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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS

Human rights oversight

A coalition of children’s rights groups expressed their dismay at the financial crisis being suffered by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and called for Member States to shoulder their share of the financial burden. The IACHR recently revealed that 40 percent of its staff’s contracts will expire in July, with the organisation needing to suspend its July and October sessions to save money. The coalition of children’s rights organisations, led by REDLAMYC, claimed that the Commission’s work was vital for its contributions to the rights of indigenous peoples, women, respect for sexual diversity and freedom of expression and its fight against military dictatorships, among other issues. Other commentators have noted the Commission’s importance as a model beyond the Americas for its progressive standards. Indeed, on children’s rights issues it has sometimes taken a more progressive stance than the UN, for example asserting that the only justification for the detention of a child should be that the child has been assessed as posing a serious risk to themselves or public safety.  

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has once again been denied consultative status to the UN by the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations. ‘ECOSOC’ status allows NGOs to participate fully in the UN system. Without it, they are confined to the sidelines - unable to submit questions, attend UN sessions or hold side events in their own name. The blocking of CPJ’s application is just the latest example of tactics employed by some States to deny access to NGOs critical of governments and select their own jury at the UN. CPJ’s application, like that of many others, has been delayed for several years, with senior US diplomats decrying the other members’ methods of delaying the application. The applications procedure, described by the CPJ’s director as “Kafkaesque”, is overseen by members of the committee, which currently include Burundi, Cuba, Iran, Israel, Sudan, Turkey, and others with questionable human rights records. The US Ambassador to the United Nations said she will seek to overturn the NGO committee's decision by calling for a vote in the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Read more about attempts to shut legitimate human rights NGOs out of the UN system on CRIN’s campaign page ECOSOC: Less politics, more human rights.

Last year’s refugee crisis looks set to repeat itself, according to a warning from UNICEF. This week has seen a number of refugee ships sinking in the Mediterranean, resulting in the deaths of many of those on board. UNICEF has stated that it expects another huge surge in the numbers of unaccompanied children attempting to make the crossing between Libya and Italy this summer, with the vast majority being vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and the possibility of death at every step of their journey. An average of 1,000 unaccompanied children a month arrived in Italy this year, but UNICEF expects this figure to increase sharply over the coming summer months. Children who stay in the region also face difficulties, with research this week claiming that as many as 60,000 Syrian children are currently working in Jordan for low wages, and in difficult conditions. The new report from Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and the Syrian Network for Human Rights in London claimed that many are subjected to exploitation, violence, and dangerous working conditions, with little government oversight and accountability. The research highlighted the country’s high cost of living, adding that only about 10 percent of refugees are eligible for cash assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

 

Ending legal discrimination

The Pacific island nation of Nauru has updated its century-old criminal code, incorporating a number of positive legislative developments. The Crimes Act 2016 includes the legalisation of homosexuality, and the criminalisation of slavery and marital rape. The new law has also decriminalised suicide in light of the current public debate around Australia’s controversial detention centre on the island, which has seen a series of attempted suicides among its refugee population, including one child aged just five. Policy adviser for the United Nations Development Programme in Bangkok, Edmund Settle, praised Nauru for setting “a positive example in the Pacific region”, particular regarding the protection of sexual and gender minorities. However, Nauru’s detention centre remains in the media spotlight due to the unacceptable living conditions and reported systemic child abuse, resulting in a number of high profile incidents of self-harm.

The government of Trinidad and Tobago has called for a review of child marriage laws in the country. Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ayanna Webster-Roy has emphasised the “critical need” for the age of marriage to correspond to the age of consent to sex, which is set at 18 under the Children Act 2012. The issue has come to the fore following remarks from the most senior figures of the Inter-Religious Organization (IRO) and Sanathan Dharma Maha Sabha stating that the minimum ages of marriage (different under Hindu, Muslim and Orisa laws respectively) should be retained, despite some permitting girls as young as 12 to be married. A number of bodies among the 25 religious organisations that make up the IRO have expressly distanced themselves from these statements, which were claimed to be unanimous when first made. CRIN believes the law on sexual consent should be the same in and outside of marriage, but see CRIN's paper Age is Arbitrary to read about the need to separate the age of sexual consent from that of marriage.

In the United States, the Obama administration is being sued by Texas and 10 other states over its directive to US public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms and changing rooms matching their gender identity. The lawsuit, which calls for judicial declaration of the directive as unlawful, has denounced it as unconstitutional, claiming that only Congress can make the changes instituted by the President. The conservative states involved believe the guidance is a threat to the safety of women and children at the hands of sexual predators, while supporters of transgender rights, such as US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, have denounced this discriminatory stance as unfounded. Ken Paxton, the Republican Texas Attorney General, remained coy as to the source and numbers of concerned parents on whose behalf he is acting, admitting that he had not spoken to any parents of transgender students. Schools that refuse to comply could face civil rights lawsuits from the government and risk losing federal funding for education.

Health and environment

Peru’s government has declared an emergency in the jungle of Madre de Dios because of mercury contamination caused by gold mining. The 60-day decree affects 11 districts in the region, coming after a Stanford University study found high levels of the toxic metal in people, rivers and fish. Deputy Health Minister Percy Minaya said as many as 50,000 people could be exposed to high levels of mercury, particularly members of the Harakmbut indigenous group, some of whom were found with mercury levels six times the safe level. The government said it would send hospital boats to help treat people living in the affected area, where authorities have been trying to stamp out illegal mining along rivers. Thousands of small-time miners have descended on the region in the last ten years, removing an estimated 40,000 hectares of forest and changing the course of entire rivers. An estimated 15 percent of Peru’s gold output is believed to be extracted illegally with little concern for the environment.

Kenyan families wanting their daughters to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) are increasingly arranging for it to be done at night to avoid arrest. Although the practice is illegal in Kenya, about a quarter of girls and women in Kenya have undergone FGM and many still see it as an important part of their culture, crucial for social acceptance and increasing girls’ marriage prospects. Opposition to the ban remains - one government administrator seeking to enforce the law had his house burnt down, and another who was shot at for trying to stop a cutting ceremony. Ending FGM has also been a subject of debate in Egypt this week, after a teenage girl died as a result of heavy bleeding from an illegal cutting operation. The teenager's death comes a year after a doctor was convicted of manslaughter in Egypt's first FGM trial, when another girl died in a botched procedure.

In Pakistan this week adverts for contraceptive products on television and radio during primetime were banned over concern that they expose inquisitive children to the subject of sex. Just two days later the ban was reversed after public protests and an outcry on social media. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) said it was acting in response to complaints from parents and that its ban covered all contraceptive, birth control and family planning products. Advertisements for condoms and other forms of birth control are rare in Pakistan and, according to the United Nations, a third of Pakistanis have no access to birth control. Discussing contraception in public is considered taboo by many, but some experts have warned the country’s population is growing too fast for its natural resources to support it. Read more about disproportionate restrictions on children’s access to information, including about sexual health, in CRIN’s paper Access Denied - protect rights, unblock children’s access to information.

Minimum ages and protection

A group of academics has continued its open debate with Human Rights Watch over the utility of minimum age rules with respect to child labour. The latest open letter from the group argues that, in general, minimum age laws have not been shown to protect children from exploitative and harmful work. The academics asked why, if a significant number of children around the world receive considerable benefit from work, should they be deprived of the right to work, on the grounds that children elsewhere would not be best served by that rule? The first open letter from the group of academics is available here and Human Rights Watch’s initial reply is available here.

In the United States claims have been made that new products from Google, Amazon and Apple may be inadvertently breaching federal child protection laws. A Guardian investigation showed that despite devices with personal assistants being marketed towards families with young children, they are likely to contravene the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a law established to regulate collection and use of personal information from children under 13. The creators of similar voice-activated artificial intelligence systems may face multimillion-dollar fines if their products also record voice commands given by children younger than 13 years old.

More than 50,000 people are believed to be trapped inside the Iraqi city of Fallujah, after government forces imposed a tight blockade on the city to fend off the so-called Islamic State (IS). UNICEF warned that some 20,000 children were among those trapped, facing a dire humanitarian situation and the risk of being forcibly recruited by IS. The militants are reportedly using civilians as human shields and preventing residents from leaving. The government has called on civilians to leave through safe corridors or stay inside their homes. Iraqi authorities are holding some 500 men and boys under the age of 12 for “security screening” as they leave the city, a clearance process that can take up to seven days, said UNHCR spokesman William Spindler. Iraqi forces backed by US-led airstrikes and mainly Shiite militias launched an operation more than a week ago to recapture Fallujah, which has been held by the extremist group for more than two years.

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MINIMUM AGES: Sexual and reproductive health services

Following the launch of CRIN’s discussion paper on minimum ages, we will be providing weekly snippets of a children’s rights issue where age thresholds are applied. This week, we look at the age at which children can access sexual and reproductive health services.

CRIN believes that all children should have access to sexual and reproductive health services regardless of age. Even very young children are at risk of sexual abuse and infections. While children may be encouraged to discuss their situation with their parents, parental consent requirements are inappropriate and may discourage children from seeking help. A presumption should be made that a child seeking such services is capable and that access is in their best interests, as the fact that a child is seeking such services to inform and protect themselves is in itself an indication of capacity. If the provider becomes concerned that the child lacks the necessary capacity while assessing their needs, a course of action should be taken which fulfils their best interests. This should be influenced by the child’s own views.*

Read more on page 14 of CRIN’s discussion paper on minimum ages. The paper draws out some general principles and criteria to ensure consistent and adequate respect for children’s rights in setting such ages.

*This position is in line with that first set out by the Center for Reproductive Rights (forthcoming paper).

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Child rights: Free training courses for professionals in justice, care or detention
Organisation: CORAM Children’s Legal Centre
Dates: 8-30 June 2016
Location: Birmingham and London, UK

Americas: 158th IACHR extraordinary session
Organisation: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Dates: 6-10 June 2016
Location: Santiago, Chile

Investment: Why Europe needs to invest in children
Organisation: Eurochild
Date: 5-7 July 2016
Location: Brussels, Belgium

Statelessness: StatelessKids Youth Congress
Organisation: European Network on Statelessness
Dates: 11-13 July 2016
Location: Brussels, Belgium

South Asia: Submissions for journal - ‘Institutionalised Children: Explorations and Beyond’
Organisation: Udayan Care
Abstract deadline: 15 July 2016

Digital rights: Children & young people's rights in the digital age pre-conference
Organisation: Int’l Association for Media & Communication Research
Event date: 26-27 July 2016
Location: London, United Kingdom

Violence: 21st ISPCAN International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect
Organisation: International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN)
Dates: 28-31 August 2016
Location: Calgary, Canada

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

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

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EMPLOYMENT

CRIN: Web Manager and IT Support
Location: London, United Kingdom
Application deadline: Until filled

Council of Europe: Policy Adviser (child rights)
Application deadline: 24 June 2016
Location: Strasbourg, France

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LEAK OF THE WEEK

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