CRINMAIL 1296

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CHILDREN IN THE CONTEXT OF MIGRATION

The Committee on the the Rights of the Child held its 2012 Day of General Discussion On 28^th September on the theme: “the rights of all children in the context of international migration”. CRIN was there to cover the discussions, which began with a reflection on how migrants are demonised as law offenders, namely through expressions such as “illegal migrants” and “aliens”, which dominate most discussions, and contribute to further alienation, violence and xenophobia.

The discussion then moved to remind States that if they wish to meet their absolute minimum obligations under the CRC when concerning the treatment of migrant children, they are under the obligation to develop alternatives to detention of migrants and to mainstream child rights-based approaches into their politics, laws and practices. 

To CRIN's full coverage of the day, click here. 

LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS

Shelving children's rights in court

Courts in Spain are archiving cases of child sexual abuse without conducting a thorough investigation, especially when the alleged perpetrator is a parent, a new report by Save the Children has exposed. The organisation has identified practices that obstruct children's access to justice, including a lack of rigour, diligence, tact and respect in the treatment of cases, as well as of children themselves. Among these, the report finds that children's testimonies are not given due consideration, and are rarely obtained using child-friendly practices such as through drawing and play. The young age of some children has also been used by judges as a justification to disregard their testimony as unreliable. In response to the findings, the organisation has issued a series of recommendations. More on the story (in Spanish).

On the issue of the credibility of children's testimonies, a study conducted last year by the Centre for Legal Studies (CEJFE) in Catalonia proved wrong the assumption in the judicial sphere that the testimonies of child victims of sexual abuse are unreliable because they have a tendency to exaggerate. The study, in which 135 nursery school children between the ages of three and six took part, found that young children are capable of recounting traumatic experiences in great detail, with the margin of error being found to only be five per cent. The study concluded that even if children’s testimonies do contain flaws, they should never be disregarded in courts. Full story (in Spanish). 

Teaching children about abuse

In Italy, sexual violence against children is up from previous years, with the majority of victims being girls, says children's rights group Terre des Hommes. While the number of reported cases of child abuse in Italy in 2010 was 4,319, the figure rose in 2011 to 4,946. According to its research, the organisation found that abuse in the family continues to be the most common. Full story. 

While the problem of sexual abuse of children is not new in Botswana, it has only been in recent years that people have begun to come forward to report such cases, with lawsuits against family members a daily occurrence nowadays. But advocates say that campaigns need to be intensified, and that children should be taught what kinds of touching are appropriate or otherwise. More on the story. 

On this issue, the Council of Europe's One in Five campaign to stop sexual violence against children includes a simple rule, called the Underwear Rule, to help parents explain to their children where others should not try to touch them, their right to set limits, and the need to express their feelings and speak up against abuse. The Underwear Rule is explained in a TV spot suitable for all ages, a children’s book, a website and other support materials featuring a character called Kiko. 

Roma children stopped from entering school

Two weeks ago in a town in Croatia, a group around 40 non-Romani parents protested against 50 Roma children attending the same pre-school programme as their children, preventing them from entering the school building. The Roma children have since resumed classes, but the incident highlights the widespread discrimination that still exists against Roma in the country, including against children, despite the expansion of pre-school facilities available to all children, including Roma, as well as an increased enrolment of Roma children in primary schools. Previously in 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the segregation of Roma pupils in primary schools in Croatia was discriminatory, obliging the State to take steps to prevent segregation from happening in the future. Full story.

Also in response to a surge in violence against Roma in central and eastern Europe, the advocacy group, European Roma Rights Centre, has called on governments to protect national Roma communities from racially-motivated violence. The organisation reported that in the first half of 2012 alone, there have been at least 120 attacks across four countries, resulting in ten deaths of Romani people. Full story. 

LGBT youth 'conversion therapy' banned 

In the United States, the state of California has banned so-called “conversion therapy” for children, which attempts to change their sexual orientation, namely same-sex attraction. Conversion therapy is based on the belief that homosexuality is a disorder or an illness - which has been rejected outright by professional organisations - and claims to treat people through counselling and psychotherapy. 

“Efforts to change minors’ sexual orientation are not therapy, they are the relics of prejudice and abuse that have inflicted untold harm on young [LGBT] Californians,” said Clarissa Filgioun from Equality California. These therapies “have no basis in science or medicine and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery,” said state governor Jerry Brown. The law comes into effect in January 2013, and it is hoped other states will follow suit. Full story. 

Women's rights concerns in latest case

A woman in Tunisia who was allegedly raped by two police officers is, along with her boyfriend, facing possible charges of “immorality” after the officers caught them together in a parked car. While the officers involved are currently under arrest, over 400 people demonstrated against how the case has swung around to potentially criminalise the rape victim. The case comes amid growing criticism of the Islamist-led government over the erosion of women's rights, and for not upholding the ideals of the 2011 revolution. The case has also raised questions about the efficiency of reform of the Tunisian police, which under the regime of ousted president Ben Ali had a reputation for using sexual violence. Full story.

UN News

The 21^st Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) closed last week with the adoption of a series of disappointing country resolutions, including on Sudan, South Sudan and Mali. Action on Syria again failed to include a call for the Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.

Also of concern was the adoption of a controversial resolution presented by Russia on the protection of “traditional values”. Several countries opposed the resolution, including Norway, which strongly criticised Russia for not waiting for the Advisory Committee's study. NGOs also criticised the adoption, with a joint NGO statement saying: "There is no doubt that this resolution will be invoked to impose State morality at the expense of human rights." More here.

Finally, 14 Universal Periodic Review reports were adopted, including on the United Kingdom and India, while new Special Procedure appointments were announced for Eritrea and Belarus. Further Special Procedure visits have also been announced. Read more here. 

For full details of the HRC's 21^st session, including the list of adopted resolutions, visit our 21st session page. You can also read our recently rebranded "Children's Rights at the UN" CRINMAIL here. 

On a more positive note, the HRC adopted a resolution on “the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association” which recognises the important role of information and communication technologies in protecting the rights to peaceful assembly and association, and calls upon States to promote and facilitate internet access. More here. 

Call for input on children in alternative care

The Working Group (WG) on Children without Parental Care in Geneva is undertaking treaty body mainstreaming efforts to ensure that all the treaties (in addition to the CRC Committee) are aware of the Guidelines for the Alternative Care of Children and if relevant, refer to them in their discussion with State members as well as include them in their concluding observations. To date, the WG has made a short presentation to the CRPD Committee and shared with them a briefing note on relevant issues. To ensure that the briefing notes/presentations are as relevant as possible, the WG is calling for input on country-specific information on the States that will be examined during the upcoming sessions: 

• CEDAW (Chile, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Serbia, Togo, Turkmenistan); 
• CAT (Gabon, Mexico, Norway, Peru, Qatar, Russian Federation, Senegal, Tajikistan, and Togo); 
• CESCR (Bulgaria, Ecuador, Iceland, Mauritania, United Republic of Tanzania). 

If you have any country specific information on alternative care issues in the States mentioned above (relevant to the particular treaty body), you can send information to the WG at: [email protected] and [email protected]

CRIN in Arabic

Since the launch of CRIN's Arabic website, we have continued to expand the number of our resources available in Arabic, and provide ongoing coverage of children’s rights news, related activities and events at regional and international levels. The website provides comprehensive information and advocacy tools on all children’s rights, with our key resources always translated into Arabic. 

To subscribe to the Arabic CRINMAIL or for any other information regarding our Arabic services, email us as: [email protected]

For a full list of resources, visit the Arabic website here: http://www.crin.org/arabic/index.asp

You can also visit our Children's Rights Wiki for information on persistent violations of children's rights in Arabic-speaking countries here. 

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CHILDREN'S RIGHTS WIKI: Spotlight on Cote d'Ivoire

In this week's Children's Rights Wiki we look at the persistent violations of children's rights in Cote d'Ivoire: http://wiki.crin.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Cote_d%27Ivoire

• Female genital mutilation;
• Sexual violence against, and abuse of, children;
• Use of, and conditions in, detention for children;
• Violence in schools;
• Barriers to access to education;
• Children involved in violence or affected by armed conflict;
• Trafficking of children;
• Discrimination against, and inadequate provision for, children with disabilities;
• Child labour;
• Internally displaced children;
• Inadequate health care facilities;
• Children living on the streets. 

For more information on the recommendations, visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=28762&flag=report 

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Asylum: Separated children & young people in the asylum system
Organisation: Refugee Council
Date: 10 October 2012
Location: London, United Kingdom
More details here. 

Gender: 11^th International Conference of National Human Rights Institutions – Human Rights of Women & Girls
Organisation: Jordan National Centre for Human Rights et al.
Date: 4–5 November 2012
Location: Amman, Jordan
More details here. 

Juvenile justice: Policing and children
Organisation: Howard League for Penal Reform
Date: 6 December 2012
Location: Birmingham, United Kingdom
More details here. 

Education: International Conference on Inclusive Education
Organisation: Asian Centre for Inclusive Education
Date: 15–17 February 2013
Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh
More details here. 

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EMPLOYMENT

UNICEF: Consultancy on children in detention (by-laws and delivery of training)
Location: Home-based, and in-country travel
Application deadline: 15 October 2012
More details here.  

The Last Word

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