Submitted by crinadmin on
United Nations Human Rights System Article 9.1 requires States Parties to ensure that children are not separated from their family against their will, except in cases where this is in the best interests of the child, among these are situations involving abuse or neglect. Article 19 obliges States Parties to take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of violence, including neglect or negligent treatment, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child. Article 20 also requires States to provide protection and assistance for children who have been deprived of their family environment or in whose own best interests cannot be allowed to remain in that environment. Such care could include adoption, or foster care. Article 39.2 highlights States Parties’ obligation to take appropriate measures to promote the physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of children who have been in a situation of neglect. Neglect and negligent treatment explained in the context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child Reference to “negligent treatment” raises the issue of accidents to children (also raised in article 24(2) (e). The developmental state and physical vulnerability of children makes them particularly prone to accidents. While the primary responsibility may be that of parents, state actions are also required to prevent many types of accident. Article 3(2) gives States an over-arching obligation to provide care and protection necessary for the well-being of the child. [Source: UNICEF: Implementation Handbook (1998), p. 240 article 19] Other information The UN Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children The African Union It stipulates that protective measures under this Article shall include effective procedures for the establishment of special monitoring units to provide necessary support for the child and for those who have the care of the child, as well as other forms of prevention and for identification, reporting referral investigation, treatment, and follow-up of instances of child abuse and neglect. Other information Inter-American System In 2002, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued an Advisory Opinion on the Legal Status and Human Rights of the Child. In articles 87 – 91, this document requires States, in accordance with the American Convention, to adopt all positive measures to ensure that children are protected against mistreatment. Acknowledging the European Court’s, reference to Articles 19 and 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it says that if children are not cared for by their parents and their basic social needs are not satisfied, the State has the duty to intervene to protect them. In addition, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is empowered to request States to adopt specific "precautionary measures" to avoid serious and irreparable harm to human rights in urgent cases, including cases of child abuse and neglect. Such measures were granted in a case presented to the Commission in 2003 by Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) to protect the lives and physical, mental, and moral integrity of the entire population of 460 detained in Paraguay’s state-run Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital. This marked the first time that the Commission acted to call for immediate, life-saving measures to combat ongoing abuses in a psychiatric institution (see the Pan-American Journal of Public Health). Imprisoning children when they have not committed a crime constitutes a violation of Articles 7 and 8 of the American Convention and Article 40 of the CRC. However, there are many documented cases of abandoned children being imprisoned in various Latin American countries on the grounds of neglect, in contravention of Article 37(b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Argentinian law, under the Criminal Regime of Minority, for example, until recently, stated that a judge must adopt tutelary measures when the child is abandoned, in a state of material or moral danger, presents behavioural problems, or lacks assistance, even when the child is not criminally imputable. OMCT: Rights of the Child in Argentina (Alternative Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2002) p. 32 Council of Europe The Convention provides for measures which aim to promote the rights of the children, in particular in family proceedings before judicial authorities. It requires States to specify at least three categories of family proceedings to judicial authorities to which the Convention will apply. These include questions of custody, residence, access, questions of parentage, legitimacy, adoption, legal guardianship, administration of property of children, care procedures, removal or restriction of parental responsibilities, protection from cruel or degrading treatment and medical treatment. Article 3 of the Convention stipulates children’s right to be informed and to express his or her views in proceedings, either for themselves or through representatives. Article 8 (Acting on own motion) enables judicial authorities to act on their own motion, or without a formal application in cases where the welfare of a child is in serious danger. This is limited to cases determined by internal law as such an intervention represents an interference in family life. Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=9692 Other information
A number of articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child relate to children in situations of neglect. Article 3.2 sets out the overarching duty of States Parties to take measures to protect and care for children, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents, legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for him or her.
Neglect may be deliberate or it may be caused by the inability of the parent/ family/ community/ State to provide appropriately for the child. Child neglect exists in various forms and to varying degrees in all societies. For example, some countries with highly developed economies and social systems in which employment of women has reached almost the same level as employment of men are now preoccupied with the neglect of very young children by their working parents and with the self-reported “loneliness” of many children. The State’s overall obligation to ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child (article 6), and its specific obligations to provide appropriate assistance to parents (article 18) together with rights to health care (article 24), to benefit from social security (article 26), to an adequate standard of living (article 27) and to education (article 28) are all particularly relevant to the prevention of neglect.
The Violence Study is due to be launched on 11 October 2006 at the General Assembly 61st session in New York. The report will contain a set of recommendations to end violence against children. Below are some of the recommendations relevant to neglect:
The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, in article 16, requires States Parties to take specific legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect children from all forms of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and especially physical or mental injury or abuse, neglect or maltreatment including sexual abuse, while in the care of the child.
Article 19 of the American Convention provides for children’s right to protection required by his or her condition as a minor on the part of his or her family, society and the state.
The European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s Rights aims to protect the best interests of children. It provides a number of procedural measures to allow the children to exercise their rights.