Submitted by Dhevy Siva on
A compilation of extracts featuring child-rights issues from the reports submitted to the second Universal Periodic Review. There are extracts from the 'Compilation of UN information' and the 'Summary of stakeholder information'. Once the 'National report' appears on the OHCHR site and the recommendations have been accepted or rejected by the State, these will subsequently be published here.
Dominica - Nineteenth session - 2014
1st May - 9am - 12.30pm
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National Report
Compilation of UN information
Stakeholder Information
Accepted and Rejected Recommendations
Information relating to children's rights from the National report will be published once this appears on the OHCHR site
2. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) acknowledged that Dominica had undertaken extensive reviews of its legal frameworks and administrative measures with a view to reforming its national laws, policies and practices and strengthening its framework to combat domestic violence and physical abuse of children. [...] UNICEF noted that no active progress had been made with respect to legislative reform. UNICEF recommended that the State take appropriate legislative and administrative measures to combat domestic violence and physical abuse of children, and to engage in an exchange of information with countries that are developing best practices in those fields.
3. UNICEF reported that the Cabinet of Dominica had approved a protocol for reporting child abuse some time ago, but that it required updating. It added that the enforcement of the protocol must be set within a legal framework. UNICEF reported that, at the time of the submission, Dominica had reviewed and discussed the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States model legislation, which provided for mandatory reporting of child abuse, but that the State had not yet moved forward on the adoption and enactment process.
5. UNICEF recommended that Dominica draft a national plan of action to protect the rights of children, and noted that the State had sent UNICEF a formal request for support in that task. However, the country had yet to identify an appropriate mechanism for follow-through at the national level. UNICEF indicated that the key concern was that too often such plans of action were not provided with administrative and financial support for their implementation. It encouraged the Government to ensure that the rights of children were mainstreamed in national development planning processes.
II. Cooperation with human rights mechanisms -
A. Cooperation with treaty bodies
9. UNICEF noted that Dominica had accepted the recommendation to submit pending reports to relevant treaty bodies. UNICEF also reported that it had extended an offer of technical and financial support for undertaking the reporting process for OP-CRC-AC and OP-CRC-SC, but noted there had been delays in approval by the Government. UNICEF also observed that while national monitoring committees on the rights of the child, comprising both State and civil society representatives, had existed from time to time, those committees often lacked the necessary structure, support and accountability to effectively carry out their stated mandate, and the necessary political will to effect the necessary changes.
III. Implementation of international human rights obligations, taking into account applicable international humanitarian law -
B. Right to life, liberty and security of the person
14. UNICEF noted the challenges encountered in the operationalization of the data collection process on gender-based violence.
15. UNICEF noted that an effective response to child abuse in Dominica is undermined by the lack of national inter-agency collaboration on reporting in line with the existing protocol.
16. UNICEF observed that a multimedia campaign to raise awareness on sexual abuse of children had been rolled out as part of a wider child protection initiative. The public education campaign had further been integrated into a larger subregional campaign on breaking the silence with regard to child sexual abuse.
17. ILO had provided, in the form of direct requests, a number of comments on the implementation of ILO Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (ratified by Dominica in 2001), with respect to programmes of action, penalties and other measures to prevent the engagement of children in, and eliminate, the worst forms of child labour. It reported that the fundamental problem was that there was no data on working children in Dominica. The ILO Committee of Experts noted the Government’s indication that consultations would be held with social partners with a view to devising programmes appropriate to a national campaign for the prohibition of the worst forms of child labour. It noted an absence of information on that point in the Government’s report to the Committee, and encouraged the Government to take the necessary measures to adopt programmes of action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, in consultation with workers’ and employers’ organizations and taking into account the views of other concerned groups. Currently there are no policies/programmes with regard to the worst forms of child labour.
C. Administration of justice, including impunity, and the rule of law
18. UNICEF reported that the current legal framework, rooted in outdated laws, emphasized punitive measures over alternative measures. Support programmes, services and institutions to assist juveniles in conflict with the law and promote rehabilitation were few, and coordinated preventive strategies to target the causes of juvenile offences and prevent juvenile involvement in crime were absent. UNICEF had supported an in-depth situational analysis which had been carried out in late 2012 to provide a detailed overview and assessment of the juvenile justice system in Dominica, highlighting areas of concern to be addressed in the national policy and plan of action. The analysis showed that although there was a general perception that juvenile crime was on the rise, according to available court data, from 2008 to 2011 the number of juveniles charged with offences, and the number of offences involving juveniles per year, had remained relatively constant, with minor variations..The draft national policy and plan of action had been submitted to the Cabinet of Dominica for review, approval and identification of the necessary resources for its implementation.
E. Right to work and to just and favourable conditions of work
23. UNICEF noted that unemployment was estimated at 14 per cent, compared with over 20 per cent in 2003.
26. ILO Committee of Experts noted that according to the Employment of Children (Prohibition) Act, the minimum age for employment was 12, but according to the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act, it was 14. Further, the Education Act prohibited employing any child under age 16 during the school year. However, the Committee observed that no other provision prohibited the employment of young persons in work that was likely to jeopardize their health, safety or morals. The Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the performance of hazardous work is prohibited for all persons under 18 years of age.
F. Right to social security and to an adequate standard of living
28. [...] UNICEF acknowledged that Dominica had extensive social safety net programmes, which were administered by the Government and non-governmental organizations. However, the existing interventions were not interconnected and operated in isolation, which reduced the potential effect of the programmes. UNICEF was concerned that the existing social safety net programmes were not child- and gender-sensitive and did not incorporate the risks and vulnerabilities of children’s life cycles. UNICEF was exploring the possibility of assisting the Government in undertaking child- and gender-sensitive social protection reform.
G. Right to health
30. The same source indicated that the proportion of the population aged 15‑24 years with comprehensive correct knowledge of HIV/AIDS in 2011 was 47.8 per cent for men and 56.2 per cent for women.
H. Right to education
32. Figures from the Statistics Division of the United Nations indicated that the net enrolment ratio in primary education increased from 96.8 per cent in 2008 to 98.4 per cent in 2009. UNICEF noted that in 2005 the Government had achieved universal, free-of-cost access to primary and secondary education. Currently, health screenings were done for all students in kindergarten and in grade 6.
33. UNESCO noted that the 1978 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Dominica, last amended in 1984, did not enshrine the right to education.
J. Persons with disabilities
38. There were no separate policies on the education of children with disabilities, but specific strategies were being used to integrate children with disabilities into mainstream classrooms to the extent possible. The ILO noted that children’s participation was integral to the implementation of child-friendly schools, and that a key component of training involved combating discriminatory attitudes towards children with challenges, including but not limited to disabilities, and supporting and promoting their participation in all aspects of school and wider social life.
2. AI recalled that Dominica committed to signing and ratifying a number of international human rights treaties during its first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in December 2009. It noted that the country has ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.
3. Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children (GIEACPC) noted that corporal punishment of children is lawful and recommended that legislation is enacted in Dominica to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment of children in all settings, including at home, as a matter of priority.
5. Edmund Rice International (ERI) noted that the government of Dominica has accepted 10 recommendations in the first cycle of the UPR concerning the rights of the child. Yet recent evidence suggested that many of these recommendations have not been fully implemented, and the rights of the child in Dominica are still routinely violated. ERI recommended developing and supporting consultative mechanisms, including the existing ones, whereby children and young people can communicate to the government their concerns and make suggestions concerning their rights and how to better promote and protect them.
6. ERI recommended Dominica to develop, in consultation with children and young people, a comprehensive child protection policy and national plan of action, including training for relevant personnel, a public education campaign on Child Protection, and an adequate number of Child Protection Units in major centres.
C. Implementation of international human rights obligations, taking into account applicable international humanitarian law - 1. Equality and non-discrimination
8. (Sexual Rights Initiative (JS1)) noted that [...]Caribbean courts have treated this provision as a closed list and have been reluctant to extend the list in order to recognise other categories of discrimination such as gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. ERI recommended incorporating gender equality issues in the school curriculum and establish and support programmes that train children and young people to analyse and change traditional and cultural stereotypes about gender roles.
2. Right to life, liberty and security of the person
15. Child Rights International Network (CRIN) observed that during the first cycle of the Universal Periodic Review in 2009, Dominica rejected recommendations to prohibit corporal punishment of children, stating that it was “not applied arbitrarily, and was seen as a measure of last resort” and that it was not prepared to remove corporal punishment from its statute books. High Court Judges are empowered to order that a boy under the age of 14 who has been convicted of an offence “be as soon as practicable privately whipped”, in lieu of or in addition to any other punishment. The High Court may pass a sentence of corporal punishment on any male convicted to rape, sexual intercourse with a girl under 14, or attempting or aiding these offences. The Children and Young Persons Act does not specifically mention corporal punishment as a way of dealing with juvenile offenders, but refers to the Magistrate’s Code of Procedure Act, which allows a magistrate to order the “private whipping” of a male under 18. The Offences Against the Person Act also provides for “private whipping”.
16. CRIN and GIEACPC hoped that the UPR Working Group will note with concern the legality of corporal punishment in Dominica during the review in 2014 and to explicitly prohibit sentences of corporal punishment and life imprisonment, under all systems of justice and without exception to ensure full compliance with international standards. GIEACPC stated that the persisting legality of corporal punishment of children in Dominica – in the home, schools, penal system and care settings – is a serious violation of children’s rights. They noted that the Government rejected the recommendations, describing the law in relation to school corporal punishment and stating that there was no intention to reform the law.
3. Administration of justice, including impunity, and the rule of law
18. IACHR observed that in Dominica, the minimum age at which one can be held criminally responsible is 12 years. CRIN called for raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility.
19. CRIN noted that in Dominica, sentences of life imprisonment and corporal punishment are lawful for persons who were under the age of 18 at the time they committed a criminal offence. The Corporal Punishment Act defines a child as under 16. The Children and Young Persons Act (CYPA) defines a child as under 14, a juvenile as under 18, and a young person as aged 14 to 17. The CYPA also specifies the minimum age of criminal responsibility as 12. Persons convicted of offences committed while they were under 18 may be sentenced to life imprisonment. In prohibiting the death penalty for persons under 18, section 3 of the Offences Against the Person Act requires that in lieu of the death penalty, children are sentenced to detention “during the State’s pleasure”. The Government has stated that it is possible for such persons to be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of release. A child under 14 cannot be sentenced to prison, but 14 to 17 year-olds can. CRIN was not able to establish whether there are exceptions to this restriction.
20. GIEACPC observed that the penal system – as in the 1881 Juvenile Offenders’ Punishment Act provides for any High Court Judge to order a boy under 14 who has been convicted of any offence “to be as soon as practicable privately whipped”, in lieu of or in addition to any other punishment. Under the 1987 Corporal Punishment Act, a court may sentence a boy under 16, convicted of any offence, to corporal punishment in lieu of or in addition to any other punishment. If the sentence is passed by a Magistrate’s Court, it must be confirmed in the High Court before being carried out. The 1961 Magistrate’s Code of Procedure Act allows a magistrate to order the “private whipping” of a male child or young person. The 1873 Offences Against the Person Act also provides for “private whipping”. Under the 1970 Children and Young Persons Act, a juvenile in conflict with the law may be detained in a government training school or a prison. The 1877 Prisons Act and the 1956 Prison Rules allow visiting justices to order corporal punishment for breaches of discipline. GIEACPC recommended the prohibition of corporal punishment during the review of Dominica.
21. CRIN called on for providing disaggregated data about sentences handed down to children by offence committed and date, as well as information about children in detention, including gender, age and length of time spent in pre-trial detention in each case.
22. IACHR was concerned at reports received which show that children can be held for an indefinite period in detention, and that review is not required. This can amount to a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. For example, the Commission was told that in Dominica, a child can be locked up for an indefinite period of time, at the discretion of the Governor‐General and President, respectively.
7. Right to social security and to an adequate standard of living
28. ERI stated that 29% of Dominica’s population is below the poverty line (2009 estimate). Poverty impacts on the exercise of many human rights, including in this case the right of children to a family of origin (having two resident parents). ERI recommended the implementation of a Poverty Eradication Programme targeting women, children and those in vulnerable groups and protecting their right to social protection.
10. Persons with disabilities
31. ERI recommended Dominica to provide an inclusive education for all children with disabilities, including specialised centres for assessment and support, as needed.
Accepted and rejected recommendations
The following recommendations were accepted: