CRINMAIL 71

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NEWS AND REPORT ROUND-UP

Calls to abolish violent punishment against children

The Maldives should abolish degrading and capital punishment against children, Marta Santos Pais has said in her capacity as UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children. The move follows the recent sentencing of a 15-year-old female rape victim to 100 lashes accused of having pre-marital sex. In light of the case, and in view of the rate of violence against children in general in the Maldives, Ms Santos Pais said: “It is imperative to improve in the legislation a clear legal prohibition of all forms of violence against children, including in the home, in care and justice institutions, as well as a form of criminal sentencing.” More on the story. 

Another recent case of inhuman sentencing of children in the Maldives involves two teenagers who were condemned to death for a murder they allegedly committed while under the age of 18. “The Maldives is entering new and dangerous territory – imposing death sentences for crimes allegedly committed by children is alarming,” said Polly Truscott, Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia-Pacific Director. “The Maldives authorities are flouting international law”, she added. More on the story.

Meanwhile in April, the international media honed in on reports that a Saudi Arabian court had sentenced a young man to be paralysed from the waist down in retribution for causing the paralysis of a friend when he was 14 years old. The Saudi justice ministry later denied the reports, saying that the presiding judge has dismissed such a sentence, which entails the surgical cutting of the spinal cord. 

Courts in Saudi Arabia regularly sentence people, including children, to forms of inhuman sentencing. In retribution cases, sentences have included tooth extraction, eye-gouging, amputation and death. As regards sentences that require the involvement of medical practitioners, activists say these amount to torture and are against medical ethics and related international standards. CRIN’s research on the inhuman sentencing of children in many States shows that often doctors are required to examine victims before whipping, flogging or caning to assess their fitness prior to receiving the punishment, and to monitor victims during and after the punishment. Participation of doctors is also required in some States to perform amputation and the death penalty. Read more about medical ethics and inhuman sentencing here.

Corporal punishment in the spotlight

In Japan, there has been an alarming rise in the number of reports of corporal punishment against schoolchildren at the hands of their teachers, a survey by the education ministry has revealed. The cases recorded in the survey include instances where teachers were given discriplinary measures for, in the three separate cases, hitting students with a baseball bat, slapping a student repeatedly in the face for not dressing as he was told to, and stricking children on the heads for not achieving better grades. The rise in recorded cases has been attributed to an increase in reporting, which follows the highly publicised case of a high school student who committed suicide in December 2012 after his sports teacher hit him on repeated occasions. Full story. 

The Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children has released three publications this month:

• its main newsletter which covers a new report on corporal punishment legislation in the European Union, a new review of research on the effects of corporal punishment, new laws towards prohibition in schools, among other features. Download the newsletter;

• a regional newsletter on Africa, which features a number of national resources that establish the prevalence of corporal punishment of children across Africa, as well as the latest research findings and other ongoing activities towards full prohibition of corporal punishment of children. Download the newsletter; and

• a report on how States have responded to concerns raised about the legality of corporal punishment during the first 15 sessions of the UN Universal Periodic Review. Download the report.

State violence in the courts

Good news came this month from Guatemala where a court has found former dictator Efrain Rios Montt guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity for the torture, rape and killing of 1,771 indigenous Ixil Mayans during his 1982-83 rule. Many more people were killed during his short reign of power, which is described as the most violent during the country’s 36-year civil war in which as many as 250,000 people died. The court ruling represents the first time a former head of state has been convicted of genocide by a court in his or her own country. Full story. 

Meanwhile in El Salvador, the case of the forced disappearance of five children between 1980 and 1982 at the hands of members of the armed forces during its so-called “counter insurgency” operations has been referred to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. After more than 30 years since their disappearance, the State is accused of having failed to conduct an investigation to determine the fate or whereabouts of the children, or to hold the perpetrators to account, among other ommissions. Full story.

In Syria, at least 2,300 people, including 80 children, have been killed under torture in state prisons since the outbreak of the war, the Syrian Network for Human Rights reported in mid-April. A staggering 95 per cent of victims were civilians, according to the organisation, which details horrific methods of torture used in regime prisons, including rape, execution, hanging and crucifixion. The Syrian Network is calling on the UN to investigate the findings, and to refer perpetrators to the International Criminal Court, as well as urging the Arab League to pressure Assad’s allies – China, Iran and Russian – to reconsider their support for his regime. Full story.

And finally in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, soldiers of the national army committed mass rape, killings and arbitrary executions in November 2012, a new UN report has found. The events occurred as soldiers fled a rebel offensive by the M23 group. The report documents a multitude of cases of sexual violence, with witness accounts describing how soldiers entered homes, looted them, and raped the women and girls they found inside. Rebel combatants were also found to have committed human rights abuses, including arbitrary executions and recruitment of children to fight in their ranks. Full story.

Seeking accountability for child abuse

In India, there have been more than 48,000 cases of rape against children in both state and private juvenile detention centres and care homes between 2001 and 2011, according to a report by the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR). Perpetrators were found at all staff levels, from cooks, caretakers and security guards, to managers and directors. Despite the epidemic proportion of the problem, the organisation points out that the real figure of victims could be much higher as most child rape cases occuring in institutions are not reported to the police. In its research, the ACHR found several major failures in the institutions, including the absence of gender- and age-specific facilities which increases the risk of abuse for girls and younger children, as well as the lack of regular inspections of centres which allow for abuse to go undetected. Download the report. 

Meanwhile in the first case of its kind in Spain, the Catholic Church defrocked a priest accused of sexually abusing children. The priest had been suspected of abuse in the late 1990s after a boy witnessed him abusing a young girl, but the Church allegedly covered up the complaint, and reprimanded the boy. It was not until 2011 that the Church finally launched an internal investigation. While the accused priest can now appeal against his expulsion to the Vatican, he is nonetheless facing criminal charges which could lead to a prison term of up to 18 years. Full story.

Recognising the victims of human trafficking

Despite 23,632 people in the European Union being found or presumed to be victims of trafficking between 2008 and 2010, only six out of the 27 EU Member States have amended national law to fully comply with the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive. The regulations place an obligation on governments to provide victims of trafficking with more protection, even in cases where victims have committed offences as a result of being trafficked. Commenting on this aspect of the Directive, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, a senior judge in Italy says: “Someone cannot be punished for something he or she has not chosen to do – this is a principle of criminal law. It is essential to understand the real situation of the person who finds themselves without documents, without friends or family or a situation of heavy dependency, even for food. A person in a situation of multiple dependency can be compelled to commit a crime without physical force."  

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Domestic violence: Tackling teenage relationship abuse
Organisation: Public Policy Exchange
Date: 23 May 2013 
Location: London, United Kingdom 
More details here.

Latin America: International seminar on mental health and juvenile justice
Organisation: Defence for Children International Brazil et al.
Date: 27-28 May 2013 
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
More details here.

Trafficking: Introductory and advanced training courses in safeguarding children
Organisation: ECPAT UK 
Date: 30 May and 13 June 2013 
Location: London, United Kingdom 
More details here.

Justice sector reform: Applying human rights based approaches
Organisation: International Human Rights Network
Date: 10-14 June 2013 
Location: Maynooth, Ireland
More details here. 

Summer school: Global Health and Human Rights
Organisation: University of Geneva
Date: 17 June - 6 July 2013 
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
More details here.  

Summer school: International children's rights
Organisation: Leiden University
Application deadline: 1 July 2013 
Course dates: 26-30 August 2013
Location: Leiden, Netherlands
More details here.

Abuse & neglect: 13th ISPCAN conference on child abuse & neglect
Organisation: International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
Date: 15-19 September 2013
Location: Dublin, Ireland
More details here. 

Sexual violence: Evidence into action
Organisation: Sexual Violence Research Initiative
Date: 14-17 October 2013
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
More details here. 

Genital autonomy: Whole bodies, whole selves - Activating social change
Organisation: Genital Autonomy et al.
Abstract submission deadline: 15 December 2012
Event date: 24-27 July 2014
Location: Colorado, United States
More details here. 

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