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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS

Worrying trend of inhuman sentencing

The Maldives has overturned a 60-year moratorium on the use of capital punishment, adopting a new law that allows for the death penalty in cases of murder, including when committed by children. Under the recently ratified Penal Code children as young as seven can be held criminally responsible for hadd offences, which include murder, apostasy from Islam and adultery, among others. In practice, this means thatminors convicted of intentional murder shall be executed once they turn 18. In response to the new regulations, the UN has reminded the Maldives that international law bans the use of the death sentence against persons below the age of 18 at the time when the offence was committed, and has urged the Government to retain its moratorium on the death penalty in all circumstances.

Brunei Darussalam will soon enact its revised penal code based on Sharia law, which includes violent sentences such as corporal punishment, amputation and death by stoning - even for children from the age of 15. Following a moratorium on the death penalty since 1957, the revised Sharia Penal Code Order 2013 provides for the death sentence for crimes of murder; robbery (in which a murder is committed); and certain sexual offences, including adultery by a married person, rape, and anal sex between men or between a man and a woman who is not his wife. Enforcement of the new provisions was postponed earlier this month following international condemnation. But implementation is now expected to take place in three phases from 1 May. 

A court in Egypt has sentenced 683 people to death for charges relating to rioting during clashes with security forces in August last year. All defendants were accused of being supporters or members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood or the deposed president Mohamed Morsi. The ruling was made at the end of a single four-hour court session, during which the judge refused to listen to any arguments from the defence. Last month, 529 other people were also sentenced to death. Of these, 37 of the sentences have since been upheld, while the rest were commuted to life imprisonment. Foreign governments and human rights groups also condemned the sentences as not having met even the most basic standards of justice. Given that both trials were rife with procedural irregularities, it is unclear if any of the defendants are under-18.

Also read about the campaign to end the inhuman sentencing of children, and a joint submission by CRIN and the IJJO to the UN Secretary General on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

Child marriage bans welcomed

Pakistan’s Sindh state has become the first of the country’s four provinces to ban marriage of children under the age of 18. The Child Marriages Restraint Bill 2013 was adopted unanimously when put to a vote in the Sindh Assembly on Monday. Among its provisions, the bill allows complaints against such marriages to be dealt with within 90 days. But lawmakers say they are aware that the problem cannot be resolved by simply passing the bill, highlighting the need to create awareness about the legislation through wide media publicity.

Yemeni NGOs are urging the Government to speed up the passage of draft legislation on children’s rights which criminalises child marriage. Yemen is one of the few countries in the region now without any minimum age for marriage, with some 52 per cent of girls married – often to much older men – before the age of 18, and 14 per cent before the age of 15. The draft law also addresses other important children’s rights issues, including by prohibiting female genital mutilation, the use or recruitment of children as soldiers, and setting restrictions on child labour in accordance with international legal standards. The proposed law is currently awaiting review by Prime Minister, Mohammad Basindawa, and his cabinet. Then it is expected to be submitted to parliament for prompt passage. 

Freedom of expression concerns at the UN

The role of children's rights advocates depends on the freedom to speak out. This week, this freedom took a turn for the worst as a string of repressive regimes, including Iran, Mauritania and Azerbaijan were elected to a Committee on NGOs that determines civil society access to the UN. 

The International Service for Human Rights, which works to support human rights defenders and strengthen human rights systems, is calling for more democratic governments that value civil society to run for a seat on the body, which is a standing committee of the Economic and Social Council. They say that the election of repressive States to the Committee will further restrict human rights NGOs’ participation in UN processes. Read a list of the new members.

CRIN monitors restrictions on children's rights advocates' freedom to speak out as part of our campaign to promote transparency in the appointment of candidates to the top jobs in children's rights. 

Juveniles ‘languishing’ in adult jails in India

Thousands of young offenders in India are believed to be “languishing” in adult jails across the country due to a lack of adequate age verification, said the the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). In an affidavit submitted to the Delhi High Court - which has been monitoring the issue of juveniles being incarcerated in adult jails since 2012 - the NCPCR found that more than 2,600 probable juveniles had been identified in Delhi’s jails during visits conducted between 2012 and 2014. The Commission believes that similarly huge numbers may be found in other states as well. 

“[The] NCPCR believes that the issue of juvenility and adulthood will remain contentious until a foolproof mechanism is evolved to ensure that the verification of inmates is done prior to their admission in a jail in the country,” the affidavit states. 

Routine strip-searches of young detainees to end

The controversial practice of routine strip-searching of under-18s in young offender institutions in the United Kingdom will end next month, the Youth Justice Board has confirmed. Currently young people are strip-searched on a mandatory basis - rather than based on risk -when they arrive at a young offender institution. But as of May, young detainees will instead be given a “rub down” search, scanned with a hand-held metal detector, and searched using a chair that scans the body's orifices. The move follows pressure from campaign groups and criticism of the practice by experts, which were particularly critical of figures from one detention centre that showed just two discoveries of contraband from 729 strip searches. Read more about the new regulations.

Call to ban electric shocks on disabled children

A group of health experts from the United States has recommended a federal ban on the use of electrical shock devices used to punish and control the behaviour of children with disabilities. The issue received attention following a 2010 report by Disability Rights International (DRI) on the use of electric shock and long-term restraint on children and adults with disabilities at the Judge Rotenberg Center - the only facility in the US known to use electric shock to punish children with disabilities. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Méndez, later agreed that the shock treatments violate the UN Convention against Torture. And now, the US department responsible for promoting and protecting public health, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is being urged to accept the health experts’ recommendation.

Read DRI’s testimony before the FDA advisory panel, and  DRI’s 2010 report ‘Torture not Treatment’.

New publications 

The International Commission of Jurists has published a new report on ‘Financial institutions and the rights of the child’. The report carries out an overview of policies and accountability mechanisms of several financial and development institutions with the aim of determining the extent to which they incorporate children’s rights.

World Vision International has produced a policy report calling on the G20 to better address child labour in international trade markets. The report, ‘Creating markets for child-friendly growth’, says the G20 is ideally placed to take coordinated measures to influence the market conditions which allow child exploitation to continue at all stages of the market chain - from the sourcing of raw materials to the distribution of a final consumer product.

ChildPact has written a paper arguing why donors should support the work of child protection networks. The organisation also has amanifesto, which calls for a trust fund for child protection networks to be established. 

Just Fair has published the report, ‘Going Hungry? The Human Right to Food in the UK’, which analyses the State’s compliance with the duty to secure the international human right to adequate food, proposing recommendations to that end.

UN news

Next week the UN Committee Against Torture will review the Holy See’s human rights record. CRIN and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) have prepared a joint civil society report ahead of the review entitled, ‘Sexual Abuse of Children by Catholic Clerics as a Form of Torture or Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment’. You can watch a webcast of the review here. Coverage of the review will also take place on Twitter under the hashtags #VaticanAccountabilityand#HolySeeConfess.

Also read about CRIN’s campaign to end sexual violence in religious institutions, and our report on child sexual abuse and the Holy See.

Calls for proposals

Human rights defenders, civil society activists, NGOs and others who have experienced intimidation or reprisals in connection with their cooperation or attempted cooperation with UN human rights mechanisms, should consider submitting information about their case to the UN Secretary-General for inclusion in a major report to be considered by the UN Human Rights Council. The deadline for submissions is 31 May 2014. For more information, click here.

The European Commission has launched a consultation on integrated child protection systems, with a view to developing EU guidance on where and when the EU can support EU countries and where individual EU countries can contribute to EU activities. The deadline for contributions is 3 July 2014. Click here for more information.

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ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN IN EGYPT

In the latest instalment of our access to justice report series, we assess children’s access to justice in Egypt.  

The Children's Law explicitly requires the State to guarantee, as a minimum, the rights provided for in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which was incorporated into Egyptian law upon ratification. Despite this, the use of the CRC by courts has been limited. While there are a number of ways to lodge complaints about child rights violations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has observed that there lacks an independent monitoring mechanism to receive and follow up on complaints which is readily accessible to children. Cases generally must be brought by a child's parent or guardian, NGOs cannot initiate court proceedings, and the availability of legal aid is limited to criminal matters. Read the full report on access to justice for children in Egypt. 

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UPCOMING EVENTS

UN: Advancing children’s rights through the UPR
Organisation: Child Rights Connect
Date: 5 May 2014
Location: Geneva, Switzerland

Business: Children's rights and business principles
Organisation: Save the Children et al. 
Date: 12 May 2014
Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Play: Spirit 2014 conference
Organisation: Play Wales
Dates: 14-15 May 2014
Location: Cardiff, United Kingdom

Course: Master in Children's Rights
Organisation: Institut Universitaire Kurt Bösch
Application deadline: 21 May 2014
Location: Sion, Switzerland

Corporal punishment: Children's Rights and Advances in Protection from Corporal Punishment
Organisation: Center for the Human Rights of Children, Loyola University Chicago
Date: 23-24 May 2014
Location: Chicago, United States

Justice: International conference on child-friendly justice 
Organisation: Stockholm Centre for the Rights of the Child
Date: 16-18 May 2014
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Asia: Rethinking urbanisation & equity - the potential of urban living for all children
Organisation: UNICEF & Institute of Development Studies
Date: 9-10 June 2014
Location: Nottingham, United Kingdom 

Welfare: Investing in Children and Families - Policies and Practices for Promoting Welfare
Organisation: Central Union for Child Welfare 
Date: 9-12 June 2014
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Psychology: Children's Rights and Needs - Challenges to School, Family and Society
Organisation: International School Psychology Association (ISPA)
Event date: 15-18 July 2014
Location: Kaunas, Lithuania

Bodily integrity: Whole bodies, whole selves - Activating social change
Organisation: Genital Autonomy et al.
Event date: 24-27 July 2014
Location: Colorado, United States

Participation: Children as Actors for Transforming Society - Young Advocates for Change
Organisation: Initiatives of Change et al. 
Date: 26 July - 2 August 2014
Location: Caux, Switzerland

Africa: Keeping Children Safe in Africa - Identifying and addressing the challenges
Organisation: Keeping Children Safe et al.
Date: 3-5 September 2014
Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Statelessness: Global Forum on Statelessness
Organisation: Tilburg University
Date: 15-17 September 2014
Location: The Hague, Netherlands 

Best interests: Developing Child-Centred Practice in Law, Social Work and Policy for Cross-Border Families
Organisation:  International Social Service – USA Branch
Date: 2 October 2014
Location: Baltimore, United States

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EMPLOYMENT

Welsh Government: Children's Commissioner for Wales
Application deadline 19 May 2014
Location: Wales, United Kingdom

Save the Children: Consultancy on children's participation in South African and Zambian news media
Application deadline: 2 May 2014
Location: N/A

SOS Children's Villages International: Campaign Internship (glabal advocacy project)
Application deadline 2 May 2014
Location: Vienna, Austria

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Fellowship for lawyers
Application deadline: 2 May 2014
Location: Washington DC, United States 

UNICEF: Consultancy on maintreaming human rights in UN operation activities at country level
Application deadline: 7 May 2014
Location: N/A   

World Vision International: Child Protection Officer
Application deadline: 10 May 2014
Location: Herat, Afghanistan

UNICEF Bulgaria: Consultancy on violence against children
Application deadline: 12 May 2014
Location: N/A 

European Roma Rights Centre: Executive Director
Application deadline: 8 June 2014
Location: Budapest, Hungary

Leak of the Week

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