CRINmail 1399
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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS
French court confirms child’s life sentence
An appeals court in France has upheld a life sentence for a child offender. Mathieu M, now 20, was sentenced to life imprisonment for raping and murdering a girl when he was 17. Under French law, children in conflict with the law aged 16 and 17 can face the same sentence as an adult offender. Parole is possible - but not guaranteed - for those sentenced to life imprisonment, though only after spending 18 years in prison. This is the second time in France that a life sentence has been handed down for a child since the juvenile justice law entered into force in 1945. The first time was in 1989, and the defendant was later acquitted.
Several UN and regional bodies, as well as NGOs, have repeatedly said that the element of retribution is not appropriate within juvenile justice systems if the objectives are the reintegration and rehabilitation of the child. CRIN has written a paper that supports those who believe the way forward is to separate the concept of responsibility from that of criminalisation - and stop criminalising children.
Further Information:
Activists urge mandatory sex education
Teaching sex education could become a criminal offence in Poland with up to two years imprisonment under a draft law put forward by anti-paedophile campaigners. The bill seeks to criminalise “anybody who promotes sexual behaviour in minors aged under 15 or facilitates their involvement in such behaviour.” While supporters of the bill say it will not lead to the end of sex education in Polish schools, opponents argue that the wording is so broad that anyone talking about issues like sexual development and contraception could face prosecution. Education rights activists say that while sex education was made compulsory in Polish schools last year, it consists of material that is irrelevant or overtly religious, and schools frequently ignore the mandate.
Health experts in Thailand are calling for schools to teach sex education in order to curb the increasing rate of teen pregnancies and protect against sexually transmitted diseases. According to participants of a national conference on healthy sexuality, schools avoid teaching about sex out of fear that it will promote sexual behaviour in children. What’s more, there also appears to be a lack of political will in advancing the issue, as sexuality is a sensitive topic that permeates ethics, culture and politics, according to Caspar Peek, representative of the Thailand office of the UN Population Fund.
Health activists in the United Kingdom are pushing to make comprehensive sex and relationships education (SRE) mandatory in schools, amid concerns that the existing curriculum is not broad or inclusive enough. Last year, the Sex Education Forum said classes currently place too much emphasis on biological aspects rather than sexual health. But advocates agree that SRE should be more comprehensive and teach children topics like healthy relationships and how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, as well as how to protect against abuse and exploitation. At present, state-run secondary schools must offer SRE, but the thousands of so-called free schools and academies are not required to do so. The organisation Brook says that SRE should also include information about consent, gender identities, gender roles and be inclusive of all sexualities. Specifically in Scotland, where there is currently no requirement for schools to teach SRE, the organisation Sexpression:UK has urged the Scottish Parliament to include information on sexual assault and domestic violence in the current curriculum.
Finally, a recent review of Australia’s national curriculum says “The school setting, on the assumption that the curriculum is balanced and objective in dealing with what are sensitive and often controversial issues, offers one of the few neutral places for this to occur.” It noted the “lack of [alternative] forums and spaces where young people can discuss issues, including sexuality.’’
Read CRIN’s campaign on children’s right to access information.
Girls sold as concubines, recruits ‘martyred’
An Islamic State (IS) propaganda magazine is boasting how women and children of the Yazidi minority group are considered spoils of war, with girls being sold as concubines to IS fighters. Supporters of the radical Islamist group are also circulating images online of a 10-year-old recruit, who reportedly died alongside his father in a US airstrike, lauding him as the “youngest martyr”. Earlier this year, Human Rights Watch accused ISIS of recruiting children in Syria as young as 15 to fight in armed battles, often with the promise of offering them an education. Meanwhile the UN fears that thousands of people could die in the Syrian town of Kobane, after Islamic IS fighters stormed the area.
Russian border guards are preventing children aged 14 to 16 wishing to travel to Ukraine from leaving Crimea, unless they have obtained a Russian passport, according to the Crimean Field Mission on Human Rights. Critics say forcing children to obtain Russian nationality violates their fundamental freedoms. The practice is also being seen as taking advantage of the fact that under Ukrainian law citizens obtain a passport at the age of 16, whereas Russian citizens do so at 14. Further problems arise when travelling with newborns, as Ukrainian border guards do not recognise Russian birth certificates issued to newborns in Crimea, and warn that parents will not be able to travel back to Crimea without a Ukraine-issued birth certificate, which is difficult to obtain due to bureaucratic reasons. Human rights activists monitoring the situation in Ukraine say the procedure should be simplified, referring to the so-called “Namibia exception” in international law, which stipulates that every official action taken by a State operating illegally within the territory of another State shall be void, except for its registration of births, marriages and death.
The government of Netherlands said it will appeal a court decision which found the country liable for the deaths of 300 men and boys in the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. The District Court of the Hague ruled in July that UN-backed Dutch troops failed to adequately protect Bosnian Muslims sheltering in a UN compound in Potocari when it was overrun by Bosnian Serbs at the height of the Bosnian Civil war. Mothers of Srebrenica, a group representing the victim’s families, brought the case, and was reportedly disappointed by the court’s decision in the summer. An estimated 8,000 Bosnian Muslims, mostly men and boys, died the massacre.
Read more about Children and Armed Conflict in our latest CRINmail on the issue.
Abuse of migrant & indigenous children
Activists and journalists in Australia have warned of the “scandalous” proportions of the forced removal of indigenous children from their families. In the state of New South Wales, around 10 percent of indigenous children are living in state care whilst less than two percent of non-indigenous children are wards of the State. Of particular concern is that the first contact the child and his or her family has with the Family and Community Services (FACS) is often when there is a “knock on the door late on Friday afternoon, a FACS worker surrounded by police, and the children are removed”. Rarely is prior contact made to provide assistance to indigenous families. One journalist said the forced removals evoke the period up to the 1970s when thousands of mixed-race children were stolen from their mothers by welfare officials and placed in institutions where they were used as cheap or slave labour, with many being abused.
Meanwhile, researchers have found that Aboriginal children from Queensland as well as indigenous children from Torres Strait Island are ten times more at risk of suicide than other children in the state. This follows on from a report in 2012 where the proportion of indigenous girls committing suicide in the Northern Territory was believed to be the highest in the western world.
The federal government has launched an inquiry into claims of sexual abuse by staff of children held in detention on Nauru. It is alleged that child asylum seekers were forced to have sex in front of guards at the centre. The inquiry will also investigate allegations that Save the Children employees, who were contracted to provide welfare, education and protection for children on Nauru, encouraged the children to protest and coached self-harm in an effort to undermine the detention system, allegations that Save the Children rejects.
‘Ecocide’ and children’s rights
The campaign group End Ecocide on Earth this week launched a call to place "ecocide" on a level footing with genocide under international law. This would enable the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute companies responsible for environmental destruction. Ecocide was one of five core crimes included in the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, but it was dropped, with one expert suggesting this was the result of lobbying by the nuclear industry.
Although the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) does not specifically address children's right to a clean environment, it is clear that pollution and destruction of habitat have a particular impact on children's lives and violate countless provisions of the CRC, including their most basic right to survival and development and "the highest attainable standard of health". The concept of intergenerational equity, that is, the fair distribution of resources between present and future generations is particularly relevant. As Prussia Merz, a founder of the campaign, said: "The destruction of the planet is proceeding at such a fast pace… soon we won't have clean air or clean water anymore and our children will not have a healthy environment to live in," she said.
Read about landmark court rulings concerning children's right to a clean environment.
Nobel committee prizes child rights work
Two child rights activists have been jointly awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. Malala Yousafzai, from Pakistan, who campaigns for girls’ access to education, is the youngest-ever recipient of the prize. While Ms Yousafzai has already obtained a high public profile, the Nobel Committee’s decision to award a joint prize has done much to highlight the work of her fellow awardee, Mr Kailash Satyarthi, from India, a veteran in the child rights community. Having founded the Save the Childhood Movement (Bachpan Bachao Andolan), he campaigns for mandatory education and tighter regulations on forced labour in India and works to curb child trafficking throughout the region. Also rather fittingly, the Nobel Committee’s decision coincides with the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the recent International Day of the Girl Child.
Some commentators, however, were more critical of the Nobel Committee’s decision, saying that lesser known activists continue to lack recognition. For instance, in the same week Ms Yousafzai’s win was being heralded by western leaders, another Pakistani girl, Nabila Rehman, testified in front of the United States Congress on being the victim of a drone attack in her home country. Only five out of 430 representatives showed up to listen.
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ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN IN HUNGARY
Hungary has incorporated the CRC into its national law, but although it is directly enforceable, the courts have not made great use of the Convention. The CRC also does not take precedence over national legislation. Children under 14 have no legal capacity meaning they must always act through a legal representative. Children between 14 and 18 years old have limited legal capacity and may perform certain legal act themselves as provided by law. They may initiate proceedings to defend their inherent rights, however, as a general rule, a legal representative is required for all other types of proceedings. Violations of children’s rights can be challenged before the administrative, civil or criminal courts and complaints may also be made to the Ombudsperson.
Read the full report on access to justice in Hungary.
This report is part of CRIN's access to justice for children project, looking at the status of the CRC in national law, the status of children involved in legal proceedings, the legal means to challenge violations of children’s rights and the practical considerations involved in challenging violations.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Child rights: 'Rights, Not Charity' - Artwork exhibition
Organisation: Miriam Sugranyes & CRIN
Date: 22-26 October 2014
Location: London, United Kingdom
Digital media: Institutionalisation of child rights in the digital future
Organisation: UNICEF Turkey et al.
Date: 16-17 October 2014
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
LGBT: Rights on the move - Rainbow families in Europe
Organisation: University of Trento et al.
Date: 16-17 October 2014
Location: Trento, Italy
Social protection: Sixth International Policy Conference on the African Child
Organisation: African Child Policy Forum
Date: 27-28 October 2014
Location: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Child labour: Course on eliminating harmful practices in agriculture
Organisation: International Labour Organization
Date: 27-31 October 2014
Location: Turin, Italy
Europe: 'Senior Citizens and Young Children Building Age-Friendly Communities in Europe'
Organisation: TOY - Together Old & Young
Date: 28 October 2014
Location: Leiden, Netherlands
Poverty: Understanding child and youth poverty - Beyond ‘business as usual’
Organisation: Development Studies Association
Date: 1 November 2014
Location: London, United Kingdom
Child labour: Course on ‘Laws, policies and reporting tools - supporting the fight against child labour’
Organisation: International Labour Organization
Dates: 3-7 November 2014
Location: Turin, Italy
Street children: 'Do I count if you count me? A critical look at counting street-connected children'
Organisation: Consortium for Street Children
Date: 4 November 2014
Location: London, United Kingdom
Pro bono work: 2014 European Pro Bono Forum
Organisation: PILnet - Global Network for Public Interest Law
Date: 5-7 November 2014
Location: London, United Kingdom
Gender: 2nd MenEngage Global Symposium 2014
Organisation: MenEngage
Date: 10-13 November 2014
Location: New Delhi, India
Childhood: 6th World congress on childhood and adolescence
Organisation: Various
Date: 12-14 November 2014
Location: La Puebla, Mexico
Children's rights: International conference - 25 Years CRC
Organisation: Leiden University et al.
Date: 17-19 November 2014
Location: Leiden, Netherlands
Courts: Children’s rights moot court competition
Organisation: Leiden University
Date: 18-20 November 2014
Location: Leiden, Netherlands
Palliative care: 2nd Congress on Paediatric Palliative Care
Organisation: Maruzza Foundation
Date: 19-21 November 2014
Location: Rome, Italy
Education: ‘The relevance of children's rights in a higher education context'
Organisation: Institute of Education, University of London
Date: 19 November 2014
Location: London, United Kingdom
Migrant detention: ‘End Immigration Detention of Children in Asia’ - Call for Film Submissions
Organisation: Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network
Date: 20 November 2014
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
Course: Master of Advanced Studies in Children’s Rights
Organisation: University Institute Kurt Bösch
Application deadline: 20 November 2014
Location: Sion, Switzerland
Investment: 'Children First - Better Public Spending for Better Outcomes for Children & Families'
Organisation: Eurochild
Date: 26-28 November 2014
Location: Bucharest, Romania
Juvenile justice: ‘Making deprivation of children’s liberty a last resort - Towards evidence-based policies & alternatives’
Organisation: International Juvenile Justice Observatory
Event date: 3-4 December 2014
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Discrimination: ‘Children’s right to non-discrimination’
Organisation: CREAN - Children’s Rights Erasmus Academic Network
Date: 4-5 December 2014
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania
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EMPLOYMENT
CRIN: Communications Internship (French-speaking)
Location: London, United Kingdom
Application deadline: N/A. Until filled.
Children's Rights Alliance for England: Director (maternity cover)
Location: London, United Kingdom
Application deadline: 27 October 2014
THE LAST WORD
“We should abolish this age-discriminatory word when it comes to criticising [adult] behaviour associated with irresponsibility and irrational thinking.”
-- Adora Svitak, a 12-year-old blogger and advocate on literacy rights, on the connotations of the word “childish” during a TED talk, which she notes is often attributed to unwise actions taken by adults - not children. At the same time, she believes that the world needs "childish" thinking i.e. bold ideas, wild creativity and especially optimism. Adora says children deserve more respect and credit, starting with grown-ups' willingness to learn from children as much as to teach them.
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