstances. While the summit revealed a lack of leadership, the US-led pledging meeting on 20 September provided some much needed progress, with a group of more than 30 countries pledging to double the number of resettlement places they offered, while expanding provisions for aid to refugees.
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