CRINmail 1429

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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS

Iranian juvenile at risk of execution

An alleged juvenile offender in Iran is at imminent risk of execution, even though his case is currently under judicial review in the country’s highest court, Amnesty International has warned. Hamid Ahmadi, 24, was convicted of fatally stabbing a man during a group fight that took place when he was 16 years old. His sentence was issued in 2010 on the basis of a principle in Iranian law that allows judges to make their own determination of guilt based on circumstantial rather than conclusive evidence. The application for a judicial review was based on Hamid’s young age at the time of the alleged crime. Meanwhile complaints regarding how Hamid ‘confessed’ to the killing after being threatened by police have not been investigated. 

Read about the campaign to end inhuman sentencing of children.  

Human ‘ping pong’ in the Andaman Sea

As many as 8,000 Bangladeshi migrants and Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, including many children, are adrift in the Andaman Sea and Malacca Straits after smugglers abandoned their vessels and neighbouring countries have turned the boats away from their shores. The Bangladeshi migrants are fleeing poverty and the Rohingya systematic rights violations in Myanmar where they are denied citizenship. After providing food and water to those on board, the Thai, Malay and Indonesian navies have admitted to redirecting boats towards other countries, in what advocates have called “a three-way game of human ping pong”. Malaysia said it will not accept the migrant boats on national security grounds. UNICEF reminded the State that it must act in the best interest of the children on the boats and protect others stranded at sea if it is to comply with international law. The three governments have also refused to engage in search-and-rescue operations. On Tuesday, Philippines became the first nation in the region to offer refuge to the people stranded at sea. 

Meanwhile in Burundi, more than 105,000 people, mostly women and girls, have fled the country since a political crisis began, with 70,000 crossing into Tanzania alone. Around 26,300 others have entered Rwanda, most of whom are now living in the Mahama refugee camp, while others have entered the Democratic Republic of Congo. Waves of political dissent have hit Burundi's capital Bujumbura over the past three weeks following President Pierre Nkurunziza’s announcement that he would seek a third term in office. There were unconfirmed reports that Burundian authorities are discouraging people from leaving the country, with a series of roadblocks being set up close to the border region. UNICEF said many of the children arriving at the borders are in poor health, often arriving unaccompanied after being separated from their families.

Reproduction, autonomy and consent

A group of UN human rights experts have spoken out against Paraguay's failure to protect a 10-year-old rape victim who has been denied an abortion in a timely manner. The girl, who is five months pregnant as a result of sexual abuse by her stepfather, only discovered she was pregnant when she went to hospital complaining of stomach pains. Abortion law in Paraguay authorises abortion only when the life of a woman or girl is at serious risk. Yet according to the World Health Organization, child pregnancies do present such a risk. The four UN experts welcomed a decision to set up a multidisciplinary panel of experts to assess the overall health of the girl and to give an opinion on the risks and recommendations to ensure her health. They further urged the government to “respect the best interest[s] of the girl, and guarantee her access to all necessary health care, as well as adequate reparation and rehabilitation measures”. Join Amnesty International’s urgent action on this case, and read an article by the Director of Amnesty Argentina (in Spanish).

Also on the issues of autonomy and consent, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, has issued a research paper on human rights and intersex people. The six-chapter paper addresses the medical, legal and administrative obstacles which prevent intersex people from enjoying their rights. It further informs governments and practitioners about current ethical and human rights developments, including global best practices already taken to protect and empower intersex people, such as through reforms of equal treatment legislation. The Commissioner said: “Europeans remain largely unaware of the painful personal histories of intersex people and the human rights violations they face. Stereotypes and norms grounded on the binary female-male classification have led to unnecessary medical and surgical interventions on intersex infants and a climate of incomprehension in society. It is time to address this unacceptable situation.” 

The rights of intersex people are also the focus of a new research paper by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. The paper shows that there is a need to review laws and practices across the EU that can result in discrimination, and violations to the physical and psychological integrity of intersex people especially when young. The paper centres in particular on registration of sex at birth, medical treatment of intersex children, and protection from discrimination. 

Meanwhile in Canada, chief of the Mikisew Cree First Nation people, Steve Courtoreille, has expressed shock on finding out that the province of Alberta allows for the harvesting of organs from children who die in care. Mr Courtoreille explained that "part of our culture is that the body must be whole when it goes back to the Creator, not dissected as the government sees fit... The problem is that we are not a part of these conversations". Officials from the Ministry of Health have said they will discuss concerns about the policy with First Nations representatives, clarifying that it is very rare for medical authorities to ask for organ and tissue donations. And that "when making a decision about organ and tissue donation for the children in care, cultural and religious beliefs and practices are essential considerations, as well as the preferences of the child (where appropriate) and the child's family". A statistic of concern is that while nine per cent of children in the province are indigenous, they make up 78 per cent of children who have died in foster care since 1999.

Bullying, sexual abuse & corporal punishment

In Egypt, since the military takeover in July 2013 there has been a surge in sexual violence against people detained for political reasons, including many children, according to a new report by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). In relation to children, the organisation documents the rise in sexual assaults against child detainees since the Ministry of the Interior took over several juvenile detention centres. The alleged perpetrators are mainly adult prisoners who are detained alongside child detainees. But FIDH says prison staff have failed to take measures to prevent such attacks and effectively investigate allegations. At least 16 complaints have been lodged by parents of detained children, alleging that their sons have been victims of physical assault, and there are reports of widespread rape committed across juvenile detention centres in the country. But one NGO lawyer said the “children are so afraid of reprisals that they refuse to file a complaint. There is the case of one mother who filed a complaint for rape on behalf of her son... The complaint was withdrawn by the child himself.” 

Mexico’s top court has ordered a school and teacher to compensate a 7-year-old student for their role in the bullying of the child. The Supreme Court ruled that the teacher had not only encouraged the abuse by the other children but also participated in it, and that the private school, known as the Universal Truth and Science Institute, failed to prevent the abuse even though it was aware of it. "More than a warning, this is an invitation to schools that they understand that this phenomenon cannot be tolerated, and in a case where no measures are taken against it, there has to be a responsibility and a consequence," said Justice Arturo Zaldívar Lelo de Larrea. "The private educational institutions are not just a business," he added. 

A joint report on the prohibition of corporal punishment in schools around the world charts progress made so far, and where more action is needed. The report, ‘Towards non-violent schools: prohibiting all corporal punishment - Global report 2015,’ published by the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children and Save the Children, was launched at the 6th World Congress on School Violence and Public Policies in Lima, Peru. In its content, the report describes how laws can be reformed to achieve abolition, identifying immediate opportunities for law reform in at least 46 of the 73 States where prohibition has not yet been fully achieved in schools. There is also information on national and international campaigns on the issue. 

In addition, a report on regional progress towards prohibition of corporal punishment in all settings in Latin America has also been published, as has a report on progress in the Pacific Islands, which was launched at the Pacific Islands Countries Conference on Violence against Children in May in Fiji.

Education and right to play

The government of Sierra Leone should reconsider a law that bans “visibly pregnant” schoolgirls from attending class or even sitting for school equivalency exams, girls’ rights groups are urging. “This is a baffling policy,” says Chernor Bah, a Sierra Leonean children’s rights advocate and an associate at the Population Council. “The government says that having pregnant girls in school might have a negative influence on other girls. Show me one girl who saw a pregnant girl and said, ‘I’d like to get pregnant too.’ And in any case, basic education is a right to all, full stop,” he said. In relation to a girl’s right to education, her “child-bearing or marital status is immaterial,” added Philippa Lei, advocacy director of the Malala Fund, In a bid to work around cultural and legal barriers to girls’ schooling, local organisations have developed alternatives for girls who drop out or are barred from going to school to continue their education. Some of these include study clubs and radio-based education. But what advocates emphasise is that “We cannot create an underclass or treat pregnant girls as a scourge that needs to be kept away,” said Chernor Bah.

East Asian countries occupy the top places of a recent global school ranking, yet they also account for the highest number of unhappy schoolchildren. The highest-ranking countries for quality of education are Singapore in first position, followed by Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. "If you go to an Asian classroom you'll find teachers who expect every student to succeed. There's a lot of rigour, a lot of focus and coherence," said Andreas Schleicher, education director of the OECD, the economic think tank behind the global survey which sought to link good education with economic growth. However, last year the same organisation also surveyed children’s “life satisfaction”, finding that stress from pressure to succeed in school and the lack of leisure and play time were to blame. This is at least the case in South Korea, which, in that survey and three others before it, ranked the lowest. Recognising that “government policies on children have been mostly focused on their education and development, not their happiness or leisure time,” according to Koo Mi-jeong from the country’s Welfare Ministry, it now plans to establish a charter on “children’s right to play” in a bid to tackle children’s unhappiness.

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ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN IN JORDAN

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been ratified by Jordan, as has the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict. International treaties take precedence over national law in Jordan and, as such, the CRC is directly enforceable in the courts. Children are permitted to bring cases before the courts directly if they are over 15 years of age, or may do so through a parent or guardian otherwise. Legal aid provided by the State is not available; there are, however, some dedicated NGOs that provide legal assistance to children coming into contact with the justice system and their families. Jordan is currently home to a large number of refugees from Palestine, Iraq and Syria as conflict rages on in the region; the majority of Palestinian refugees have been granted Jordanian citizenship but those refugees that have arrived in recent years do not enjoy the same legal status and rights as Jordanian citizens, leaving refugee children at a disadvantage whenever they come into contact with the justice system.

Read the full report on access to justice for children in Jordan.

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

Exhibition: ‘Austerity Bites - Children’s Voices’
Organisation: Council of Europe and the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC)
Date: Currently exhibiting
Location: Strasbourg, France

Working children: ‘The voice of working children and adolescents from Latin America and the Bolivian case’
Organisation: Various
Date: 27 May 2015
Location: Brussels, Belgium

HTPs: Training course - Child abuse linked to belief in witchcraft and juju
Organisation: Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (AFRUCA)
Date: 29 May 2015
Location: London, United Kingdom

Call for papers: Institutionalised children - explorations and beyond
Organisation: Udayan Care
Submission deadline: 31 May 2015 (abstract), 31 July 2015 (final paper)
Location: N/A

Statelessness: International Conference - 'None of Europe's Children Should be Stateless'
Organisation: European Network on Statelessness
Dates: 2-3 June 2015
Location: Budapest, Hungary

Child rights: 9th European Forum on the Rights of the Child
Organisation: European Commission
Date: 3-4 June 2015
Location: Brussels, Belgium

Justice systems: International Congress 'Children and the Law'
Organisation: Fernando Pessoa University
Dates: 11-13 June 2015
Location: Porto, Portugal

Justice sector reform: Training programme on applying human rights based approaches to justice sector reform
Organisation: International Human Rights Network
Dates: 22-26 June 2015
Location: Maynooth, Ireland

FGM: Female genital mutilation as a child safeguarding issue
Organisation: Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (AFRUCA)
Date: 26 June 2015
Location: London, United Kingdom

Missing children: Second int'l academic conference on missing children & adults
Organisation: Various
Date: 8-10 July 2015
Location: Brussels, Belgium United Kingdom

Participation: Children as actors for transforming society
Organisation: Child to Child et al.
Dates: 27 July - 2 August 2015
Location: Caux, Switzerland

Child labour: The Nairobi Global Conference on Child Labour
Organisation: African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect
Date: 23-25 August 2015
Location: Nairobi, Kenya

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EMPLOYMENT

Child Rights Connect and CRIN: External Evaluator
Application deadline: 25 May 2015
Location: Geneva and London

CRIN: Legal research internships (Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish)
Application deadline: Rolling deadline
Location: London or Paris

CRIN: Communications Intern (Spanish-speaking)
Location: Flexible, home-based
Application deadline: 29 May  2015

Save the Children Sweden: Emergency Child Protection Advisor
Location: Geneva, Stockholm or other as negotiated
Application deadline: 20 May 2015

European Roma Rights Centre: Advocacy Officers
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Application deadline: 31 May 2015

Save the Children Sweden: Child Protection in Emergencies
Location: Flexible
Application deadline: 31 May 2015

All We Can: Senior Partnership Manager
Application deadline: N/A
Location: London, United Kingdom

Mary’s Meals: Director of Programmes
Application deadline: N/A
Location: Glasgow, United Kingdom

European Roma Rights Centre: Financial Officer
Application deadline: 19 June 2015
Location: Budapest, Hungary

LEAK OF THE WEEK

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