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Summary: A compilation of extracts featuring child-rights issues from the reports submitted to the second Universal Periodic Review. There are extracts from the 'National Report', the 'Compilation of UN Information' and the 'Summary of Stakeholders' Information'. Also included is the list of accepted and rejected recommendations.
France – 15th Session – 2012
Monday 21st January 2013 - 9.00 a.m. - 12.30 p.m
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National Report
Compilation of UN information
Summary of Stakeholder information
Accepted and Rejected Recommendations
(Read about the first cycle review)
Compilation of UN information
1. The Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), in 2010, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in 2009, and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), in 2008, recommended that France ratify ICRMW. CRC also recommended the ratification of OP-ICESCR and CERD of ILO Convention No. 169.
2. In 2008, the Human Rights Committee (HR Committee) recommended that France review its reservations and declarations to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. CRC reiterated its recommendation that France review its position with respect to children belonging to minority groups and consider withdrawing its reservation to article 30 of the Convention, and its declarations to articles 6 and 40.
5. In 2012, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography recommended that France gather all legislation concerning child protection into a single practical guide in order to facilitate the understanding and implementation of the texts.
6. In 2010, CAT was concerned about the consequences of establishing a “Defender of Rights” (Défenseur des droits) combining the mandates of the Ombudsman of the Republic, the Children’s Ombudsman and the National Commission on Security Ethics. The Committee invited France to take all necessary measures to ensure the effective and uninterrupted functioning of the aforementioned independent bodies which, in addition to their mediating role, had an essential part to play in monitoring rights, thereby ensuring the implementation of the Convention, each in their particular field of expertise. CERD made similar comments.
8. With regard to the rights of the child, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography noted, following a visit in 2011, that the task of coordination was hampered by the complexity of the child protection system, the proliferation of actors involved and awkward linkage between the administrative and judicial frameworks. Coordination efforts would be made easier if the areas of authority and responsibilities of those in charge of child protection were more clearly defined. The Special Rapporteur encouraged the Government to adopt a mainstreaming approach to children’s rights with the aim of establishing a national child protection strategy. To achieve this, she recommended in particular: drawing up a map of all programmes and actors dealing with child protection; delimiting the areas of authority and responsibilities of all those involved; and setting up a centralized, standardized and reliable data collection and processing system.
17. CRC expressed concern at persistent discrimination with respect to children residing in the Overseas Departments and Territories, asylum seeking and refugee children, and children of minority groups such as Roma, travellers and religious minorities.
21. CRC was concerned at allegations of ill-treatment of children in places of detention and at the high number of reported incidences of excessive use of force by law enforcement officials against children.
28. Following a visit in late 2011, the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography noted that there was no centralized information system that could furnish reliable data on child prostitution. During her visit, she received confirmation that there had been an alarming increase in child prostitution. The Special Rapporteur also reported a growing stream and consumption of Internet images on child pornography, an increasing portrayal of violence in the images and younger and younger victims.
29. The Special Rapporteur reported that the persons in charge found it increasingly difficult to release children from the networks exploiting them, due to the fact that the children felt bound by fear or duty to their exploiters. She had been told that the children often escaped from the children’s homes and that the lack of alternatives for those minors, who were forced to turn to prostitution, made their resettlement more difficult.
30. CRC expressed concern at the high number of children subjected to exploitation, including trafficking, and who entered or travelled through France for the purposes of theft, begging and prostitution. CAT recommended a national plan to combat trafficking of women and children.
31. CRC reiterated its concern about widespread corporal punishment, in particular in the home and schools, especially in the Overseas Departments and Territories. It stressed that a specific provision to explicitly prohibit corporal punishment against children was still missing.
34. CRC was concerned at the lack of comprehensive national policy on the prevention of delinquency; lack of financial and human resources allocated to the juvenile justice system; and about legislation and practice which tended to favour repressive over educational measures. CRC urged France to ensure that juvenile justice standards are fully implemented.
36. HR Committee appreciated that France applies the same minimum age of 18 years for marriage to both genders.
37. CRC recommended that France: avoid the placement of children in alternative care as a result of low parental income; take into account the views of children, and provide them with child-accessible complaint mechanisms.
38. HR Committee was concerned that school students were barred by Act No. 2004/228 from attending public schools if they were wearing “conspicuous” religious symbols. Thus, observant Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh students may be excluded from attending school. CRC made similar observations.
40. CRC was concerned at the restriction imposed on the freedom of association of children by the use of high frequency ultra-sound devices, particularly painful for children, and flash ball devices and taser guns. The Committee recommended that the State reconsider or ban the use of high frequency ultra-sound and flash ball devices and other harmful devices as they may violate the rights of children to freedom of association and peaceful assembly, the enjoyment of which was essential for the children’s development.
46. CESCR remained concerned about the extent of poverty in France and the high number of persons living exclusively on social cash transfers. CRC noted the high number of children living in poverty, noting the significant higher rate among children from immigrant backgrounds.
51. CRC recommended that France strengthen its efforts to reduce the effects of children’s social background on their achievement in school and to decrease dropout and repetition rates; expand vocational education and training for children who had left school without certificates; use the disciplinary measure of permanent or temporary exclusion as a means of last resort only; and include social workers and educational psychologists in school to help children in conflict with school.
52. CESCR noted continued significant disparities in terms of school performance and dropout rates between French pupils and pupils belonging to racial, ethnic or national minorities.
54. CRC was concerned at the high number of children with disabilities who attended school only a few hours per week. It recommended that France ensure that legislation providing access to education and programmes and specialized assistance for children with disabilities are effectively implemented.
59. CERD remained very concerned at the difficulties faced by travellers, particularly regarding their freedom of movement, the right to vote and access to education and decent housing.
60. CERD was concerned that the current system did not allow recognition of the collective rights of indigenous peoples, particularly the ancestral right to land. It was also concerned at the increasing difficulties faced by some inhabitants of overseas territories in gaining access, without discrimination, to education, employment, housing and public health. It recommended that France recognize the collective rights of indigenous peoples, particularly regarding property; and ensure equal access to education, work, housing and public health in overseas territories.
66. The Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography judged that the treatment of unaccompanied foreign minors was inadequate and tended to vary from one department to another. In response, the Government had set up a working group consisting of representatives of the Government and the conseils généraux with the task of finding ways of distributing the youngsters more evenly across the country. The Special Rapporteur recommended that the Government should not allow its restrictive migration policy to detract from the protection of unaccompanied foreign minors, who were most vulnerable to all forms of abuse and exploitation. Similarly, unaccompanied foreign minors engaged in an educational or vocational programme should not be expelled on reaching their majority.
67. CRC was concerned at the situation of unaccompanied children placed in waiting zones of French airports; that the decision of placement could not be challenged; and that children were often returned to countries where they faced risk of exploitation.
75. CRC took note of the enactment of the Law No. 2006-911 of 2006 with regard to Mayotte, which stipulated that all births must be registered. It further acknowledged the constraints with regard to the accessibility of children living along the Maroni and Oyapock rivers in French Guyana. It recommended ensuring birth registration for all children on French territory. It further reiterated its previous recommendation urging France to increase its efforts to ensure birth registration for all children in French Guyana.
76. CRC expressed concern at the deficiencies of child healthcare in French Guyana to address serious health problems, such as malnutrition, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and at the lack of access to health care for children who were not affiliated to the Social Security System in Mayotte.
Summary of stakeholders' information
2. CNCDH recommended that the following instruments be signed and ratified as soon as possible: the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which establishes a general prohibition on discrimination; the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the International Labour Organization (ILO) Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention (No. 143); and the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (No. 169).
9. According to CNCDH, Roma migrants had repeatedly been the victims of evictions from their camps and wholesale expulsions that had very harmful repercussions on some individuals’ health and made it impossible for their children to stay in school. CNCDH had recommended that the eviction of these people from their settlements should be stopped unless such action were accompanied by alternative solutions and dignified, permanent resettlement arrangements. CNCDH also contended that Roma migrants had been the target of stigmatization, and it had called for the expression of genuine and firm political resolve to combat the use of stereotypes and discrimination.
14. Defence for Children International (DCI) recommended that France sign and ratify the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
22. DCI said that protection of the rights of foreign children and children in conflict with the law had clearly suffered a setback as a consequence of increasingly rigorous migration policies and policies applying to criminal offenders.
25. The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (COE-ECRI) considered that discrimination on the grounds of “race”, colour, language, religion, nationality or national or ethnic origin persisted in access to employment, education, housing, and goods and services. It noted that children from immigrant backgrounds were disproportionately represented in certain schools which was apparently linked to the formation of ghetto housing estates and also to the allegedly poorer school performance of immigrant children or children from immigrant backgrounds.
32. Human Rights Watch (HRW) informed that, despite France’s commitment during its first UPR to prevent racist acts by law enforcement agents, repetitive and abusive identity checks targeting minority young adults and children continued to raise concerns about the use of ethnic profiling. At the same time, HRW welcomed recent indications from the Government that it would examine the possibility of introducing a requirement that all individuals subjected to an identity check receive a written record of the procedure.
38. DCI stated that a strict policy of systematically locking up minors who has committed unlawful acts has been applied in 2008–2012. With regard to conditions in closed educational facilities and in juvenile detention centres, DCI recommended that the State should increase its compliance with article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which stated that deprivation of liberty should be used only as a measure of last resort. In order for it to do so, it would have to modify a number of recently introduced provisions, such as those establishing minimum sentences for juvenile repeat offenders.
41. End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT-France) felt that France had a satisfactory legal framework for combating sexual exploitation for commercial purposes but noted that it did not have a national action plan to combat this form of exploitation. ECPAT saw a need for a centralized database on sexual exploitation for commercial purposes and for greater capacity for processing and disseminating this information in order to provide a more accurate picture of the situation in that respect.
42. ECPAT underscored the fact that there was no specific, dedicated mechanism for minors who were involved in prostitution. Under existing laws, such minors were classified as being endangered and were placed under the care of the child social services agency, which was ill-suited to handle this type of situation. ECPAT recommended that facilities be established for the provision of systematic assistance and protection to all minors who had been involved in prostitution.
43. The Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children (GIEACPC) reminded that no recommendations were made concerning the corporal punishment of children during the first review of France. At that time, while corporal punishment was prohibited in the penal system, it remained lawful in the home, schools and care settings. That situation had not changed. In 2010, a bill intended to prohibit all corporal punishment in childrearing (Bill No. 1971) was filed in the National Assembly, but appeared to have made no progress.
48. ICAAD recommended France to repeal Law No. 2004-22 and to set up an Independent Commission to Monitor the Impact the Law had on Muslim, Sikh, and Jewish Children. ICAAD also considered that an analysis of data on minorities would allow France to tailor its laws and policies to empower its citizens rather than discriminating against them. ICAAD stressed that the key to a pluralistic society was to recognize that a one size fits all approach stood in contrast to valuing diversity. HRW recommended that France repeal or amend the law instituting the ban on full-face concealment in public spaces.
54. DCI noted that, in practice, there had been a number of cases in which persons had been refused access to health care or had not been allowed to enrol in school; many of these cases involved Roma or the children of migrant workers who were being housed in emergency shelters.
68. JS1 added that, each year, hundreds of migrant children showed up alone at the French border. Rather than protecting them, which would be in the best interests of these children, the authorities left them in holding areas, according to JS1.
Accepted and Rejected Recommendations
The following recommendations were accepted:
- 120.3 Consider the possibility of withdrawing its reservation to article 30 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in line with the principles of the French Constitution, especially after the 2008 reform (Italy);
- 120.17 Consider an early ratification of the third Optional Protocol to The Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure (Slovakia);
- 120.18 Consider signing the third optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child providing for a procedure on the presentation of communications (Belgium);
- 120.19 Sign and ratify the third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Iran (Islamic Republic of));
- 120.21 Consider ratifying ILO Convention 189 (Philippines);
- 120.25 Undertake a comprehensive study of the repercussions of the ban on facial coverings in public spaces for immigrant women and the effect on their access to public services (New Zealand);
- 120.27 Review the law 228/2004 to guarantee equality and non- discrimination and protect the humane rights of all groups, including the right to education (Sudan);
- 120.39 Set up adequate mechanisms that allow for the development of legislation and support prevention and protection policies for children in all fields (Oman);
- 120.44 Continue its policies on improving the rights of the child (Jordan);
- 120.45 Continue the transversal approach focused on the rights of children, in order to develop a national strategic framework for the protection of children (Republic of Moldova);
- 120.50 Intensify its efforts to enhance the protection of the rights of vulnerable groups and persons with disabilities, particularly women and children and speed up the accession to the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR (Iraq);
- 120.70 In line with article 1 of the French Constitution, take further measures to combat racial discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance and address related issues such as access to education, employment, housing and health of the people belonging to minority groups (Sri Lanka);
- 120.95 Take the necessary steps to ensure that allegations of ill-treatment by security forces in detention centres are promptly investigated, through a transparent and independent procedure, especially when they relate to particularly vulnerable groups such as minors (Spain);
- 120.113 Take further measures in the same direction of the previous ones for the social reintegration of juvenile delinquents (Greece);
- 120.115 Combat domestic violence against women and children (Russian Federation);
- 120.116 Take all the necessary legal measures to explicitly ban the corporal punishment of children in all settings, including the family, schools and institutions (Uruguay);
- 120.117 Introduce legislation to explicitly prohibit all corporal punishment of children as recommended by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (Finland);
- 120.118 Consider introducing provisions explicitly prohibiting corporal punishment against children (Poland);
- 120.119 Implement CRC recommendations by setting a national plan to fight trafficking in women and children (Libya);
- 120.120 Consider adopting a national plan to combat trafficking in persons in the context of the measures taken to promote and protect the rights of women and children (Peru);
- 120.121 Establish a national plan to combat trafficking in persons and trafficking in women and children (Spain);
20.125 Provide an update at the mid-term review on which specific measures it has put in place to combat trafficking of children and child prostitution (Hungary);
- 120.126 Adopt comprehensive measures to combat paedophilia and the increase of child prostitution (Belarus);
- 120.127 Establish structures providing assistance and systematic protection to all minors in the situation of prostitution (Belgium);
- 120.128 Continue making every effort to ensure greater protection against child prostitution and pornography (Chile);
- 120.129 Increase its efforts to prevent and combat all forms of abuse of children and adopt preventative measures and provide protection and services for their recovery (Iran (Islamic Republic of));
- 120.131 Ensure the birth registration of all children in French Guyana (Brazil);
- 120.139 Take effective measures to further strengthen the implementation of its legal framework to combat sub-standard housing for individuals and families who live in sub-standard housing characterised by the unsafe and unhealthy conditions (Iran (Islamic Republic of));
- 120.164 Limit the use of detention of migrants and asylum seekers, especially when families with young children are concerned (Norway);
- 120.165 Pay particular attention to unaccompanied migrant children and undertake specific measures to ensure their adequate protection (Morocco).
The following recommendations were rejected:
- 120.23 Look into amending the ban on students wearing religious symbols in schools, including the hijab (Kuwait);
- 120.24 Consider revising its law prohibiting people from wearing religious symbols in public schools (Malaysia);
- 20.29 Reconsider both the bans on students wearing ostentatious, religious symbols in public schools and on full-face concealment in public spaces to ensure expression of freedom of religion or belief (Thailand);
- 120.30 Strengthen the surveillance of the law of 15 March 2004 with the aim of not adversely affect the education of girls and adolescents who profess the Muslim, Jewish or Sikh religion, and develop all necessary measures to promote inclusion (Uruguay);
- 120.31 Reconsider the Act on banning conspicuous religious symbols in public schools and the Act on banning Niqab in public places in the light of its relevant obligations under the international human rights law (Egypt);
- 120.130 Adopt additional measures for the protection of the family institution and stop propaganda on relations between same-sex couples at the state level. Bring up the issue of adoption of children by same-sex couples to the public consideration (Belarus);