CRINMAIL 1318

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CHILDREN'S RIGHTS AT THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

Children's rights at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva are given most prominence during its first session of the year, which features the Council's Annual Day on the Rights of the Child. CRIN was in the Council all last week reporting live on its 22nd Session, and highlighting which issues were - and were not - being discussed.

During the week we produced daily bulletins, which are available on our 22nd session page, as well as live coverage via our Twitter feed. You can also read our CRINMAIL on Child Rights at the UN, which includes a full preview of the session. If you are not already subscribed to it, you can sign up to receive future editions here.

ANNUAL DAY ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD:
Children's right to health

Last Thursday, 7th March was the biggest day of the year on children’s rights at the Human Rights Council, as the UN body celebrated its 2013 annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child. The theme this year was 'children's right to the highest attainable standard of health', which included discussions varying from universal health care to the post-Millennium Development Goals process. 

The day itself took the form of morning and afternoon panels of experts discussing, respectively, the challenges facing the full realisation of children’s right to health and the proper implementation of this right. For an account of the day’s main proceeding, you can find the summary produced by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) here.

For CRIN, however, the most important aspects of the day were the children’s rights issues, many of which do not receive enough focus throughout the year. The following is a snapshot of the day. 

A day for children’s rights, not those of their parents

A worrying trend seen throughout the week was a hostility to the rights of children undiluted by those of their parents. Syria set the tone with its response to the OHCHR’s report, criticising the view that children should be able to access health services without the supervision of their parents, particularly sexual health care and abortion. Bahrain took an even stronger line, accusing the OHCHR of interfering with the “sovereign right of States … to design policies compatible with international law”. Gabon also spoke the need for families to protect the rights of children, again speaking of parental rights rather than discussing the rights of the children themselves.

Counteracting this worrying trend, however, was the explicit recognition both in the OHCHR’s report and the statements of other states, that  children are rights holders themselves and that their rights are not contingent on those of their parents nor those of anyone else. Where children are capable of making decisions about their own health care, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises their right to do so without the interference or consent of anyone else. Read more here.

Juvenile justice and violence against children

Mental health and detention

Thank goodness adolescents act up, push boundaries and even break the law - society would be dull and stagnant otherwise. This was the sentiment expressed by Mr Philip Jaffe, Psychology Professor and Director of the Children’s Rights Teaching & Research Unit of IUKB during a provocative side event organised by Defence for Children International (DCI), the Interagency Panel on Juvenile Justice (IPJJ) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). 

The event reflected on how detention of children has a significant negative impact on both their mental and physical health: put simply, children cannot enjoy their right to health if they are detained. At the same event, Mr Shekhar Saxena from the WHO Mental Health Programme emphasised the link between children in detention and mental health problems, noting that while mental health problems are thought to affect between seven to 12 per cent of children in the general population, amongst those in detention the rate is estimated to be as high as 60 per cent. Mr Saxena added that authorities frequently ignore the evidence of the link between this treatment and the harm it causes, instead continuing to incarcerate children with mental health problems, learning disabilities or, in many cases, both. 

All detention of children is inhuman sentencing

At the same event Ms Veronica Yates, Director of CRIN, emphasised the importance of taking a firm stance against detention of children as a violation of their human rights. She said that any form of detention, even if only for a day, has a significantly detrimental impact on the health of children, and as such is a clear violation of their right to health. Ms Yates also stressed that life imprisonment, with or without the possibility of parole, along with the death penalty, are not the only forms of detention amounting to an inhuman sentence – corporal punishment, including but not limited to whipping, flogging, caning and amputation, are also torture, cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment.

You can find out more about CRIN’s inhuman sentencing campaign here.

Violence by the medical profession

Ms Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children, also delivered her postponed (from the day before) annual report to the Human Rights Council. Download it here.

Notably, Ms Pais addressed the role of the medical profession in perpetrating violence against children in the context of cirucumcision. But this was the only mention of medically unnecessary procedures representing a violation of children's right to health. Indeed, the issue of non-consensual, non-therapeutic infant male circumcision was not raised at all during the whole week. 

Drugs, children and the right to health

The risks facing children who use drugs and the appropriate response to address those risks have also been a peripheral feature of this week’s events. Initially raised on Monday by the European Harm Reduction Network (EHRN), the issue of how to treat drug use as a right to health issue was raised again by UNAIDS, who called on the afternoon plenary panel to address how States can adopt a health related rather than punitive response.

At the close of the day, when asked to comment on the maternal issues regarding children’s right to health, a matter also raised by UNAIDS, Marta Santos Pais seemed disappointed that she had not been asked about the more challenging issue of child drug users raised by the same organisation earlier in the session. It is hard not to feel that this was a missed opportunity to address the rights of a group of children who are stigmatised and suffer violence because of their health problems.

THE WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

Children’s rights featured in discussions throughout the week during the 22th session of the Human Rights Council. Here is a quick reminder the week's highlights: 

Day one: 4th March

• Germany ratifies CRC complaints mechanism
• Solitary confinement for juveniles with learning disabilities and mental health problems amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, says UN expert
• Countries welcome the extended definition of torture to include abuse by the medical profession
• Read more on the day here.

Day two: 5th March

• Children’s rights to freedom of religion and expression are pushed aside, in favour of parents' perceived privileges over their children
• Inhuman sentencing of children fails to feature in plenary discussion
• Read more on the day here.

Day three: 6th March

• Activist condemns attempts to separate child abuse from corporal punishment, criticising the pretence that child protection can exist while the law authorises such punishment
• State acknowledges that children of religious minorities are indoctrinated in public schools
• Read more on the day here.

Day four: 7th March

• Annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child. Read CRIN's full coverage of the day here.

Day five: 8th March

• State defends children’s rights to “full access to confidential, youth friendly and evidence-based sexual and reproductive health services”
• Activist points out difference between cultural rights and traditional values: the former have a basis in law, while traditional values have no legal basis and are completely subjective
• Read more on the day here. 

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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS

Juveniles executed by firing squad

Saudi Arabia has executed seven young men convicted of armed robbery, they allegedly committed while under the age of 18. One of those executed, who was 15 at the time of the offence, said that he had been tortured and threatened into confessing, prompting numerous international organisations and the United Nations to appeal to Saudi authorities to halt the execution and conduct a fair trial. “It is a bloody day when a government executes seven people on the grounds of ‘confessions’ obtained under torture, submitted at a trial where they had no legal representation or recourse to appeal, “said Amnesty International’s MENA director Philip Luther. Full story. 

Meanwhile partners in Yemen have confirmed that a juvenile, Mohammad Abdul-Karim Haza'a, was executed by firing squad on 9th March despite evidence that he was under the age of 18 at the time of his offence. Despite numerous calls from local and international organisations calling on the Attorney-General to stop the execution, no response was received. It was not until after Haza'a was executed that the Attorney-General asked Taiz officials to halt the execution.

At least 15 juveniles have been executed in the past five years in Yemen, and at least 22 more are awaiting execution, according to a recent report by Human Rights Watch. Download the report. 

New report challenges gay ‘propaganda’ ban

The freedom of expression organisation, ARTICLE 19, has produced a report responding to the recent spread of discriminatory bans on so-called “homosexual propaganda”, which have been adopted or impending adoption on the pretence of protecting children, public morals or “traditional values”. The organisation says the report looks at the prohibitions in the context of efforts made at the UN Human Rights Council to enshrine “traditional values” in the international human rights framework, which it considers to threaten to legitimise discrimination. The report includes advocacy ideas on how international law on freedom of expression and non-discrimination may be used to challenge such laws. The report is available in English and Russian. Download it here.

UN makes ‘army rape’ ultimatum

The United Nations peace force in the Democratic Republic of Congo has issued an ultimatum to two units within the national army over allegations of mass rape. At least 126 women and girls were raped last year in the town of Minova, south of Goma, by army soldiers, but insufficient legal action has been taken against the perpetrators, according to the UN. Unless the accused soldiers are prosecuted before the end of March, the peace force would stop supporting Congolese army operations against rebel groups, a UN official said. The mandate of the UN mission in DR Congo stipulates that the peace force should end its collaboration with the Congolese army if its soldiers commit human rights abuses. Full story.

Human trafficking prevention teams ‘clueless’

A major study into modern slavery in the United Kingdom has revealed massive deficiencies in how authorities identify and treat victims, which has led a “shocking” failure to prevent the spread of the problem in the country. The report by Centre for Social Justice criticises frontline officials, including police, social services and the UK Border Agency, for their lack of awareness of the problem of modern slavery, which includes sexual exploitation, forced labour and domestic servitude of adults and children of both genders, going as far as to describing their efforts to preventing human trafficking as “clueless”. In response to the findings, the study makes more than 80 recommendations to better protect victims, including new legislation and the appointment of an independent commissioner. More on the story.

Girl soldiers face battles in civilian life

Programmes for the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) of former child soldiers are largely failing to meet the needs of girl soldiers, concludes a new analysis by the humanitarian news agency, IRIN. While girls are often thought to be used only as sex slaves within armed groups, in reality they serve an array of highly valued roles, including acting as combatants, spies, domestics and porters. But because of a lack of awareness of this, DDR programmes are ill-equipped to address the needs of former girl soldiers, who, while considered as equal to male combatants within the groups, face gender discrimination and stereotypes upon their return to society, which can eventually result in exclusion and poverty. Notably, while girls represent 40 per cent of child soldiers around the world, they make up only five per cent of child soldiers in enrolling in DDR programmes. Full story.

An insight into child domestic workers

A new report by Anti-slavery International looks at the psychological well-being of child domestic workers across three continents, for which it interviewed around 3,000 children, half of whom work is paid or unpaid domestic workers. The aim of the study is to explore the circumstances that most affect child domestic workers, to identify their vulnerabilities as well as examples of resilience that contribute to their well-being in a positive way. Download the report.

Still on the issue of slavery, a coalition of international organisations, including CRIN, is calling on governments around the globe to protect child domestic workers, who often work in slave-like conditions, and to ratify the International Labour Organization’s Domestic Workers Convention. 

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CHILDREN'S RIGHTS WIKI: Spotlight on Malta

In this week's Children's Rights Wiki, we look at the persistent violations of children's rights in Malta: http://wiki.crin.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Malta

• Discrimination against children based on the marital status of their parents;
• Low age of criminal liability;
• Treatment of 16 and 17-year-olds as adults in criminal proceedings;
• Corporal punishment;
• Criminalisation of abortion;
• Inadequate sexual and reproductive health care for children;
• Inappropriate treatment of migrant and asylum-seeking children, particularly use of and conditions in detention;
• Trafficking of children;
• Abuse and ill-treatment of children.

For more information on these persistent violations, visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=30377&flag=report

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Americas: 147th Session of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
Organisation: IACHR
Date: 7-22 March 2013 
Location: Washington D.C., United States 
More details here. 

Violence: Ending gang and youth violence among young Jamaicans
Organisation: Anglia Ruskin University et al.
Date: 22 March 2013 
Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom 
More details here.

Call for proposals: Designing & setting up a child well-being monitoring system in Kazakhstan
Organisation: UNICEF Kazakhstan
Date: 30 March 2013 
Location: N/A 
More details here.

Gender & disability: Call for proposals on Women and Girls with Disabilities 
Organisation: UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Location: Geneva, Switzerland 
Submission deadline: 31 March 2013 
Event date: 17 April 2013
More details here.

Male circumcision: Understanding the psychological harm of male circumcision
Organisation: Genital Autonomy
Date: 17 April 2013 
Location: Newcastle, United Kingdom 
More details here.

Media: Moving targets - Children and the media 
Organisation: Webster University 
Date: 22–24 April 2013 
Location: Geneva, Switzerland 
More details here. 

Participation: World Youth Summit 2013 
Organisation: Child and Youth Finance International 
Date: 6–9 May 2013 
Location: Istanbul, Turkey 
More details here. 

E-course: Monitoring children's rights
Organisation: Human Rights Education Associates
Date: 3 April - 18 June 2013 
Location: Online 
More details here. 

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EMPLOYMENT

CRIN: Consultant in Communication (French)
Location: London, United Kingdom (flexible)
Application deadline: 15 March 2013  
More details here. 

SOS Children's Villages International: Continental Programme Development Advisor
Location: Georgia or Uzbekistan 
Application deadline: 18 March 2013
More information here.

European Roma Rights Centre: Legal Director 
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Application deadline: 27 March 2013 
More details here. 

Human Rights Watch: Children's Rights Associate
Location: New York City, United States
Application deadline: 28 March 2013 
More details here. 

War Child Canada: Country Director (South Sudan)
Location: Malakal, Upper Nile and Juba, South Sudan
Application deadline: N/A. 
More details here. 

The Last Word

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