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Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of the UN Special Procedures. This does not include reports of child specific Special Procedures, such as the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, which are available as separate reports on the website here: http://www.crin.org/resources/index.asp.
Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity.
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- Visits requested
- Visits accepted but not yet undertaken
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief
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- Special Rapporteur on torture (1997, 2007)
- Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
- Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances (2006, 2007, 2008, reminder 18 August 2011)
- Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter terrorism (2006, 2010)
- Working Group on arbitrary detention (2009)
- Independent Expert on cultural rights (June 2010)
- Independent Expert on foreign debt (May 2011)
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Visits accepted but not yet undertaken
Independent expert on water and sanitation
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(A/HRC/20/17/Add.1)
Country visit: 10 to 17 April 2011
Report published: 12 June 2012
No mention of children's rights.
(A/HRC/19/53/Add.2)
Country visit: 9 to 19 July 2011
Report published: 26 December 2011
- Legal framework: Algeria has [...] ratified [...] conventions of relevance to the right to adequate housing, including [...] the Convention on the Rights of the Child [...]. (para 7) Although the right to adequate housing is not recognised in Algeria's Constitution, article 132 of the Constitution provides that international commitments entered into by Algeria [...] have primacy over national law. The Constitution also contains provisions relating to certain aspects of the right to adequate housing [...] article 59 specifies that "citizens who are under working age [...] are guaranteed satisfactory living conditions". (para 8)
- Gender discrimination in access to adequate housing:With regard to divorced women, article 72 of the Family Code provides that, if a couple has children and the woman is granted custody, the father must ensure that she has decent housing or else must pay her rent. [...] Although this provision of the Family Code constitutes a positive development compared to its earlier version, major problems persist. Firstly, women without children or who have not been granted custody of their children do not benefit from any protection. In such cases, the Special Rapporteur notes that fathers sometimes attempt to obtain custody of the children so that they can continue to live in the matrimonial home. Secondly, article 72 does not guarantee that a woman who has child custody can stay in the matrimonial home; this is not ensured until the father implements the judicial decision concerning housing. (para 50) The Special Rapporteur stresses that violence against women and the right to adequate housing are closely linked. She appreciates the establishment of specialized entities for the protection of children and women who have been victims of aggression committed by members of the wilaya police force, and she urges the competent authorities to take all necessary measures to prevent, investigate and punish acts of violence against women. She also calls on the Government to provide for a sufficient number of shelters for women who are victims of violence. (para 67)
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Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Rashida Manjoo
(A/HRC/17/26/Add.3)
Country visit: 1 - 10 November 2010
Report published: 19 May 2011
- Interconnections between women's rights and children's rights: Consultations were held in Algiers with State officials, including the Delegate Minister for the Family and the Status of Women [...] (and) the Minister of Education. (para 3) Since 2002, the Delegate Minister responsible for the Family and the Condition of Women has been the lead agency responsible for the advancement of women and gender equality. [...] Its main responsibilities include the consolidation of research and instruments and the elaboration of a communication and information strategy in the areas of the family, women and children. (para 38) During the visit, the Special Rapporteur was informed about the approval of a presidential decree on the establishment of a national centre for studies, information and documentation on the family, women and children. This new research institution, expected to be established in the second semester of 2011, will provide support for public authorities in the formulation and implementation of national policies aimed at the promotion and protection of women's and children's rights. (para 42)
- Education: Violence in the family remains the most pervasive manifestation of violence against women and girls. Unless it results in serious injury, domestic violence is not perceived as a problem warranting legal intervention and, as a result, is endured in silence and remains largely invisible. (para 13). Figures on university and school enrolment for the period of 2008-2009 indicate that, while girls are practically equally represented at primary school (47.38 percent), they are numerically overrepresented at secondary school and higher education institutions (57.95 and 59.10 per cent, respectively). [...] However, despite the significant progress made in recent years, female illiteracy, particularly among rural, poor and older women, continues to be a serious concern, affecting 28.9 percent of women and girls above ten years of age, and 15.5 percent of boys and men. (para 9) While domestic violence runs across lines of class and education, poor women or women with little education experience greater vulnerability. (para 14) The Special Rapporteur recommends integrating a gender equality perspective into school textbooks and curricula, as well as gender training for teachers, with a view to changing patriarchal attitudes and gender stereotypes and promoting behaviour that fosters and protects gender equality and the human rights of women and girls. (para 83(c))
- Corporal punishment: Children, especially girls, are particularly exposed to violence in the home. Corporal punishment, prohibited by law in schools but not in the family and in alternative care settings, is reportedly widespread and accepted in society as a form of discipline. Several UN bodies, including the Committee on the Rights of the Child, have [...] urged the Government to conduct public educational campaigns to promote the right of children to be free from all forms of violence. (para 16) The Special Rapporteur recommends further reform to the Penal Code, to enhance the protection of women from all forms of violence. Discussions are particularly encouraged on the explicit criminalisation of domestic violence, including marital rape; the criminalisation of all forms of sexual harassment, regardless of abuse of authority; and the prohibition of corporal punishment of children within the family and alternative care settings. (para 80(c))
- Domestic violence: Gender- based discrimination in family law has an adverse effect on women and girls and can lead to economic dependency, lack of access to resources, physical and psychological acts of violence and exploitation in all its forms. (para 50) Numerous testimonies received by the Special Rapporteur indicate that the Family Code retains several provisions that have a clear discriminatory code on women and their status in the family and society. (para 51) Challenges relating to the interpretation and implementation of the amendments made in 2005 in the areas of marriage, polygamy or divorce remain of particular concern. (para 52) The amendment setting out an obligation for the father to provide a decent dwelling to the mother and the children in the event of divorce remains an issue of concern. (para 58) The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government ensure enhanced protection of women and girls through further legislative reforms. (para 80(a) - (c))
- Child's right to nationality: In 2005, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women reminded the Government of Algeria that reservations to article 2 and 16 were contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention, and urged it to expedite legislative reform, especially of the Family Code, and withdraw its reservations within a concrete time frame. A significant step in that direction was the official withdrawal in July 2009 of the State's reservation to article 9 of the Convention, thereby allowing Algerian women the right to give their nationality to children born to a foreign father. (para 29)
- Custody in divorce proceedings: With a view to ensure the best interests of the child, the amended Code establishes a default position of "mother preference" in custody matters; if she is also granted tutorship, the mother has the right to make decisions regarding her children's education. (para 32) Discrimination persists in certain areas relating to child custody, despite the establishment of a "mother preference" provision in the 2005 amendments. Article 66 of the Family Code, retained under the amended Code, provides that a divorced woman with custody of her children loses the right to custody if she remarries. Significantly, divorced men with custody of their children do not lose this right if they remarry. (para 57)
- Research: The Special Rapporteur also recommends that the Government strengthen the institutional framework for the protection and promotion of women’s human rights, including through [...] encouraging the Delegate Minister for the Family and the Status of Women, the National Council for the Family and Women and other relevant authorities to hold periodic meetings open to all women’s rights organizations to discuss women’s human rights challenges that could inform the formulation and implementation of national policies. The creation of the national centre for studies, information and documentation on the family, women and children offers an interesting opportunity for open discussions and cooperation in that regard. (para 81 (b))
Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Yakin Ertürk
A/HRC/7/6/Add.2
Country visit: 21 -31 January 2007
Report pubished: 13 February 2008
The following concerns and observations were made:
Education and literaracy:
After independence in 1962, Algeria put great emphasis on education and equality in education to overcome the extremely high levels of illiteracy, especially among women, inherited from French colonial rule. As a result, much progress has been made in realizing equal access to education for women and girls. (Paragraph 21).
Schooling for girls and boys is obligatory and free of charge between the ages of 6 and 16. Gender parity in primary education has almost been achieved. According to the National Multiple Indicators Survey on Children and Women (MICS3 Survey), conducted in 200613 the schooling rate in primary education stood at 96.3 per cent for girls and 96.9 per cent for boys. The schooling rates are significantly lower in certain localities, not least due to the continued resistance in some communities to girls’ education.14 Further, according to some of my interlocutors, the problems relating to the quality of school education undermine the overall value of free and equal access. Overcrowded classrooms, inadequate training of teachers and infrastructure gaps have been identified as areas of concern in national surveys.15 Moreover, despite the education reform of 2002, curricula and textbooks are said to contain biases with respect to gender issues and other universal human rights values. Nevertheless, the Government noted that these textbooks have been checked by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (Paragraph 22).
Many girls and young women actively pursue education opportunities beyond compulsory school. They have proven to be markedly more successful than their male counterparts. While, according to Government figures, 57 per cent of girls move on to high school (ages 16-19), only 43 per cent of boys do so. More women (25.4 per cent) than men (18.4 per cent) also pursue higher education.16 At the Emir Abdelkader University of Islamic Sciences, 70 per cent of students are women. (Paragraph 23).
Children born out of wedlock: There are also a substantial number of unmarried single mothers, with around 3,000 children born outside marriage annually. A strong stigma is attached to these women and their offspring. Unmarried single mothers are often rejected by their own families and have to endure immense social pressure. In Constantine, for instance, I was informed of the case of Salima,28 a young woman who committed suicide because her family had forbidden her marriage to a man she had a relationship with. The autopsy found that the woman was three months pregnant. (Paragraph 39).
Children born outside marriage also face problems throughout their lifetime, especially since they are registered and identified as such in official documents. In such cases, girls are confronted with intersecting layers of discrimination based on their legal status and sex. Illustrative of this is the case of Fatima, a woman from the wilaya of Batna, who was born outside marriage. At birth, her mother gave her to a family under an Islamic care arrangement (kafala). Her foster brother regularly beat her until she was finally ejected from the house of her foster family at the age of 17. Living on the streets, she was abducted by a group of men and gang raped. She survived the ordeal and met a man who agreed to marry her, even though he knew that she was born outside marriage. A religious ceremony was conducted, but the man refused to officially register the marriage. He physically abused her on a regular basis and she eventually fled back to her foster family. Even though her foster brother started beating her again, she stayed for another two years until she was thrown out. (Paragraph 40).
Violence: The conviction rate for physical abuse against women, as reported by the Government, appears to be very high: 14,016 out of 16,676 cases that reached the judicial authorities resulted in a conviction. However, many of my interlocutors have pointed out that lax sentencing in domestic violence cases discourages women from pursuing criminal complaints. The Penal Code foresees increased penalties for physical assault against parents or children. Yet, spousal abuse is only regarded as ordinary assault, even though these situations are also characterized by a close family relationship and unequal power between perpetrator and victim. (Paragraph 67).
Street Children: These organizations also note an increasing number of girls and unmarried women, who were ejected or fled from their homes and now live on the street. The ejection may occur to punish women and girls who are perceived to have violated the family honour, including young women, who become pregnant outside marriage or engage in relationships that are not approved by the family. A rupture in the family structure (e.g. if one parent dies and the other remarries) can also trigger family conflicts that ultimately result in the ejection of the most vulnerable family member. Finally, there are many cases, where the ejection stands at the end of a long history of physical or sexual abuse in the family circle. (Paragraph 71).
Sexual violence: It is estimated that several thousand women were raped by members of armed Islamist groups. Many women and girls were abducted from their home towns and villages, held in situations of sexual slavery and in some cases murdered, especially when they became pregnant. Grossly abusing the precepts of Islam, perpetrators reportedly sometimes tried to depict their atrocities as “religious temporary marriages.” (Paragraph 82).
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Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Mr. Abdelfattah Amor
E/CN.4/2003/66/Add.1
Country visit: 16-26 September, 2002.
Report published: 9 January 2003
The Special Rapporteur had the following comments and concerns:
Children of mixed marriages: The special, and sometimes difficult, position of many foreign non-Muslim women who have married Algerians and live in Algeria, and of the children of mixed marriages, was emphasized by several of the people interviewed. While some of these women continue to attend church and even take their children, they are nonetheless exceptional cases; on the other hand, they are often put under pressure by their in-laws who, refusing to accept that they are different, confine them to the house or press them to convert. The offspring of mixed marriages have no choice, since they are automatically registered as having their father’s religion. (Paragraph 74).
Religious education: Religious education, according to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, can be summarized as follows:
251 zaouïas (elementary schools attached to a Muslim shrine) together accommodating 11,490 pupils under the instruction of 305 teachers;
2,261 Koranic schools together accommodating 185,567 pupils under the instruction of 4,128 teachers;
3,344 koutabs (basic Koranic schools) together accommodating 85,488 pupils under the instruction of 2,553 teachers. (Paragraph 93).
Violence: Although reference was made to stones being thrown at Christian places of worship, and to insults, the representatives of the Christian minorities prefer to stress the great support they have always enjoyed from the Algerian people, even at the most difficult times, explaining that the incidents concerned involved children on their way home from a nearby school and had occurred during a period of tension over affairs in the Middle East. (Paragraph 102).
Custody: Polygamy is authorized (art. 8) and does not require the consent of the existing wives, since they cannot oppose the new marriage. The reason given for its retention is that it supposedly meets the deep-seated wishes of the Algerian people, whereas even the Algerian authorities say that it is a marginal phenomenon encountered in no more than 0.2 per cent of cases. Article 39 of the Code requires wives to obey their husbands and show them due deference as the head of the family, and to respect the husband’s relatives and close friends, while they themselves are not entitled to any respect and no legislation will protect them from domestic violence. What is more, the father has sole custody over minor children. (Paragraph 136).
Education: The state of the schools is mentioned here only insofar as it contributes (or does not) to tolerance and non-discrimination in matters of religion and belief. Many informants drew attention to the state of Algeria’s schools and, more specifically, their ability to inculcate in children a sense of respect for others, tolerance and non-discrimination. (Paragraph 126)
The Algerian educational system has long been cited as an example owing to the considerable efforts made at independence to ensure education for all when, at the time, only 10 per cent of children attended school and the country lacked everything - institutions and qualified staff. School has been free and compulsory for 6- to 16-year-olds since 1962, and the number of schoolchildren in 1995 was put at 8 million, with over 450,000 teachers. The policy pursued over the past 40 years has certainly been a success in quantitative terms, but the outcome in terms of efficacy and quality has not been satisfactory. Besides, many informants, including teachers, indicated that quite apart from their quality shortcomings, the schools had played a not insignificant role in spreading the Islamists’ ideas. (Paragraph 127).
The urgent recruitment of teaching assistants from the Middle East who could put Algeria’s policy of Arabizing education into effect was said to have been the initial vector for the spread of extremist ideas in schools. (Paragraph 128).
In the religious education classes that took the place of civics, teachers were said to have taught very young children how to stone an adulterous woman and how to wash the dead. The case of a teacher citing nationalities that should henceforward be regarded as nations of miscreants was also reported. In general, curricula were said to have conveyed a distorted notion of Algerian history and a degrading image of women, and to have encouraged pupils to spurn other religions, which were presented merely as those of colonial settlers. At the same time, concern was expressed that children could not speak out freely in class and ask awkward questions about Islam for fear of being labelled as troublemakers. (Paragraph 129).
Although some teaching staff sought to use the schools to popularize extremist ideas, both governmental and non-governmental sources emphasized the need not to stigmatize teachers, who put up a fierce resistance against obscurantism and for doing so found themselves, like their pupils, among the victims of religious extremism. (Paragraph 130).
On the organization of religious teaching, the Ministry of National Education provided the Special Rapporteur with answers to the questionnaire which he had sent to all States in 1994. These reveal that there is no religious establishment within the educational system run by the Ministry of National Education, and that the Ministry has sole authority to design religious instruction curricula although, according to the Minister, these are vetted by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the High Islamic Council. (Paragraph 131).
Islamic instruction is compulsory, and is taught from the first year of primary school to the last year of secondary education for two hours each week (five hours for streams preparing the baccalaureate in Islamic studies). Religious topics may also be taken up in other subjects. Religious education curricula, which allot no time to other religions but do tackle the question of eliminating all forms of intolerance and discrimination in matters of belief, are monitored, and sanctions are applied if they overstep the mark. The Minister of Education informed the Special Rapporteur, however, that religious instruction takes no account of the different tendencies within Islam. (Paragraph 132).
On the subject of compulsory religious education, the Special Rapporteur’s attention was drawn to one case in which the children of a foreign couple were refused a dispensation. During their discussions with the Special Rapporteur, the Minister of Education and Ministry staff expressed astonishment and said they were prepared to grant such dispensations; the Special Rapporteur was given this commitment in writing. On the other hand, Algerian children of originally Muslim but now atheist parents would not be allowed the benefit of such an arrangement given Algeria’s interpretative declaration relating to article 14 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which states that a child must be brought up in its parents’ religion.
It was also mentioned that the Islamic studies stream served as a last resort when there was no room available in other courses [leading to the baccalaureate]. (Paragraph 133).
A reform of the educational system is currently in preparation following a report by a presidential advisory committee. The Government’s programme has two objectives: to prepare children to learn and observe moral and religious principles as part of the values of Algerian civilization, and to prepare them for citizenship, democratic culture, tolerance and dialogue. (Paragraph 135).
Parents today are still asking for their daughters to be excused physical education; the national education system does grant dispensations provided a medical certificate is produced, and this does not appear to be an insurmountable obstacle. (Paragraph 136).
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