CRINMAIL 1237:
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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS
Riots, root causes and media coverage
Riots have affected parts of cities across the UK for four consecutive nights, following what started out as a peaceful protest in North London by people demanding answers from the police for the fatal shooting of a local man. While looting, arson, and property destruction have undoubtedly affected many children and youth in targeted communities, media attention has increasingly turned to the young age of some of those involved in these activities.
Youth workers have condemned the destruction, but at the same time emphasised that only a small percentage of young people are actively participating in the riots, and expressed concerns that media representations of the violence risk marring the image of all young people based on the actions of few. Similarly, the British Youth Council has urged those involved to stop engaging in violence and looting, as this behaviour flies in the face of work to promote positive images of young people, the vast majority law-abiding and intent on contributing to their communities.
Children and Young People Now (CYPN) spoke to a young volunteer helping to clean up the streets in the aftermath of the destruction, observing: "There has been so much focus in the media showing young people in a very negative light. But a lot of young people are really upset about what has been happening. They feel helpless about what they can do to stand up against it...Volunteering to clean the streets is a really positive way that young people can do something to help. It’s a way to combat the negativity that’s out there and show solidarity with their communities."
British Prime Minister David Cameron reacted harshly by saying action will be taken to deal with the violence in London as he told young people involved: “You will feel the full force of the law”, according to the Yorkshire Post.
However, youth organisations have stressed the need to address the reasons behind young people's involvement in the riots, pointing to recent youth services budget cuts and the lack of hope in disadvantaged sectors as potential contributing factors. Lara Oyedele, the chief executive of a social housing organisation, told CYPN that some sectors of today’s youth are disaffected, unhappy and upset. Perhaps tellingly, Ms. Oyedele warned that "as long as the situation stays the same, we're going to have more riots on the streets because there are too many angry young people thinking they have no future."
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State violence
The civilian death toll in Syria has risen by the hundreds in recent weeks, with the current figure estimated at between 2,000 and 2,400. Of these, over 70 are children, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria. The latest victim was an 11-year-old boy who was killed when security forces opened fire on a protest in Talbiseh, near Homs. While in the besieged city of Hama, one resident told how he saw a young boy on a motorcycle who was carrying vegetables being run over by an army tank.
The UN Security Council and the League of Arab States have both denounced the use of force against protesters in Syria. Other countries in the region have also individually expressed their concern over the violence, with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah demanding “an end to the killing machine and bloodshed”, as well as announcing the withdrawal of its ambassador from Syria.
Meanwhile in Chile, thousands of marching secondary school and university students calling for a reform of the country’s “unequal” education system were met last Thursday with security forces using water cannons and tear gas in the capital, Santiago, in an attempt to quash the protest. The city’s governor, Cecilia Perez mobilised the riot police and called on parents to rein in their children. Almost 900 students have been arrested so far. Their demands include a reform of the current public education system that leaves under-funded municipalities responsible for secondary education – a system set up under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet – which has starved most schools of resources. Chile currently invests 4.4 per cent of its gross domestic product to education, far below the seven per cent recommended by UNESCO.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its Rapporteurs on the Rights of Children and Freedom of Expression have condemned the Chilean authorities' use of violence to disperse the student protesters, and have urged the government “to adopt the necessary measures to ensure full respect for the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association, imposing only those restrictions as may be strictly necessary and proportional, and taking into account the State’s special obligation to guarantee the rights of children.”
The crisis continues
The Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council (HRC) has decided to send a letter to the HRC requesting it to consider holding a special session on the food crisis in the Horn of Africa, which will discuss severe malnutrition and childhood diseases, among other aspects. It will highlight that food security in the region in the last months has deteriorated owing to the cumulative effects of drought, the increase in food prices, conflict and lack of structural rural development. Accordingly, the special session would address three areas of action: 1) the need to increase access to nutritious food, clean water, sanitation and health protection for vulnerable individuals in the region, 2) the need for structural measures to reduce vulnerability, protect the right to food and combat discrimination, and 3) the need to address the special vulnerability of women and children. Full story.
Asylum-seeking children
The Australian High Court has halted the government’s controversial measure of sending 800 asylum seekers, including children, to be held in detention in Malaysia, as part of a deal whereby Australia would in return resettle 4,000 registered refugees. A human rights lawyer representing over 40 of the asylum seekers argued that transferring the group to Malaysia would be illegal, highlighting that the country has a “troubling record when it comes to treatment of refugees.” Previously, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay also accused Australia of jeopardising asylum seekers' rights through the deal.
The Australian Human Rights Commission expressed particular concern over the welfare of young asylum seekers, highlighting how it is difficult to see how the best interests of an unaccompanied child can be satisfied by sending that child to Malaysia, a country that has not signed the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. At the beginning of June, there were nine unaccompanied minors being held at Australia's offshore detention centre on Christmas Island, expecting to be sent to Malaysia.
Previously, Australia was also criticised for the use of wrist X-rays to determine the “bone ages” of 60 Indonesian crewmembers of asylum seeker boats, a practice that has been discredited as “unethical” and “inaccurate”, as it risks sending children wrongly identified as adults to adult jails for five years under the country’s people smuggling laws.
This same practice has also been employed in several European countries, including Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany. In response to its use, the Council of Europe’s Human Rights Commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg has highlighted medical specialists’ concerns that X-rays cannot reliably determine exact age, as bone and physical development varies between adolescents, and depends on various factors including ethnic and geographical background, nutrition and socio-economic situation, and previous and current illnesses. Additionally, on an ethical basis, Hammarberg recalls the Royal College of Radiologists in London stating in 1996 that it is “unjustified” to undertake an X-ray for age estimation purposes, and “not acceptable” to expose children to radiation purely for administrative purposes.
On the issue, Hammarberg concludes with the agreement of European children’s ombudspersons that an age evaluation should be done by a multidisciplinary panel composed of independent experts, and should combine physical, social and psychological maturity assessments, as well as taking into account that some physical assessments might be particularly stressful or traumatic for children who may have suffered physical or sexual abuse before. There should also be the possibility of appealing against the decision of the panel or seeking a revision of the assessment.
Conditioned for bias
Textbooks in Israeli schools contain anti-Palestinian ideology by depicting Palestinians as terrorists, refugees and primitive farmers, Nurit Peled-Elhanan, professor of language and education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has said. “They describe them as vile and deviant and criminal,” she says, noting that “[y]ou never see a Palestinian…doctor or teacher or engineer.” Peled-Elhanan says that this bias conditions Israelis to hold prejudices against Palestinians from a young age, preparing them for their compulsory military service, which she claims answers the question of why Israeli soldiers behave cruelly towards Palestinians, indifferent to the suffering they are inflicting. Full story.
Adopting children as property
New Zealand’s 1955 law on adoption does not take into account the best interests of the child, with the law being based on property law rather than on the human rights of children, children’s rights activists have said. Fiona Donoghue of the lobby group Adoption Action has said that "The best interest of the child should be paramount. At the moment the child isn't even a consideration in the legislation." She additionally highlights that the 56-year-old law also discriminates against prospective adoptive parents on the grounds of marital status, religious or ethical belief and race as well as age and sexual orientation, without considering the best possible family environment for the child. A new Care of Children Law Reform Bill will be presented at Parliament this week, and if approved, would replace the current Adoption Act. Full story.
Violence against children
In Tanzania, a government survey on the extent of violence against children has revealed that the problem is rampant across the country. It covered 3,739 females and males aged between 13 and 24 in various households countrywide, and revealed that three out of every 10 females experience sexual violence at least once before reaching the age of 18, while the figure for males is 13.4 per cent. The survey also identifies the main perpetrators of violence as parents, guardians, relatives and teachers as well as other people entrusted with daily care of children. Full story.
The African Child Policy Forum and the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children have jointly released the fifth issue of their African newsletter. It reports on South Sudan joining the list of States that have prohibited corporal punishment in all settings, including the home, as well as covering other positive moves towards prohibition in the region, new African research and global developments relevant to Africa and other regions. Download the newsletter.
Children of the drug war
A new book has been released that looks at the effects the war on drugs has on children, young people and their families around the world. Children of the Drug War asks fundamental questions of national and international drug control systems such as: what kinds of public fears and preconceptions exist in relation to drugs and the drug trade? Is the protection of children from drugs a solid justification for current policies? And how can children and young people be placed at the forefront of drug policies? To download a free copy of the book, click here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Child Labour: Training course on 'Child Labour Elimination and Education for All'
Organiser: International Training Center of the ILO
Dates: 3 – 7 October 2011
Application deadline: 19 August 2011
Location: Turin, Italy
More details here.
Child Labour: Training course on 'Labour Dimensions of Trafficking in Children'
Organiser: International Training Center of the ILO
Dates: 21 – 25 November 2011
Application deadline: 7 October 2011
Location: Turin, Italy
More details here.
Child abuse and neglect: 12th ISPCAN European Regional Conference
Organiser: International Society fro Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN)
Dates: 18 – 21 September 2011
Location: Tampere, Finland
More details here.
Human Rights: “Implementation of International and Regional Human Rights Decisions and Recommendations”
Organiser: International Human Rights Colloquium
Dates: 5 – 12 November 2011
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
More details here.
Call for abstracts: The Second International Conference in Africa on Child Sexual Abuse
Organiser: African Networkd for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect – Ghana Chapter
Deadline: 25 November 2011
Conference date: 12 – 14 March 2012
Location: Accra, Ghana
More details here.
Call for papers: “Capturing Witches – Histories, Stories, Images 400 years after the Lancashire Witches”
Organiser: Lancaster University
Deadline: 1 December 2011
Conference date: 17 – 19 August 2012
Location: Lancaster, United Kingdom
More details here.
EMPLOYMENT
UNICEF: Child Protection Specialist P-4
UNICEF is inviting applications for the role of Child Protection Specialist, P-4, to be based in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The successful candidate will be responsible for the design, implementation and evaluation of the Child Protection Emergency programme. Application deadline: 22 August 2011
For further details, click here.
Jargon of the Week
If you thought discreet activities were complimentary to your work, think again.
The same goes for trying to be discrete about your spelling mistakes, which will hardly inspire your editor to complement your writing.
Muddling up words that sound the same or are spelt similarly but have different meanings is a common mistake we all make.
So just to be clear, children’s rights advocates may be discreet people, but many of us engage in discrete activities.
And as much as we like to receive compliments for a job well done, we should remember that they don’t complement the advancement of children’s rights.
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