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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS
Violence and accountability
Saudi Arabia should immediately halt the pending execution of two young men who were sentenced to death for offences they allegedly committed as children, a coalition of human rights organisations has urged in a joint letter to the country’s Minister of Justice, Dr Waleed Mohammad Al Samaani. The letter also addresses reports that both Ali Mohammed al-Nimer and Dawood Hussain al-Marhoon, who received death sentences in May and October 2014, have suffered violence and ill-treatment during their questioning and detention, and that they were coerced into signing confessions. Ali is said to have suffered severe beatings while detained at a juvenile observation home in Dammam, while Dawood sustained beatings, electric shocks and other ill-treatment during his detention. “Such treatment, a serious violation of the rights of these two young men in itself, renders unreliable any information obtained as a result and leaves any resulting conviction unsafe,” the joint letter asserts. “To proceed with the executions... would be an unambiguous violation of Saudi Arabia's international obligations.”
Thousands of survivors of child sexual abuse are being invited to testify across England and Wales, as the long-awaited independent inquiry into criminality and corruption by public and private institutions opens. Justice Lowell Goddard, the New Zealand judge appointed to run the inquiry, vowed that no individual or institution however powerful would be able to obstruct the investigations, with the monarchy, government, politicians, church leaders, schools, police, hospitals, insurance companies and the media all set to be examined. While the inquiry’s budget of £17.9m would not be able to convict or punish people, Goddard said it would not prevent the naming of individual perpetrators and the institutions which allowed the abuse to occur. In a vital protection for those giving testimony who work in the police, security services or public sector, the attorney general said that whistleblowers who come forward with evidence or documents will not be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act. Victims groups welcomed the start of the inquiry, while others criticised the lack of a separate dedicated criminal investigation running in parallel.
In Canada, Quebec’s child protection department took too long to intervene in the case of 134 children who were part of a religious sect which faced allegations that the children were suffering abuse and neglect, the province’s Human Rights Commission has said. Child protection officials were investigating the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Lev Tahor community over reports that the children in the groups were suffering corporal punishment, underage marriage, sexual abuse, squalid living conditions and the forced ingestion of drugs. After the problem was first identified, it took authorities 17 months to decide to place the children in custody. But three days later in November 2013, about 250 members of the community fled the town of Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, north of Montreal, to avoid a hearing in youth court, resettling in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, where courts ruled against Quebec orders to remove the 134 children. A report by the Commission into the case recommends an agreement be forged between Quebec and Ontario for youth court cases to be recognised by both provinces. Similar agreements exist between other provinces in Canada.
Education and information
In Italy, the new Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro has banned 49 children’s books covering homosexuality and disability from the city’s schools. Books that have been blacklisted include the French book ‘Jean Has Two Moms’, about a wolf family with two mothers, and ‘Tango Makes Three’, the true story of two male penguins who raised a chick together. In a statement to the daily La Repubblica, Brugnaro said: “We don’t want to discriminate against anyone and at home parents can call themselves daddy number one and daddy number two, but I have to consider the majority of families, which have a mum and a dad.” He also stated he would not be “intimidated” by his critics and slammed the “cultural arrogance” of previous centre-left administrations which had introduced the books. In response to the announcement, public readings of the banned books have been taking place and several libraries are encouraging people to read the titles with signs saying, “Blacklisted books, be a rebel, read them.”
In the United Kingdom, a year-long study carried out by Durham University has found that teaching philosophy to primary school children can lead to a significant improvement in English and maths skills. The study involved over 3,000 primary school children from 48 schools and found children's maths and English skills improved on average by two months’ worth of teaching. Children from deprived backgrounds benefited the most from being taught philosophy, with average reading skills improving by four months, maths results by three months and writing ability by two months. Primary school teachers were also interviewed as part of the study and reported that they noticed a significant improvement in children’s confidence, patience and self-esteem, as well as having a positive impact on pupils’ classroom engagement.
A Pentecostal megachurch in Melbourne, Australia, has been forced to apologise after it distributed materials to high school students warning young women not to hug their male peers because it would make them want to have sex. The pamphlet titled ‘Science and Facts’ was distributed during a sex education class and stated: “If a woman becomes physically close and hugs a guy for 20 seconds it will trigger the bonding process, creating a desire to be near him… So girls especially need to be aware of the powerful bonding effect of oxytocin”. Oxytocin is a chemical released by the brain during bonding activities. The pamphlet also stated that “the inability to create this special chemical bond after having multiple sex partners is almost like tape that loses its stickiness after being applied and removed multiple times”. An education department spokesman said it had launched an investigation into the incident, saying the materials were “completely inappropriate” and in breach of department policy.
Child protection in migration
A South African court has ruled that any child who enters the country with a relative who is allowed to apply for asylum will be regarded as a dependent of that caregiver, in the same way as a biological child. The case was brought by a 16-year-old orphan together with other children who had also been separated from their biological parents but were in the care of relatives when they fled armed conflict. In each case the relative was unable to apply for a temporary asylum permit for the child as they were not their biological parent nor recognised as their guardian. This meant that the child was not documented, and therefore effectively an illegal immigrant. In its ruling, the North Gauteng High Court recognised that it is in the best interests of separated children that they be documented on arrival, accompanied by their adult caregivers. According to a joint statement by Lawyers for Human Rights and the Centre for Child Law, which assisted in the case, the ruling “gives the child immediate protection and ensures that they are not separated from people with whom they have a relationship”.
In Ireland, a Nigerian woman and her Irish-born daughter have had their deportation orders overturned after the High Court rejected the State’s argument that the right to a private life does not apply to “non-settled migrants”. The woman arrived in Ireland while pregnant, claiming in asylum applications that she fled Nigeria after her partner was killed by a military group, which she said was also pursuing her. Her applications were rejected because they were thought to lack credibility, and deportation orders were issued for her and her child. After appealing the decision, High Court judge Colm MacEochaidh found the State had failed to acknowledge how deportations can affect the right to family life. The judge also found that the Irish Immigration Act is in conflict with children’s best interests under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as it contains no provision requiring the Minister of Justice to consider a child’s best interests in making a deportation order.
Restrictions on NGOs tightened
Cambodia has passed a law to regulate NGOs, which advocates say will be used by authorities to muzzle those critical of the government. Under the new law, Cambodia's 5,000 national and international NGOs must report their activities and finances to the government, or face fines, criminal prosecution and being shut down. The law also gives the government discretionary powers to limit activities it perceives to jeopardise peace, stability and public order or threaten national security or Cambodia's culture and traditions.
The Philippine's National Police has filed a complaint against children's rights advocates involved in a campaign to demilitarise schools in indigenous communities, with one lawmaker labelling the move as "political persecution and vile harassment”. Schools attended by children belonging to the Lumad community have been forcibly shut down by the military, with students and teachers being accused of supporting or being members of the communist New People’s Army. The police complaint alleges that the campaigners trafficked and kidnapped Lumad children and families to Davao City, where, in some instances, they brought an appeal to government offices to stop Lumad schools from being occupied by members of the armed forces. One advocate said the complaint was meant to derail efforts to allow Lumad schools, which are attended by around 3,000 children, to operate normally. Rights groups claim that the Department of Education is colluding with the military to shut down Lumad schools and in the case of one school, replace them with another kind of school that will have military personnel as para-teachers.
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ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN IN MALAWI
Malawi has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child and it takes precedence over national law, apart from the Constitution. It is directly applicable in the national courts, although it has not been fully incorporated into the national legal system. The courts have broad powers to hear legal challenges by children which must be brought through a guardian or “next friend”, including judicial review claims, and complaints can also be lodged with the Office of the Ombudsman and the Human Rights Commission. Many challenges for children accessing justice in Malawi still exist. There is, for example, a lack of clarity in the laws of the country as to the age of majority and the definition of a child. In addition, Malawi does technically have a legal aid programme under which children and their representatives can apply for free legal assistance, but there are issues with its implementation. National law also does not allow for challenges by NGOs, and there is a significant backlog of cases in the courts. Most Malawians cannot access the formal state mechanisms for resolving civil disputes and non-state institutions and processes are widely used, such as traditional family counsellors, traditional leaders, or religious leaders. After national remedies have been exhausted, complaints can be lodged with the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, the African Commission and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Read the full report on access to justice for children in Malawi.
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
Americas: Request for hearings for the 156th IACHR session
Organisation: Inter-American Human Rights Commission
Deadline for requests: 29 July 2015
Session date: 17-28 October 2015
Location: Washington DC, United States
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
Child indicators: ‘From Welfare to Well-being - Child indicators in research, policy & practice’
Organisation: International Society for Child Indicators
Date: 2-4 September 2015
Location: Cape Town, South Africa
Education: E-course on the right to education
Organisations: HREA and the Right to Education Project
Dates: 2 September-13 October 2015
Location: Online
Child abuse: European Regional Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect
Organisation: International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
Dates: 27-30 September 2015
Location: Bucharest, Romania
Monitoring: Training workshop on monitoring children’s rights
Organisation: Human Rights Education Associates
Dates: 15-17 October 2015
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Health: Conference on child rights and sight
Organisation: Distressed Children & Infants International
Dates: 24 October 2015
Location: New Haven, United States
Asia Pacific: 10th Asian Pacific Regional Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect
Organisation: International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
Dates: 25-28 October 2015
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Course: Child participation
Organisation: Human Rights Education Associates
Dates: 28 October - 8 December 2015
Location: Online
Course: Children’s rights (Foundation Course)
Organisation: Human Rights Education Associates
Dates: 28 October-8 December 2015
Location: Online
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EMPLOYMENT
CRIN: Communications Intern (French-speaking)
Application deadline: Rolling deadline
Location: London, United Kingdom
CRIN: Legal research internships (Arabic-speaking)
Application deadline: Rolling deadline
Location: London, United Kingdom
Plan International: Human Rights Advisor
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Application deadline: 26 July 2015
Coram Children’s Legal Centre: International Research Assistant
Application deadline: 27 July 2015
Location: London, United Kingdom
European Roma Rights Centre: Legal Trainee
Application deadline: 31 July 2015
Location: Budapest, Hungary
Save the Children Sweden: Area Manager for Darfur - Sudan
Location: El Geneina, Sudan
Application deadline: 7 August 2015
LEAK OF THE WEEK
This week we feature a double shot of absurdities in the children’s rights world.
The first comes from Russia, where children’s ombudsperson Pavel Astakhov appears to fancy himself as an artist’s muse, as he is inviting children across the country to draw him in an art competition. According to the rules of the peacockishly titled “I Depict the Children's Ombudsman,” which are explained in meticulous detail in a three-page document, children attending summer camps and other state institutions across Russia can draw Astakhov himself, or an image reflecting his work, or whatever the term “children's ombudsperson” brings to mind.
Our second story hails from the United States, where a judge held three siblings in contempt of court for refusing to go to lunch with their father, who is in divorce proceedings with their mother, and ordered they be held at a juvenile detention centre until they turn 18. According to court transcripts, Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Lisa Gorcyca told the children, aged 14, 10 and 9, that they were “mentally messed up”, likened the eldest to “Charlie [sic] Manson’s cult”, and threatened the youngest about whether she wanted to live in jail where she'd have to go “to the bathroom in front of people”. Gorcyca later reversed her decision following a media backlash that said she was unfit to be a family court judge. However, instead of releasing the children, they were sent to a summer camp without any mention of when they would be allowed to leave.
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