The week in children's rights - 1545

Three police officers have been suspended in the Philippines after a 17-year-old was fatally shot during a supposed ‘drug operation’. The victim, Kian Loyd delos Santos, was found dead in an alley, with forensic evidence revealing that he had been shot in the back of the head and through the ears while lying on the floor. This information directly contradicts the initial police report which claimed Kian had resisted arrest. A high-ranking officer was quick to blame Kian’s family, claiming the child was not innocent, and that his father was “a former drug personality”. Combined with CCTV evidence which seemed to show the boy being dragged into an alleyway, it is highly likely that the incident represents another instance of extra-judicial killing by police in the country as part of President Duterte’s ongoing “war on drugs”. The police chief of the district where the killing occurred has also been relieved of his office, though the move has done little to quell the chorus of condemnation from those opposed to Duterte’s brutal campaign against those perceived to be involved in the drug trade. On 24 August the Philippines’ Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs will conduct a hearing on police accountability for the killing.

Several ex-officials are to stand trial in Guatemala in connection with the deaths of 41 girls in a fire at a state-run home for children. Former social welfare secretary Carlos Rodas and deputy secretary Anahi Keller were arrested on 13 March and now face charges of mistreating minors, dereliction of duty, abuse of authority and manslaughter. Former home director Santos Torres will be tried on similar charges. The fire broke out on 8 March this year, with all of the girls allegedly locked inside a room, dying as a result of burns and smoke inhalation. The day before the deadly fire several residents had escaped the home, claiming to have suffered abuse at the facility. Allegations of children being trafficked for sexual abuse, serious violence against residents and poor living conditions are now being investigated. All three of the adults charged in relation to the deaths have claimed they are innocent, and say they fulfilled the duties of their positions. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recently issued a statement claiming that similar reports of rights abuses in Guatemala’s institutions represented a “failed system of child protection”.

At least 209 children have been released from prisons in Lagos state, Nigeria, after a judge found children being detained with adults in extremely poor conditions. Lagos State Chief Judge, Justice Olufunmilayo Atilade, was alerted to large numbers of children being detained for minor offences, and upon inspecting several prisons found “scores of disease-ravaged minors”.  Some of the children detained in these prisons reportedly died before the visit, as a result of worsening sanitary conditions, poor welfare and overcrowding. In one prison, which has the capacity to house 1,700 inmates, around 3,100 detainees were awaiting trial, with 723 more serving sentences. Many of the children are believed to have been arrested for “hawking”, or selling goods on the street, while others had been charged for illegally crossing roads. While hawking was officially banned in 2003 it was only sparingly policed until last year, resulting in a spike in arrests since June 2016.

A child has died in Palestine after swimming in the sea at Gaza City beach, according to a local NGO. According to the boy’s family, his transfer to a hospital in Ramallah for treatment was delayed by a week, during which time his condition deteriorated until he died. After the boy was admitted to hospital he is reported to have died of Ekiri syndrome, which caused lethal toxic encephalopathy, most often a result of prolonged exposure to toxic substances. Last month, an environmental survey found that 73 percent of Gaza’s coastline is dangerously polluted with sewage. The crisis has been caused by a decade-long blockade of Gaza by Israel, contributing to power shutoffs for the whole strip including water and waste management infrastructure. With electricity to lagoons, treatment works and sewage pumps cut off, Gaza’s waste managers have been forced to choose between allowing cities to flood or letting raw sewage escape the overflows into the sea, where many children are known to swim.

A young man in China has died after being sent to a treatment centre for internet addiction, sparking criticism of similar institutions housing children. The 18-year-old was admitted to a “bootcamp” for gaming and internet addiction by his parents but was rushed to hospital two days later, where he subsequently died. The precise cause of death is unknown, but doctors who examined the body reported that the boy had sustained more than 20 external injuries as well as internal injuries. The director of the centre as well as four other members of staff have been arrested in relation to the death. Bootcamps to treat internet addiction have grown in number in recent years and remain popular despite reports of abusive treatment, beatings and electroshock therapy. Chinese authorities have begun to regulate these facilities and published a draft law earlier this year that would ban the abusive treatment of children, including the use of electroshock therapy, to treat internet addiction.

The Supreme Court of Chile has approved a bill to legalise abortion in some instances. The bill was passed by lawmakers earlier this month, but faced a challenge before the courts, with some claiming that it violates the right to life. The bill will now enter into force, allowing women to gain access to abortions in cases of rape, where their life is at risk and where the foetus is not expected to survive the pregnancy. An absolute ban on abortions has been in the place since 1989, when it was introduced by the Pinochet regime, with women and doctors being liable to up to five years’ imprisonment if they were found to have breached the law. Despite the penalties, an estimated 70,000 women undergo illegal abortions in the country every year. Chile is the last country in South America to end its complete ban on abortion, though worldwide six majority Catholic countries retain absolute bans: Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Malta, the Dominican Republic and the Vatican.