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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS

Juvenile justice setbacks

Children over 16-years-old could now face the death penalty or heavy prison terms for certain crimes in Kuwait following a decision to lower the age of criminal majority from 18 to 16 in January. "Starting next year, anyone aged 16 or more arrested for a crime will be tried by a regular court, and not the juvenile court, which means the death penalty for some crimes," said Bader Al Ghadhoori, the head of juvenile protection at the Ministry of Interior. He warned in particular of the “risks” of exploring certain websites, such as those used to organise demonstrations, mass absenteeism by students, sit-ins, underground organisations, terrorist and drug trafficking groups, or those on alcohol, sex tourism, prostitution and organised crime. In addition, he said some websites “undermine  relations with brotherly and friendly countries, incite attacks on leaders, presidents and iconic religious figures and symbols, provoke sectarian and tribal feuds, ridicule and deride others, and spread rumours.” The lawmakers who called for a lower age had warned that terrorist groups were working on recruiting young people and argued that strict measures were needed to foil their plans.

Eleven teenagers died during riots in detention centres in just one week in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, according to the International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the Legal Advisory Office for Popular Organizations (GAJOP). During an inspection of one of the centres following the riot in which four teenagers died and many others were injured, OMCT and GAJOP received information that one of those who died was being held in a “punishment cell”, handcuffed, when he was surprised by his attackers. A few days later a riot at a different centre resulted in seven deaths. GAJOP had visited the centre a few weeks before and informed the state of a possible riot. According to testimonies, the killings were a response to a beating with iron bars unleashed by officials working in the centre the night before. The victims also claimed that state officials themselves incited violence among them. Detention centres in the state are often overcrowded, have precarious infrastructure and systematic practices of torture and ill-treatment by so-called socio-educative officials. There are currently 1,526 children in the state’s custody. This year has already seen 16 riots in the state’s 23 juvenile detention centres.

Lawmakers in the Philippines have begun discussing a bill to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to nine years old, supposedly to curb the exploitation of children by criminal syndicates. The bill’s proponents claim that adult criminals use children under 15 years old to commit crimes, such as drug trafficking, aware that they cannot be held criminally responsible. Opposing the proposal, Tricia Clare Oco, executive director of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council, said it would treat children as criminals instead of victims and lead “to the cruel situation of locking up many children in poor and subhuman facilities after they have been exploited and abused by syndicates, their parents and other adults further victimising them”. Rosalie Dagulo, assistant director of the Department of Social Welfare said "There is a need to distinguish between making children responsible for their actions, and criminalising them”. She added that "lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility runs counter to available scientific knowledge about the psychosocial, and neurological development of children.” The bill is one of six under review by the House Justice Sub-Committee on Correctional Reforms seeking to amend the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006.

Consent and accountability in health matters

Police in Indonesia closed investigations against 15 plantation companies which the environment ministry had listed as complicit in the 2015 fire and haze crisis that caused half a million people to become sick, including children. Last year’s agricultural fires - part of slash-and-burn practices by farmers and companies aimed at clearing forest and peatland cheaply - released more carbon into the air than the entire US economy during the same period. Twenty-four people died as a result of the toxic smoke, according to government figures. But US-based researchers estimate that more than 100,000 people died prematurely. The citizen lawsuit is being brought by the people of Riau, a province on Indonesia’s main western island of Sumatra, an epicentre of the fires, and a team of ten lawyers, against the Riau Police and the National Police. They argue that the police notices to close the investigations were issued illegally and demand they be reopened.

A 14-year-old girl in the United Kingdom who died of cancer in October has won a High Court case respecting her wish to be cryogenically frozen in a bid to be revived should a cure for her disease be found in the future. Because of her age, the girl was unable to make a legally recognised will and needed the consent of both her parents to sign up to be cryogenically preserved. The girl's divorced parents disagreed over her wish to be frozen, so the girl asked the High Court to step in and allow her mother, who supported her daughter’s wishes, to be the only person to decide on the disposal of her body. While the father had initially voiced moral and ethical objections, as well as financial concerns over the cost of the process, he eventually told the court that he respected his daughter’s choice. Justice Peter Jackson said he was not making a decision on the rights and wrongs of cryogenic science, but on the disagreement between the parents. Read more about children’s health-care rights, including on matters of consent.

In Switzerland seven child asylum seekers have attempted suicide in recent weeks in a reception centre in Lausanne. Local advocates say the main problem is a lack of supervision and support, as the number of unaccompanied minors in the country continues to rise. Some cantons have reportedly struggled to cope, especially with regard to education and accommodation of these children. In the canton of Vaud there are currently 270 unaccompanied minors housed in five reception centres. Previously in May there were 50 children. The sudden rise has stretched services, but an increasing number of resignations in the centres’ staff has also been a factor. Michela Bovolenta, secretary general of the Public Services Union, denounced the shortage of teachers and a lack of support for these young people experiencing trauma. Read more about children’s rights in relation to mental health.

Government-sponsored violence

The Turkish government has withdrawn a controversial bill which would overturn men’s convictions for statutory rape of underage girls if they have married them, following a strong public backlash. Thousands took to the streets in protest at the measure which critics say would legitimise child rape and facilitate child marriage, a widespread problem in the south-east of the country. The bill, defended by the government for tackling the legal consequences of child marriage, was primarily aimed at exonerating men who have married minors without “force, threat or any other restriction on consent”. The government is under pressure to fill a void in the criminal code before the new year, following a controversial decision by the constitutional court last July to strike down a clause which classified all sexual acts with under-15s as sexual abuse because it failed to differentiate between age groups and account for the consent of older victims. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has indicated that the bill will now be sent back to a commission to allow for “broad consensus” in a rare concession to popular opposition.

A government-sponsored counter-insurgency operation in Myanmar has left 820 buildings in villages inhabited by Muslim Rohingya families in ruins, according to new satellite images obtained by Human Rights Watch. This brings the total number of destroyed buildings documented by the group through satellite imagery to 1,250. The situation in northern Rakhine state has been deteriorating since nine police officers were killed at border posts in Maungdaw last month, prompting the government to retaliate and block access to the area to international journalists and human rights investigators. Rohingya eyewitnesses and activists have accused the military of indiscriminate attacks, torture and rape, to which the government has responded with blanket denials and recriminations, alleging that the Rohingya are setting fire to their own homes to attract international attention. The Rohingya have been labelled by the UN as one of the world’s most persecuted groups. Aid organisations estimate that the recent violence has displaced tens of thousands of people, with hundreds attempting to flee to Bangladesh, only to be pushed back by Bangladeshi border guards.  

More than 30,000 residents of a waterfront community in Lagos in Nigeria have been left homeless after being forcibly evicted by the Lagos state government and Nigerian police force. Four people, including one child, are reported to have died in the violent operation, which left the residents of Otodo Gbame slum without shelter after their homes were bulldozed and set alight. The demolition, seen to be part of a broader effort to clear slums, took place only days after the High Court in Lagos ordered an injunction restraining demolitions in the waterfront communities. According to the Nigerian Slum and Informal Settlement Federation, government plans to demolish all waterfront slums will put more than 300,000 people, many from the Egun and other ethnic minority populations, at risk of eviction.

Restrictions on children’s rights defenders

In an important victory for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights, the UN General Assembly rejected attempts to halt the mandate of the Independent Expert on the protection against violence and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). The move was led by Botswana on behalf of the African Group, which presented a hostile resolution contesting the legality of the mandate’s creation. It called for an indefinite postponement of the mandate until a consensus could be reached on the definition of SOGI and the legal basis on which the mandate was created. In response, nearly 800 organisations signed an open letter urging members of the UN General Assembly not to undermine the independence of the Human Rights Council by overturning the recent appointment. Several Latin American States, which led calls for the position’s creation, countered the African Group by introducing an amendment to the resolution which removed the disputed paragraph. On Monday the UN General Assembly voted in support of the amendment and the mandate lives on.

Amnesty International has called on Egyptian president al-Sisi to reject a new draconian bill that would give the government far-reaching powers over NGOs and further eradicate the independence of civil society in the country. The new bill follows several attempts since 2011 to pass repressive NGO laws, which Egyptian civil society, with support from international NGOs, has so far successfully lobbied against. The newly proposed legislation would allow the government to control NGOs by granting it the authority to suspend their activities at any time, and allowing it to dissolve NGOs merely for carrying out their legitimate work. The bill has been heavily criticised for being far more restrictive than the current NGO laws which already contravene the 2014 constitution, as well as Egypt’s obligations under international human rights law. The bill affects over 47,000 NGOs, but was discussed in a closed parliamentary committee with no public consultations. The bill has already been passed by parliament. After it has been legally reviewed by the State Council, it only needs the president’s stamp of approval.

To mark Universal Children's Day, the Frontline Defenders Campaign called for the release of Egyptian-American children’s rights defender Aya Hijazi who has been imprisoned in Egypt along with her husband and four volunteers for 22 months in pretrial detention. Aya founded the Belady Foundation for Street Children which campaigned for sanitary living conditions for Cairo’s orphans and street children, while also providing a safe learning environment and a range of education activities. Local NGOs estimate that approximately 50,000 children live on the streets of Cairo with little or no family contact, while another million children work daily on the city’s streets. Though seven criminal charges have been brought against the defendants, a forensic report carried out in connection with the case negated most of the charges brought against them and no evidence has been provided by the prosecution to verify the charges. To date, four previous trial sessions, beginning on 14 March 2015, have been postponed on procedural grounds.
 

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Investment: E-course on child rights public budgeting
Organisation: Human Rights Education Associates
Dates: 18 January - 1 February 2017
Location: Online

Participation: E-course on child participation
Organisation: Human Rights Education Associates
Dates: 1 February - 14 March 2017
Location: Online

Education: International Children’s Rights
Organisation: Leiden University
Application deadline: 1 April 2017 (non-EU) / 15 June 2017 (EU students)
Dates: September 2017 - Summer 2018
Location: Leiden, The Netherlands

Best interests: International Conference on Shared Parenting
Organisations: The National Parents Organization & the International Council on Shared Parenting
Dates: 29-31 May 2017
Location: Boston, United States

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EMPLOYMENT

Plan International: Director, Global SDG Tracker Initiative
Application deadline: 28 November 2016
Location: London, United Kingdom

Oak Institute: Fellowship in film/photography and human rights
Application deadline: 2 December 2016
Location: Maine, United States

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LEAK OF THE WEEK