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In this issue:

How to occupy your school: a lesson from Brazil

Ahead of the glitz and glamour of the Rio 2016 opening ceremony the eyes of the world will be trained on Brazil, though more often than not the news focuses on complaints of raw sewage in swimming venues or ‘boring’ outfits over human rights. With Brazil as a whole suffering an economic slowdown and a major political crisis, many public services have been hit with cuts to free up cash ahead of the games, with health, transport and education particularly affected.

Read CRIN's special report on the students occupying their schools here.

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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS

Sexual abuse

Members of Imbonerakure, the youth league of Burundi’s ruling party, have repeatedly gang-raped women and girls, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW). Many of the victims are reported to be family members of those perceived to be opponents of the government, and some claim they were raped at gun or knife point in front of their children. HRW staff interviewed more than 70 rape victims in May 2016 at the Nduta refugee camp in Tanzania, currently home to 140,000 Burundian refugees. These refugees remain at high risk of sexual violence while in the camps, where rapes of women and girls are reported at a rate of three to four per week. Presidential spokesmen have repeatedly denied the allegations and said that the reports damage HRW’s credibility.

In Malawi this week a man was arrested for performing ‘sexual cleansing rituals’, after a BBC report highlighted that more than a hundred women and girls had been forced to have sex with the so-called ‘hyena man’. Shortly after the release of a video interview in which the man in question, Eric Aniva, bragged about his sexual prowess, the government had Aniva arrested and declared its intention to outlaw the rituals nationwide. Aniva spoke to a BBC correspondent about the number of girls he had slept with, before admitting that he knew he was HIV-positive. Aniva added that contraception was not permitted in the rituals, forced upon girls around the time of their first menstruation, and claimed that his victims enjoyed their time together – despite their claims to the contrary. Speaking about the arrest a presidential spokesman said that the practices “tarnish the image of the whole nation of Malawi internationally and bring shame to us all”.

Police in Scotland have arrested and charged 77 people for their involvement in online sexual abuse of children, involving an estimated 520 victims. Police raided the homes of 83 suspects and seized more than 30 million indecent images of children, with around 400 charges brought so far. The arrests come after a 60 percent rise over a year in the number of indecent communications offences carried out by adults against children aged under 13 in Scotland, with Police Scotland’s Assistant Chief Constable now labelling online child sexual abuse “a national threat”. Shortly after the arrests, newly elected chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, Vera Baird QC, warned that the cost of policing child sexual exploitation could grow to as much as £3 billion per year by 2020. Baird called on the government to make sex education compulsory in all schools to help potential victims resist exploitation.

Victims of sexual abuse in Ireland’s schools have claimed that conditions for winning compensation from the State are too difficult to fulfill. A European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgment in 2014 ruled that the State had failed to protect petitioner Louise O’Keefe from abuse at the hands of a member of staff despite the fact that it "must have been aware of the sexual abuse of children by adults". Since the ruling more victims have applied to receive compensation for the abuse they suffered, but the latest update from the State to the ECHR revealed that out of 52 applications, 46 were rejected. The Irish department of education also recently issued a warning to victims, explaining that there were potentially “significant costs” associated with challenging the government.
 

Detention, torture and executions

Reports have emerged from Saudi Arabia that a young man is at imminent risk of execution for an offence he is alleged to have committed while he was a child. Ali al-Nimr was arrested in 2012 when he was 17 years old and accused of participation in an illegal demonstration alongside a number of other offences. His death sentence was confirmed in August last year but has been put off several times since then. Saudi Arabia does not announce when executions are to be carried out, but a Twitter account that has been used in the past to leak news of scheduled executions has been publishing information about Ali’s case, leading to concerns that the execution will be carried out imminently.

Iran has reportedly executed a teenager for an offence he was accused of committing at age 15. Alireza Tajiki was executed despite assurances from the Office of the Head of the Judiciary that his case would be reviewed on 15 September 2016. Alireza was sentenced in April 2013 following a conviction for murder and rape, despite having repeatedly retracted his forced confessions during proceedings. The sentence handed down by a provincial court was initially quashed by the country’s Supreme Court due to a lack of forensic evidence linking him to the alleged sexual assault, but the criminal court resentenced him to death in November 2014 ignoring the concerns about insufficient forensic evidence.

Thousands of children in conflict-affected countries have been detained without charge for months or even years as national security threats, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. The report found that vague and overbroad counter-terrorism legislation adopted in response to armed groups like Islamic State and Boko Haram has increased the use of detention of children and the abuse of children who are detained. Former detainees interviewed during the investigation reported being beaten, raped, given electric shocks, forced into stress positions and threatened with execution. “Governments are trampling on children’s rights in a misguided and counterproductive response to conflict-related violence” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director at HRW. “The indefinite detention and torture of children needs to stop.”

Climate change

Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights has launched the first ever national investigation into the impact of climate change on human rights and the responsibility of private actors in this regard. The Commission ordered 47 companies responsible for the majority of global emissions of industrial CO2 and methane gas to respond to a legal petition alleging violations of human rights resulting from environmental harm within 45 days. The petition, filed by disaster survivors, community organisations and Greenpeace Southeast Asia, targets companies including Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Total, BHP Billiton, Glencore, Suncor and ConocoPhillips, among others. Veronica “Derek” Cabe, one of the petitioners from Bataan, where communities are fighting against coal storage facilities and proposals for a new coal-fired power plant, said: “We want those most responsible to be held accountable. We want justice and to regain the ability to protect the little that we have left for our children.”

CRIN is calling on the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to address children’s access to justice in the context of the environment as part of its Day of General Discussion. Climate change, pollution, environmental degradation and resource depletion have a disproportionate effect on the quality of life of current and future generations of children. Furthermore, children’s bodies are particularly susceptible to adverse effects of environmental harm because exposure occurs during sensitive periods of development and their young age means they will have to live with any consequences for longer. Ensuring children’s access to justice in this context can secure redress for violations already incurred and prevent their recurrence. States should in particular establish collective and public interest action mechanisms; ensure NGOs have standing to file and intervene in legal proceedings in the interests of children affected now and on behalf of future generations; and enshrine the justiciable right to a clean environment in domestic law.

Child labour

India's parliament has approved a controversial law allowing children to work for family businesses, outside school hours, during holidays and in entertainment and sports ‒ provided it does not affect their education. Children aged 15 to 18 will also be permitted to work, except in mines and industries where they would be exposed to hazardous processes. UNICEF has criticised the bill stating, "Under the new Child Labour Act, some forms of child labour may become invisible and the most vulnerable and marginalised children may end up with irregular school attendance, lower levels of learning and could be forced to drop out of school”. Troublingly, the bill has also been introduced at the same time as the government has made severe cuts to both welfare and education, with the latest statistics from UNICEF suggesting there are already 28 million child labourers in India. However, ensuring children's rights are protected in the context of work is not always straightforward - read more about this on CRIN’s page on protecting working children.

Also in India, some of the world’s biggest car makers are launching investigations into their paint supply chains after suppliers were linked to illegal mines using child labour and debt bondage. Children as young as 10 work at mines for mica, a mineral that creates the shimmery car paint used on millions of vehicles around the world. In 2014, the cosmetics industry came under fire for using child labour in its mica supply chains and the Indian government pledged to eliminate child labour in the industry, with a small number of mines now monitored for labour and environmental abuses. However, illegal mining remains widespread, with child rights campaigners estimating that up to 20,000 children work in hundreds of small-scale mines in one region alone.

Meanwhile in Pakistan, a coalition of 60 NGOs issued a statement on Monday demanding that the government declare the employment of children as domestic workers illegal. In urging the government to ban domestic labour below the age of 18, they said they expect the government to ratify the ILO’s Convention 189, which addresses the rights of domestic workers. They added that child domestic labour was a dangerous trade in which hundreds of children had been reported tortured, hurt and even killed by their employers, with a total lack of concern being shown by policymakers.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Foster care: International Foster Care 2016 European Conference
Organisation: International Foster Care Organisation
Dates: 1-4 September 2016
Location: Sheffield, UK

Advertising: Child rights based tools for protecting kids from alcohol marketing
Organisation: IOGT International
Dates: 2 September 2016
Location: Bratislava, Slovakia

Participation: Young Citizens & Society: Fostering Civic Participation
Organisation: University of Strathclyde
Dates: 2-3 September 2016
Location: Glasgow, Scotland

Changing Global Perceptions: Child Protection & Bodily Integrity
Organisation: Genital Autonomy
Dates: 14-16 September 2016
Location: Keele, UK

Education: Achieving education for all and eliminating child labour
Organisation: The International Training Centre of the ILO
Dates: 25-30 September 2016
Location: Turin, Italy

Alternative care: International alternative care conference
Organisation: University of Geneva and Institut de droits l’enfant
Dates: 3-5 October 2016
Location: Geneva, Switzerland

Family separation: Exploring the Causes and Consequences of Children Separated From Their Families Across International Borders
Organisation: International Social Service
Event date: 13 October 2016
Location: Maryland, US

Education: Master of Advanced Studies in Children's Rights
Application deadline: 1 November 2016
Dates: February 2017 – November 2018
Location: Geneva, Switzerland

Education in Emergencies
Organisation: HREA
Dates: 2 November-13 December 2016
Location: online (e-learning course)

Children in War and Armed Conflicts
Organisation: HREA
Dates: 2 November-13 December 2016
Location: online (e-learning course)

Right to work: Eliminating child labour and promoting decent work in agriculture
Organisation:The International Training Centre of the ILO (ITCILO)
Dates: 14-18 November
Location: Turin, Italy

 

EMPLOYMENT

Center for Reproductive Rights: Global Advocacy Adviser
Application deadline: Rolling
Location: Geneva, Switzerland

UNICEF: Corporate Alliances Manager
Application deadline: 11 August 2016
Location: Geneva, Switzerland

UNICEF: New and Emerging Talent Initiative (NETI)
Application deadline: 14 August 2016
Location: Various

Defence for Children International: Executive Director
Application deadline: 15 August 2016
Location: Geneva, Switzerland

Eurochild: Child Participation & Network Development Officer
Application deadline: 25 August 2016
Location: Brussels, Belgium

Consortium for Street Children: CEO
Application deadline: 4 September 2016
Location: London, United Kingdom

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LEAK OF THE WEEK

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