CRINmail 1361

In this issue:

View this CRINmail in your browser. 

LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS

Turkmenistan bans corporal punishment

Turkmenistan has become the latest country to ban corporal punishment of children in all settings, including the home. Prohibition was first enacted in 2002, but the process of verifying relevant information and obtaining official confirmation that the prohibition is comprehensive has taken many years. In a letter to the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children dated 13 January 2014, the Government provided the necessary confirmation that all corporal punishment, without exception, is unlawful under the Law on Guarantees of the Rights of the Child 2002 (art. 24) and the Family Code 2012 (arts. 85 and 89). This brings the total number of States worldwide to have achieved prohibition in all settings to 35. Read more about the global countdown to prohibition, information on States that have imposed a ban, and a detailed country report on Turkmenistan.

The Global Initiative has also published a report, in collaboration with Save the Children, on progress towards prohibition in all the 48 states and territories in Central Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific – home to around 590 million children. The report includes facts and figures on regional and global progress towards law reform, analyses of human rights treaty body recommendations and those made during the UN Universal Periodic Review (what’s this?) for Asia/Pacific states and governments’ responses to them, among other aspects. Download the report.

Armed conflict worsens in racked countries

At least 200 South Sudanese civilians drowned last week, including children, in a ferry accident on the White Nile river as they fled renewed fighting in the city of Malakal. Army officials say the ferry was overloaded. Up to 10,000 people are believed to have been killed in the violence that began mid-December 2013 between supporters of President Salva Kiir and those of his former deputy Riek Machar. According to the United Nations, some 400,000 civilians have fled their homes over the past month. The UN peacekeeping base in Malakal was swamped last week with almost double the number of people seeking shelter, rising from 10,000 to 19,000, as rebel forces staged a fresh attack to seize the town, where power has already changed hands twice since December.

On Monday the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) held a special session on the Central African Republic, at which it unanimously adopted a resolution calling on all parties to end the violence and appoint an Independent Expert to examine the situation in the country. This follows the UN Security Council’s resolution in December 2013 providing technical and financial support to peacekeeping troops.  More than 6,000 children have been possibly recruited into the conflict in the CAR, with their numbers growing as sectarian violence intensifies, according to a new UNICEF report. The organisation says recruitment is happening on all sides, with reasons including poverty, despair, desire for revenge, and the general lack of options for children, and there have been many reports of girls being used as sex slaves. Meanwhile thousands of people are thought to have been killed in the fighting, nearly one million displaced, and half the population needs humanitarian aid.

The humanitarian situation in Syria continues to worsen as reports have emerged of Palestinian refugees dying of hunger in Yarmouk camp on the edge of Damascus. While the United Nations is feeding more than 3.8 million people in Syria, fighters loyal to the Syrian regime surround numerous rebel-held neighbourhoods, notably in the suburbs of Damascus, and refuse to allow access to food or medical aid. Most Yarmouk camp residents have long been eating little other than stale vegetables, powdered tomato paste and animal feed, said Chris Gunness of the UN Relief and Works Agency, which is charged with helping displaced Palestinians across the region. More than 160,000 Palestinians lived in Yarmouk on the eve of the uprising in Syria in 2011, but most have since fled the fighting, reducing the population to about 18,000, according to the United Nations. The number may be higher, because thousands of displaced Syrians also have taken refuge at the camp.

Prospects of Egypt’s new constitution

A new military-backed charter has replaced Egypt’s 2012 constitution drafted during former President Mohamed Morsi's time in office. But local activists warn that the country’s rights situation contradicts the protections the charter enshrines. Over 38 per cent of Egypt’s population voted in the referendum, with 98 per cent of participants voting to approve the new constitution, the first step in General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's roadmap to “democracy”.

But while the new charter includes provisions on the protection of media workers, some commentators highlight that the charter was passed amid a continuing crackdown on dissent, including the arrest of seven journalists, some of whom are accused of conducting “illegal meetings” and illegally broadcasting news that harmed “domestic security”. People hanging posters calling for a “No” vote prior to the referendum were also arrested.

Supporters of the new constitution welcome its provision on “safeguarding” the right to freedom of assembly and demonstrations. But this ignores a recent law that criminalises unauthorised protests, with the country’s Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim recently confirming that "[e]very Friday, no less than 500 to 600 [people] get arrested."

On the plus side, this new constitution is the country’s first to include provisions that clearly recognise education and health rights, as well as equality between men and women in economic, social, and political contexts. However, some commentators are skeptical, as they say that Parliament can still regulate and limit the exercise of these rights through law. 

While the formation of a non-military government was one of the key demands of the 2011 revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak, the new charter continues to allow for civilians to be tried in military courts for crimes that “harm the armed forces”. General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has also hinted he will present his candidacy at a presidential election. Read more about the new charter on the IFEX website.

Ukraine passes anti-protest law

Ukraine’s President has signed into law new anti-protest measures, which activists and European officials say are a threat to democracy. The new legislation follows almost two months of street protests against the government's decision in November to suspend work on an Association Agreement with the European Union in favour of closer ties to Russia. At least three people have been killed in clashes following the signing into law of the new Bill No. 3879. The law places a ban on unauthorised protests, people can be arrested and imprisoned for blocking public buildings, occupying tents in public areas and for wearing masks or helmets at demonstrations.

The freedom of expression organisation ARTICLE 19 also highlights that the law introduces the Russian concept of “foreign agent” into Ukrainian legislation to refer to NGOs that receive funding from abroad and carry out so-called “political activities”. Controversially, the Ukrainian parliament also amended the Criminal Code on January 16 to make defamation a crime. Distributing materials seen as “extremist” is now also an offence.  

Over 618 Ukrainian citizens representing various civic organisations, businesses and academia have signed a statement in which they question the constitutionality of the new bill.

Coal pollution responsible for 250,000 deaths in China

Air pollution from China’s coal plants was the cause of over 250,000 premature deaths in 2011, while also harming the health of hundreds of thousands of Chinese children, according to new research by conservation NGO Greenpeace. The study found that air pollution in China caused 36,000 babies to be born with low weight, 320,000 children and 61,000 adults to suffer from asthma, 340,000 hospital admissions and two million doctor visits. The Greenpeace study estimates that the proposed creation of 570 new coal-fired power stations, on top of the 2,300 already operating in China, would cause a further 32,000 deaths per year. In November, an eight-year-old girl reportedly became the youngest person in China to be diagnosed with lung cancer, with her doctor saying that air pollution was the cause.

Funding and submissions opportunities

The European Union’s programme on Fundamental Rights and Citizenship is accepting applications for its 2014 action grants, with one of its priorities being children’s rights. Priority will be given to proposals that focus on or explicitly include a majority of children from vulnerable groups. These include transnational projects involving:

• the training of staff dealing with children in residential care or detention, as well as in the context of judicial proceedings;
• initiatives to empower Roma children through their participation at all levels; and
• the effective provision of information to children on their rights, namely on legal rights and related advice for children, which is grounded in the rights contained in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The deadline for submission of applications is 12:00 on 12 March 2014. Read more on the application process.

The Jacobs Foundation is inviting organisations to nominate a candidate for the Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize 2014. The Prize awards outstanding scientific contributions of individuals from all disciplines who have achieved major breakthroughs in understanding and contributing to child and youth development, and at the same time have the potential to advance the field by actively conducting research. The Prize is endowed with one million Swiss Francs. The deadline for nominations is 15 March 2014. Click here for more details about the prize or to submit a nomination. 

The 'Our Voices' project at the University of Bedfordshire in the United Kingdom is inviting organisations working to prevent and respond to sexual violence against young people in Europe to submit information on their work and projects. The 'Our Voices' project, which is coordinated by the university's International Centre: Researching child sexual exploitation, violence and trafficking, seeks to will promote the involvement of young people in efforts to prevent sexual violence against children across Europe. Project elements will include facilitating a pan-European network of youth advisors, supporting a number of youth-led activities and collaborating with organisations and projects to develop participatory work with young people (under 18) at risk of or affected by sexual violence. If your project is involved or interested in participatory practice and developing youth-led work on the topic of sexual violence, please get in touch with [email protected]. The deadline for responses is Friday 31st January 2014.

CRIN announcements

It has almost been a week since CRIN launched its brand new website! We would like, however, to remind our users that not all of the website’s features are up and running yet. As we tackle the remaining technical snags, we will continue to strive to accommodate any information sharing requests as best we can.

Users may have also noticed the absence of our regular Children’s Rights Wiki feature in our weekly newsletter. This too is due to technical issues that arose during the transition to the new website. But we will resume its inclusion as soon as possible. 

A specific reminder for our non-English language users, that the Arabic, French, Russian and Spanish pages will take a little longer to finish as they are still being developed. Thank you for your patience. 

Back to top

UPCOMING EVENTS

Children's rights: 65th Session of the CRC 
Organisation: UN Committee on the Rights of the Child 
Date: 13-31 January 2014
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
More details here. 

UPR: 18th Session of the Universal Periodic Review 
Organisation: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Date: 27 January - 7 February 2014
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
More details here. 

LGBT bullying: Seminar on finding solutions to homophobic and transphobic bullying 
Organisation: IGLYO 
Date: 28 January 2014
Location: Brussels, Belgium
More details here. 

Child rights: Applications open for auditors for the MAS in Children’s Rights
Organisation: Institut Universitaire Kurt Bösch et al.
Date: 3-7 March 2014
Application deadline: 14 February 2014
Location: Sion, Switzerland
More details here.

Americas: 150th Session of the IACHR  
Organisation: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Date: 20 March - 4 April 2014
Location: Washington DC, United States
More details here.

Youth justice: Re-imagining youth justice 
Organisation: Howard League for Penal Reform
Date: 2 April 2014
Location: London, United Kingdom
More details here. 

Right to play: IPA World Conference 2014 
Organisation: International Play Association
Date: 20-23 May 2014
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
More details here. 

Statelessness: Global Forum on Statelessness - New directions in statelessness research & policy 
Organisation: Tilburg University
Event date: 15-17 September 2014
Location: The Hague, Netherlands 
More details here. 

Child rights: International Conference celebrating the CRC's 25th year anniversary
Organisation: Department of Child Law of Leiden University
Date: 17-19 November 2014
Call for papers deadline: 1 April 2014
Location: Leiden, Netherlands
More details here.

Juvenile justice: World Congress on Juvenile Justice
Organisation: Terre des hommes et al.
Date: 26-30 January 2015
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
More details here. 

Back to top

EMPLOYMENT

If your organisation would like to advertise a vacancy within the children's rights sector, please email us at [email protected] with the following details: Vacancy title, job location, application deadline, and a url for further information.  

Jargon of the Week

Back to top