CRINmail 168:
In this issue:
In this month's UN CRINmail, we bring you the latest news on children's rights at the United Nations, including new figures about sexual exploitation of children by peacekeepers, the appointment of the new Special Representative of Secretary-General for Children and Armed conflict, as well as the unanimous condemnation of the recent attacks on civilians in Syria. Special Rapporteurs have also been busy calling Iran to stop carrying out death sentences on persons who committed offenses when they were children, or Indonesia to improve reproductive health education.
An Associated Press investigation of UN missions during the past 12 years found nearly 2,000 allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers and other personnel around the world — signaling the crisis is much larger than previously known. The agency found that more than 300 allegations involved children, but only a fraction of the alleged perpetrators have served any jail time. The AP interviewed alleged victims, current and former UN officials and investigators and sought answers from 23 countries on the number of peacekeepers who faced such allegations and what, if anything, was done to investigate. With rare exceptions, few States responded to repeated requests, while the names of individuals found guilty are kept confidential, making accountability impossible to determine. One incident highlighted in the investigation details how in Haiti, at least 134 Sri Lankan peacekeepers exploited nine children from 2004 to 2007, according to a leaked UN report. In the wake of the report, 114 peacekeepers were sent home, but none were ever imprisoned.
Read more about CRIN’s work on sexual violence by peacekeepers
In a joint press release, UNICEF and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) welcomed the European Union’s new policy to protect migrant and refugee children. The UN agencies stressed that it was “the first EU policy to address the situation and rights of all children in migration – refugee and migrant children, children alone and with their families – linking migration, asylum and child protection”. The two agencies recalled in their statement that children should never be detained for immigration purposes, irrespective of their legal or migratory status, or that of their parents. They also welcomed the EU's commitment to prioritise national child protection systems for children displaced beyond European borders.
The guidelines provided by the European Commission encourage member States to refrain from invasive age assessments, stressing that methods and procedures vary widely across Member States and do not always meet international standards. “For example, unnecessary age assessments may be carried out and invasive methods are sometimes used, guardians are often appointed only after age assessment procedures have been carried out, and age disputes sometimes lead to children ending up in detention.” The European Commission recalled that “the person should be presumed to be a child and given the benefit of the doubt where results are inconclusive, in line with EU law”. The guidance on age assessment of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) is also planned to be reviewed in 2017.
The UN Refugee agency (UNHRC) called for a temporary suspension of all transfers of asylum-seekers to Hungary from other European States under the Dublin Regulation. “The situation for asylum-seekers in Hungary, which was already of deep concern to UNHCR, has only gotten worse since the new law introducing mandatory detention for asylum-seekers came into effect,” said Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Since it came into force on 28 March, new asylum-seekers, including children, are detained in shipping containers surrounded by high razor fences at the border for the entire length of their asylum procedures. According to UNHRC, as of 7 April, “there were 110 people, including four unaccompanied children and children with their families, held there.” Referring to “the highly disturbing reports of serious incidents of ill-treatment and violence against people crossing the border into Hungary, including by State agents”, Grandi stressed that “these unacceptable practices must be brought to an end” and urged the Hungarian authorities to further investigate any allegation of abuse or violence.
The new Special Representative of Secretary-General (SRSG) for Children and Armed conflict has been appointed by SG António Guterres. Virginia Gamba of Argentina will replace Leila Zerrougui who has held the position since September 2012. SRSGs are highly respected experts who have been appointed by the SG of the United Nations to represent him in meetings with heads of States on critical human rights issues. The representatives can carry out country visits to investigate allegations of human rights violations or act as negotiators on behalf of the United Nations.
Presenting the latest report of SG on the impact on children of armed conflict in the Philippines, Gamba highlighted significant progress in the protection of boys and girls, despite ongoing violations against children. Since 2009, when the Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) signed an action plan to halt and prevent the recruitment and use of children in the armed conflict, more than 1,850 children have been identified and formally disengaged, the UN reported. Despite noted progress, the report also highlighted that the killing and maiming of children in the Philippines remains a concern, as do attacks on schools and teachers.
In a new report on conflict-related sexual violence, which has been prepared by the Office of the UN Special Representative on the issue, the Secretary-General stressed that survivors of sexual violence in war zones need to be recognised as legitimate victims of conflict and terrorism, and not blamed, stigmatised or shamed. Of particular concern in the report are children born of rape, who “may themselves face a lifetime of marginalisation, owing to stigma and uncertain legal status”. The annual report reviews 13 conflict settings, four post-conflict countries and two additional situations of concern. It also lists government and non-government actors who are credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence. This year, for the first time since the Security Council created the position of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, there has been a delisting, with the removal of the Ivorian armed forces (FACI). The report is due to be presented to the Security Council on 15 May.
Referring to the large number of child victims of the recent attack in Syria, on an evacuation convoy near western Aleppo, and of the reported use of chemical weapons in in southern Idlib earlier this month, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) called for investigations into all attacks on children in the country and for bringing the perpetrators to justice. It also recalled that all States parties to the Convention on the rights of the child, including Syria, have an obligation to prevent violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws and to take all possible measures to minimise the impact of the conflict in Syria on children. Committee Chair Benyam Dawit Mezmur noted that “2016 was already the worst year for Syria’s six million children affected by the conflict. They have been killed, maimed, subjected to sexual violence, and traumatised. Almost 2.4 million have been displaced and 2.8 million are living in hard to reach areas and a further 280,000 in besieged areas”.
The attack on the convoy near Aleppo received unanimous condemnation, with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) stressing in particular that it was “an attack which likely amounts to a war crime”. An OHCHR spokesperson added: “We reiterate the High Commissioner’s call for accountability and the need to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court”.
According to a joint report of OHCHR and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), conflict-related detainees in Afghanistan continue to face torture and ill-treatment. Based on interviews with 469 conflict-related detainees conducted between 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016 in 62 detention facilities, the report documents that more than a third of the interviewees gave credible accounts of being subjected to torture or ill-treatment. Of 85 child detainees interviewed, 38 gave credible accounts of being subjected to torture or ill-treatment while in the custody of the Afghan security forces. Overall, the majority of conflict-related detainees said they had been tortured to force them to confess and that the torture and ill-treatment stopped once they did so. The report also says that the Afghan Government has committed to fully eliminating the practice. If proposed legislative changes are adopted, the report says, Afghanistan would, among other things, formally recognise the authority of the United Nations Committee against Torture to conduct in-country visits to places of detention, and also undertake to establish an independent monitoring body to visit places of detention with the support of the United Nations Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture.
In a call for international support, the UN Refugee Agency warned the world about the increasing risk of mass death from starvation in many countries in Africa and in Yemen, due to the worsening drought and conflict. Highlighting acute malnutrition rates in Ethiopia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Rwanda among refugee children aged between six months and five years, the UNHRC also stressed the consequences of this severe food insecurity in terms of school attendance. In Kenya, some 175,000 students have stopped attending school, and almost 600 schools have closed in Ethiopia. In all, some five million children could see their education being disrupted in the coming weeks and months, according to an OHCHR spokesperson.
In Yemen, which is already facing the world's largest humanitarian crisis, food needs are being cited as the leading factor in displacement. Speaking on the day of a fund-raising event for the crisis, UN experts called to stop the Yemen conflict in order to save a generation from famine, and cut alarmingly high child mortality rates. “The deliberate starvation of civilians, in both international and internal armed conflict may constitute a war crime, and could also amount to a crime against humanity in the event of deliberate denial of food,” said the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Ms. Hilal Elver. The Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Mr. Dainius Pûras, joined his voice to the call, condemning the destruction of health facilities and concerned over the outbreak of cholera in the country.
Back to top
A group of UN rights experts has called for an immediate halt to the execution of two people in Iran who were sentenced to death when they were both under 18. The experts called on Iran to abide by its obligationsunder international human rights law and to stop carrying out death sentences passed on persons who committed offences when they were children. One of the two at risk of imminent execution was 17 years old when he was sentenced to death in 2001, the other was 15 when he was sentenced in 2012. “These executions must be halted immediately and the death sentences quashed. We also call on Iran to commute without delay all such sentences imposed on children,” the experts stressed. The Special Rapporteurs (SR) on Iran, extrajudicial executions and the chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child also expressed concern that the cases may be only the tip of the iceberg, adding that: “taking into account that at least 90 people were on death row at the beginning of April for crimes committed under the age of 18, the exact number of those executed or at risk of execution is likely to be much higher.”
Concluding her visit to Australia, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, expressed alarm at the rates of incarceration for Australia’s indigenous peoples, including children. The SR visited a youth detention centre in Townsville, Queensland, where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children constitute 95 percent of the children detained. She also noted that aboriginal children are seven times more likely than non-indigenous children to be in contact with the child protection system or to be subjected to abuse or neglect. She urged Australia to increase the age of criminal responsibility and that children should be detained only as a last resort. “These children are essentially being punished for being poor and in most cases, prison will only aggravate the cycle of violence, poverty and crime. I found meeting young children, some only 12 years old, in detention the most disturbing element of my visit.” She added that numerous policies adopted to address the socio-economic disadvantage of indigenous peoples have failed to deliver on targets in the areas of health, education and employment.
On a visit to Indonesia, the SR on the right to health, Dainius Pūras, noted that the country is on the right track to develop an equitable healthcare system based on universal health coverage. His critique focused on gender inequality that is leading to “early marriage and female genital mutilation”. The SR emphasised the need to improve access to health for women and girls, particularly reproductive health education and mental health services. The SR found that the planning and delivery of women’s health services and sexuality education is being influenced by groups who continue to oppose policies, instruments and mechanisms for the promotion and protection of sexual and reproductive health rights. The SR also noted the cultural and religious norms can generate discrimination and reinforce harmful practices, such as early marriage and female genital mutilation. It is estimated that around 60 million Indonesian women, or half the female population, has undergone female genital mutilation. Pre-marital sex is heavily stigmatised, so access to female contraception and sexual health tests is minimal.
Honduras must allow wider scope for legal abortions in new legislation so that women and girls can enjoy their full human rights to sexual and reproductive health, UN experts have urged. “We sincerely hope that the Honduran Congress will seize this key opportunity to comply with its obligations to eliminating discrimination against women in its legislation, and to advance women’s and adolescents’ sexual and reproductive rights, in accordance with international human rights standards,” the chair of the Working Group on discrimination against women, and the SRs on health and violence against women said. Abortion is currently illegal under any circumstances in Honduras. Any woman or girl found guilty of breaking the law on abortion could be jailed for up to six years. “Denying access to such health services violates women’s and girls’ rights to be protected against gender-based discrimination and violence as well as torture and ill-treatment” the experts said.
A fresh appeal has been made by UN human rights experts for the Nigerian government to take all necessary measures to rescue 195 girls still missing after they were kidnapped in 2014 from their secondary school. “It is deeply shocking that three years after this deplorable and devastating act of violence, the majority of the girls remain missing,” said the experts on the sale of children, slavery, right to health, violence and discrimination against women. The girls were among 276 students abducted at gunpoint on 14 April 2014 by the Boko Haram militant group. The experts added: “As more and more time passes there is a risk that the fate of the remaining girls will be forgotten. We cannot allow this to happen. There must be more that the Government of Nigeria, with the support of the international community, can do to locate and rescue them”. Lastly, the experts noted that the rehabilitation and reintegration of the girls will not be easy but it is essential that all those rescued are provided with all necessary support.
After visiting Cuba, the SR on trafficking in persons, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, noted that Cuba should introduce new legislation to ensure that everyone who falls victim to human trafficking can be identified and helped, and the authorities can take action against offenders. She also noted with concern that the protection of children from sexually motivated crimes was only provided until the age of 16, but should be extended to everyone under 18 years old. The SR praised Cuba’s universal and free systems of education, healthcare and social security, saying they helped to reduce the vulnerability of Cuban citizens to trafficking. However, she added that migration in unsafe conditions, especially to the United States, creates situations that could lead to trafficking and raised some of the dangers being young people wishing to travel abroad can fall prey to unscrupulous recruiters and intermediaries.
The Special Rapporteurs on extreme poverty, freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of assembly and association, and the right to education have said Turkey’s state of emergency has been used as a justification to undertake massive violations of the right to education and the right to work, plunging many civil servants into poverty. A significant proportion of the public servants who were dismissed worked as school teachers or for the Ministry of National Education. Around 1,000 schools and 15 universities are estimated to have been closed by emergency decree. Many of the dismissed public servants were also trade union members, including more than 10,000 teachers who were members of the Education and Science Workers’ Union.
Back to top
With the Universal Periodic Review’s 26th session, the second cycle of UPR has now come to an end. Eleven reports were adopted during the Human Rights Council’s 34th session in March:
Iceland was urged to enact legislation that includes protection from discrimination on the basis of intersex status; to take further steps to protect the rights of the child, prevent child abuse, exploitation and violence and to improve the integration of children of migrants into the national health system.
Lithuania was urged to pursue its commitment to guaranteeing full respect for the rights of the child, in particular, children with disabilities, and guarantee that all violations of these rights, in particular allegations of abuse and ill-treatment, are brought to justice.
South Sudan was urged to stop and prevent violations and abuses of children’s rights, including by actively preventing and combating the recruitment and use of children in hostilities by parties to the conflict; and to pursue and punish all those responsible for violations of the human rights of children, in particular for killings and mutilations.
Syrian Arab Republic was urged to protect children by ensuring the full and immediate demobilisation of all children; the prohibition of recruitment of children into the armed forces and the prosecution and punishment of those responsible for forcibly recruiting children; and put an end to the practice of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment in detention facilities and sexual violence, especially against women and children.
Togo was urged to prosecute all cases of child marriage and female genital mutilation and punish the perpetrators according to the law; to separate children in conflict with the law from adults in police and detention facilities and place them in a child-sensitive environment; and to ensure that birth registration is free and compulsory in practice and guarantee that children without a birth certificate are not deprived of access to education, health care and other social services.
Zimbabwe was urged to amend all statutory and customary laws as soon as possible to establish the minimum age of marriage at 18 years, and create and implement a comprehensive national plan of action to combat the practice of child marriage and its root causes.
The UPR reports of Haiti, Venezuela, Timor-Leste, Republic of Moldova and Uganda will also soon be available on CRIN’s website.
The Human Rights Council UPR working group is holding its 27th session from 1-12 May, marking the start of the third cycle which will last from 2017 to 2021. During this new cycle, all 193 UN member States will undergo a new review of their human rights records.
In April Croatia and Switzerland both acceded to the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the rights of the child (CRC) on a communication procedure, which allow individuals, including children, to bring complaints about violations of children’s rights to the Committee. The Protocol will enter into force on 18 July and 24 July in each country respectively.
The Human Rights Committee held its 119th session in March reviewing the reports of six countries on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights:
Bangladesh: the Committee was concerned that the State party has one of the highest rates of early marriage in the world, with 32 percent of girls married before the age of 15 and 66 percent of girls married before the age of 18. The Committee also expressed concerns over the fact that abortion was criminalised and over the high rate of adolescent pregnancy connected to early marriage and resulting in maternal mortality.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: the Committee remained concerned about reports of ill-treatment and harsh conditions in some police stations and detention facilities and about the lack of units for minors in pretrial detention. It was also concerned that corporal punishment continues, especially in the home and that some children with disabilities remain outside the education system altogether.
Italy: while noting the difficult challenge arising from the increasing number of unaccompanied minors arriving in Italy, the Committee was concerned at the insufficient safeguards for these children, in particular relating to the inadequate age determination procedure; it recommended in particular that the State party ensure that the age assessment procedure is based on safe and scientifically sound methods, taking into account the children’s mental well-being. The Committee also remained concerned that legislation does not provide same-sex couples the right to adopt children and does not afford full legal protection to children living in same-sex families.
Serbia: the Committee was concerned about the situation of children trafficked or exploited by family members or others who are forced to work, beg or be subjected to sexual exploitation. It recommended the State party ensure that children are removed from families that are responsible for their exploitation and fully recognise children as victims rather than perpetrators of crimes. The Committee was also concerned about inadequate conditions in reception centres, including when unaccompanied minors are placed with adults, and the absence of care for individuals outside of reception centres; inadequate access for unaccompanied minors to guardians who make decisions in the best interest of the child; and inadequate procedures to determine the age of unaccompanied minors.
Thailand: the Committee was concerned about reports of child labour and the exploitation of vulnerable people, such as irregular migrants and indigenous peoples. He also expressed deep concerns about reports of children being detained and separated from their relatives; without access to school and placed in cells with adult detainees with risk of physical and sexual abuse.
Turkmenistan: the Committee was concerned about the reported widespread use of forced labour of farmers, students, public and private sector workers during the cotton harvest under threat of penalties such as loss of land, expulsion from university, loss of wages or salary cuts, termination of employment and other sanctions.
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) held its 17th session in March and April and reviewed the compliance of eight countries with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
Armenia: the Committee was concerned about reports on the institutionalisation of a high number of children with disabilities in orphanages and residential special schools and recommended the State party to prioritise the de-institutionalisation of all children with disabilities and their resettlement in family settings. The Committee also recommends that the State party prohibit and criminalise all forms of violence and abuse against children with disabilities in all settings, including home and residential institutions.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: the Committee expressed concerns over the fact that corporal punishment of children, especially children with disabilities, is not explicitly prohibited in the family, alternative care and day care settings and recommended that the State Party explicitly and universally prohibits corporal punishment of children, with particular attention for children with disabilities living in institutions.
Canada: the Committee was concerned about violence and abuse against children with disabilities, including sexual violence and lack of mechanisms to access to justice, remedies and redress. It recommended that the State party strengthen support and services for parents of children with disabilities in order to prevent abuse and violence.
Cyprus: the Committee noted with concern that the views of children with disabilities were insufficiently respected in matters concerning children and recommended that the State party, in collaboration with representative organisations of children with disabilities, adopt regulations and programmes ensuring that children with disabilities can express their views on all matters affecting them, and that their views are fully respected.
Iran: the Committee was concerned about the enforcement of mutilation as a form of criminal sentence, and recommends that the State party enact legislation to prohibit all corporal punishment of children with disabilities and to protect them from such practices. It also observed with concern the absence of mechanisms for children with disabilities to express their views and opinions regarding all matters affecting them.
Jordan: the Committee is deeply concerned about the practice of subjecting persons with disabilities, especially women and girls with intellectual and psycho-social disabilities, to sterilisation, despite its prohibition. The Committee urged the State Party to cease the practice of sterilisation in the absence of the individual’s free and informed consent; and adopt the proposed amendments to the Criminal Code prohibiting forced sterilisation.
Moldova: the Committee was particularly concerned about the life-long institutionalisation of children with disabilities, especially those with psychosocial and/or intellectual disabilities, in inhumane conditions, neglect and segregation from the community from early childhood. It recommended that the State party develop a national strategy for de-institutionalisation of children with disabilities, which encompasses alternative care in family settings and inclusive support services and facilities in the community.
The Committee’s concluding observations for Honduras are not yet available in English.
Call for inputs from the Special Rapporteur on human rights and toxics for his guide on good practices: deadline 12 May 2017
Call for Inputs for the Child rights report to the High Level Political Forum global review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: deadline 31 May 2017
Call for comments from the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the draft General Comment on the right of persons with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community (article 19): deadline 30 June 2017
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights: 8 May for the review of Australia, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Uruguay.
Human Rights Committee: 5 June 2017 for the review of Pakistan, Honduras, Madagascar, Mongolia, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Swaziland.
Committee against Torture: 26 June for the review of Antigua and Barbuda, Ireland, Panama and Paraguay.
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: 7 July for the review of Canada, Djibouti, Ecuador, Kuwait, New Zealand, Russian Federation, Tajikistan and United Arab Emirates.
Back to top
Closing
Victory for transparency at the UN
In an important step for improving NGO engagement with the UN, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) has passed a resolution to webcast open sessions of its NGO Committee. The practice of the NGO Committee — which makes recommendations regarding NGO accreditation at the UN — has been much criticised, including for its lack of transparency. Civil society organisations will now be able to follow consideration of their cases directly and webcasting will allow applicants to better understand the UN system, provide the UN with accurate information when applying for accreditation, and will encourage participation. The resolution introducing these changes was proposed by Chile, on behalf of Mexico and Uruguay and adopted by ECOSOC without opposition. During the ECOSOC session, several States - including China, Pakistan, South Africa and Venezuela - noted that ECOSOC should not interfere in the work of the NGO Committee. However, these concerns ultimately held no sway. The resolution passed with 37 in favour and 16 abstentions. More information can be found here.
Back to top
| 
