Submitted by CRIN on
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 stakeholder information'. Once the ‘recommendations’ have been accepted or rejected by the State, these will subsequently be published here.”
Côte d'Ivoire - 19th Session - 2014
29 April, 14:30 - 18:00
National report
Promotion and protection of human rights on the ground and compliance with international obligations
Right to life
20. Throughout the entire post-election period significant infringements of the right to life were routinely committed. The infringements, including summary executions and enforced disappearances, were done by various actors.
21. The National Commission of Inquiry reported 3,248 cases of infringement of the right to life. Women and children are counted among the victims. Numerous witnesses attest to the fact that people’s throats were slit and pregnant women were raped before being killed. Inquiries show that a large share of the victims (29.68 per cent, or 2,018 cases) were summarily executed, apparently for political and/or ethnic reasons.
Right to freedom of expression, opinion and information
28. There was an increase in violations of the right to freedom of expression, opinion and information. Examples of such violations include monopolization of State media and subsequent takeover and transformation into instruments of propaganda, news programmes like Raison d’État, bans on international news broadcasts and the occupation of certain newspaper offices.
Follow-up and implementation of recommendations and commitments made during the review of 3 December 2009
National policies and strategies
Human rights awareness-raising, education and training
Recommendations:
Participate in UNOCI efforts to fulfil its mandate in this area, develop national human rights education programmes in general and education programmes on the fundamental rights of women, children and other vulnerable groups in particular for civil servants, public security officers and prison and judicial authorities and ensure full accountability for any human rights violations.
Status of Implementation:
In progress.
Measures/initiatives:
The Government has adopted policies for the protection and promotion of human rights spearheaded by the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Public Freedoms which cover awareness-raising, education and combating impunity. They include capacity-building workshops for military and paramilitary forces (October 2011 and September 2012) and human rights focal points of ministries and public institutions (March and September 2012), the introduction of human rights and citizenship education into the education system beginning in the 2012/13 school year and the training of human rights and citizenship education trainers at the National Teaching Institute for Technical and Vocational Education and the National Higher Institute for the Arts and Cultural Activities.
Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Recommendations
101.13, 101.14, 101.15, 101.16, 101.19
Status of implementation
Noted & Implemented
Measures/initiatives:
Decree No. 2011-220 of 7 September 2011 to ratify and publish the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict, ratified on 7 September 2011.
3. Governance (democracy, elections, justice system, transparency and fight against corruption and impunity)
Justice system
99.4, 99.5, 99.63, 99.64, 99.66, 99.67, 99.68, 99.69
Recommendations:
Finalize the ongoing legislative reforms, particularly those related to family law, the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure. Improve the efficiency of the judicial system; strengthen and harmonize the child protection legal framework.
Status of implementation:
Implemented
Measures/initiatives:
A panel of experts is responsible for considering a reform of the Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure so as to bring it into conformity with the provisions contained in the relevant
ratified international instruments.
Recommendations:
Establish a juvenile justice system to guarantee the protection of the rights of minors.
Status of implementation:
In Progress
Measure/ Initiatives:
Minors benefit from judicial protection in Côte d’Ivoire through special courts (juvenile court judge, juvenile court, juvenile assize courts). All courts and court divisions have a juvenile court
judge and juvenile court. All courts are provided with youth offending teams responsible for helping in the reintegration of minors. They are helped by social workers.
Equality and non-discrimination
99.27, 99.28, 99.29, 99.30
Recommendations:
Protect women, children and persons with disabilities.
Status of implementation:
Achieved
Measures/ Initiatives:
National laws protect women, children and persons with disabilities. Ministries make every effort to improve their status through specific programmes. (National programme to combat gender-based violence, law to prohibit female circumcision, National Committee for the Oversight of Actions to Combat Child Trafficking, Exploitation and Labour, law on child pornography, etc.)
Fight against poverty and unemployment
99.13, 99.80, 99.81, 99.88, 99.89, 99.90, 99.94
Recommendations:
Improve access to social services.
Status of implementation:
In Progress
Measures/ Initiatives:
As regards social services, Côte d’Ivoire has introduced a policy of free care for pregnant women and children under 5 years of age. A number of schools have been created and thousands of teachers have been recruited to tackle the education crisis. For example, the gross school employment rate improved between the 2008/09 and 2011/12 school years, with an increase of about 5 percentage points.
Right to education
Basic education
99.91, 99.92, 99.93
Recommendations:
Promote education for all, without discrimination, develop primary education for all children, in urban and rural areas alike, and eliminate disparities between boys and girls.
Status of Implementation:
Between 2007 and 2013 the State was involved in facilitating access to education for all by providing free textbooks in primary education and building new classrooms. School-age children have been able to enrol without a birth certificate since the start of the current school year.
As regards institutional reform, the Government reinstated school uniforms at the start of the 2011/12 school year. The reform aims to reduce discrimination of an economic or social nature.
Action to increase accessibility to schools generally involved building and renovating public schools. For example, 4,478 classrooms were built nationwide, which made it possible for 223,900 pupils to attend school over the 2010–2012 period.
Between 2008 and 2012, the Government distributed 6,880,600 mathematics, French and civic and moral education textbooks and 5,762,334 school kits, i.e. the free education policy reached more than 90 percent of pupils enrolled in public primary school. With the support of United Nations system organizations, the Government equipped 260 early childhood development centres with mats and kits in the urban and rural areas in six regions and 75 primary schools with school furniture.
In addition, work has begun on building 1,500 new primary school and 143 preschool classrooms and 100 housing units for primary school teachers. There are 1,800 primary school classrooms available for school mapping. Among them, 1,500 are under construction by virtue of the presidential emergency programme. There will eventually be 3,300 in total that should be functioning for the 2012/13 school year. For the 2012/13 school year, the State recruited 5,000 primary school teachers (2,500 teachers and 2,500 teaching assistants).
Some 3,000 secondary school teachers under contract have also been recruited. The State has recruited 8,000 teachers within the space of two years. For the 2013/14 start of the school year, the State wishes to increase its intake capacity through the construction of local secondary schools (collèges). An assessment of Islamic religious schools carried out in 2011 resulted in
the integration of 22 out of 43 such schools into the official system of national education. The admissions process was reviewed to make the requirements for access to collèges more equitable.
There are no disparities between boys and girls in school enrolment in Côte d’Ivoire. In 2012, girls made up 46 per cent of the primary school student body.
Rights of the Child
99.20, 99.58, 99.59, 99.60, 99.61, 99.51
Recommendations:
Protect children, including orphans and children with disabilities, combat child trafficking, exploitation, forced labour and smuggling, ensure that they have access to education and health care and tackle the problem of street children.
Status of Implementation
Implemented
Measures/ Initiatives
Côte d’Ivoire ratified the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in September 2011. At the national level, the following organizations have been mobilized to combat child labour:
• The Interdepartmental Committee to Combat Child Trafficking, Exploitation and Labour. Established pursuant to Decree No. 2011-365 of 3 November 2011, it has been tasked with coordinating and ensuring the implementation of programmes and projects to eradicate child labour.
• The National Committee for the Oversight of Actions to Combat Child Trafficking, Exploitation and Labour, established pursuant to Decree No. 2011-366 of 3 November 2011.
Conclusion
74. Since the consideration of its report in December 2009, Côte d’Ivoire has continued its efforts to improve the human rights situation. For that purpose, not only has it brought its national laws into line with international agreements, but it has also begun to take on and fulfil its international obligations through national and sectoral policies.
75. Therefore, as far as the prospects for the universal periodic review mechanism are concerned, Côte d’Ivoire notes its usefulness and added value in promoting and protecting human rights in Member States.
76. As it completes its second universal periodic review cycle, Côte d’Ivoire proposes to put in place a mechanism to follow up on the implementation of recommendations with a clear mandate and adequate resources and to build its capacity to assess the impact of the implementation of recommendations on the human rights situation.
Compilation of UN information
Institutional and human rights infrastructure and policy measures
8. The country team had advised the Government to create a body responsible for protecting children, as recommended by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
14. The country team noted that the Human Rights Division of UNOCI paid particular attention to acts of violence against women, girls and children, and that it was the leader for the United Nations system in supporting transitional justice processes.
Right to life, liberty and security of the person
21. In 2011, under its early warning and urgent action procedure, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) deplored that the political stalemate that had followed the proclamation of presidential election results continued to be marked by a number of serious human rights and humanitarian violations. It recommended that Côte d’Ivoire continue its efforts to prevent a repetition of ethnic violence and punish those responsible.
25. In its resolution 2112 (2013), the Security Council decided that UNOCI would: give special attention to grave violations and abuses committed against children and women, notably sexual and gender-based violence, in coordination with the Independent Expert; monitor, help investigate and report to the Council on abuses and violations of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, in line with resolutions 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009), 1998 (2011) and 2068 (2012), in order to prevent such abuses and violations and end impunity; and bring to the attention of the Council all individuals identified as perpetrators of serious human rights violations.
28. The ILO Committee of Experts requested information on the measures taken to ensure that child soldiers released from armed forces and groups received appropriate assistance for their rehabilitation and social integration.
29. The ILO Committee of Experts urged the Government to renew its efforts to ensure that child HIV/AIDS orphans were not engaged in the worst forms of child labour and to continue taking immediate and effective measures for the protection of girls from the worst forms of child labour. The country team observed that the proportion of children who worked had increased. It recommended that the Government should focus particular attention on the coordinated implementation of preventive action, follow-up, response and the elimination of the worst forms of child labour in sectors other than the cocoa industry, on which the majority of Government efforts tended to focus.
Right to privacy, marriage and family life
40. The country team drew attention to the need for the Government to take measures to ensure the full application of Act No. 2013-35 of 25 January 2013 on the registration of births and deaths that had taken place during the crisis and, more generally, to support the reforms required to modernize the registry office. The Special Rapporteur on internally displaced persons noted that an estimated 3 million children had no birth documentation. He urged the Government to extend the deadline for delayed birth registration and to take relevant measures to facilitate birth registration and raise awareness of its importance.
Right to health
55. The country team further observed that the national infant and child mortality rate was high. Among children under 5, 30 per cent showed delayed growth or suffered from chronic malnutrition and 8 per cent of children under 5 suffered from acute malnutrition. According to the most recent review of the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation in Côte d’Ivoire, only 11 per cent of the rural population had access to improved sanitation facilities. CEDAW remained concerned about the high maternal mortality rates.
Right to education
56. The Statistics Division indicated that, in 2009, the total net enrolment ratio in primary education had been 61.5 per cent. The ILO Committee of Experts urged the Government to adopt legislation introducing compulsory schooling and establishing the age of completion of compulsory schooling, and to continue taking effective measures to improve the functioning of the education system, paying particular attention to gender disparities in access to education.
57. The country team noted that the political unrest in Côte d’Ivoire had had a very significant impact on education, particularly in the north of the country, and had clearly demonstrated the devastating effects that conflicts could have on learning opportunities. It was noted by UNESCO that grievances about inequality in education in the north lay at the root of civil tensions that had affected the country for over a decade.
Stakeholder information
Right to life, liberty and security of the person
17. (Réseau Equitas Côte d’Ivoire) REQCI reported that, since the post-election crisis of November 2010, there had been a significant increase in gender-based violence, particularly sexual violence. It also reported that female genital mutilation continued to be practised throughout the territory.
20. Regarding the recommendation to investigate cases of domestic violence and sexual abuse at schools and sanction the perpetrators, (ASSOCIATION DES FEMMES JURISTES DE COTE D’IVOIRE) AFJCI noted that there was no specific legislation governing domestic violence in Côte d’Ivoire and that the Criminal Code only covered physical violence in general. AFJCI therefore recommended that Côte d’Ivoire adopt a specific law on domestic violence.
21. Furthermore, JS6 (Joint submission 6 submitted by: Forum des ONG et Associations d’Aide à l’Enfance en Difficulté; Association des Enfants et Jeunes Travailleurs de Côte d’Ivoire) observed that children, even the very youngest, were not protected from abuse — including sexual abuse — at school, which affected their education. JS6 also referred to the fact that school dropout among girls was linked to early pregnancy and especially to sexual violence, which sometimes affected sexual and reproductive health.
22. Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children stated that despite the Government’s acceptance of recommendations concerning protection of children from violence, the legality of corporal punishment had not changed since the first cycle UPR: corporal punishment of children remains lawful in the home, schools and alternative care settings.
Administration of justice, including impunity, and the rule of law
27. With reference to the recommendation to “pay special attention to protection of children of persons in detention or prison”, AFJCI recommended that the authorities computerize the records of detainees, by entering factual information such as marital status and physical address, in order to allow the competent services to take care of the children of detainees.
30. JS5 (Joint submission 5 submitted by: Action des chrétiens pour l’abolition de la torture en Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) and Féderation Internationale de l’Action des Chrétiens pour l’Abolition de la Torture) noted that persons were placed under police custody for civil reasons such as non-payment of rent or child maintenance or occupation of land without a land title. Such abuses of authority were widespread on account of poverty, which prevented defendants from being assisted by a lawyer.
Right to marriage and family life
36. REQCI noted that the Minors Act contained discriminatory provisions against women in respect of the rights recognized to fathers and mothers over the person and property of their minor children. For instance, article 6 of the Act used the term “paternal authority” rather than “parental authority”, which gave men the exercise of those rights.
39. According to JS4 (Joint submission 4 submitted by: Franciscans International (FI); and Social Justice (Côte d’Ivoire), between 2000 and 2011 79 per cent of births were registered in urban areas compared with 41 per cent in rural areas. The birth registration rate thus remained relatively low in Côte d’Ivoire despite the Government’s efforts to organize procedures that would enable every child to obtain a birth certificate free of charge. The low birth registration rate denied many children official legal status and, as a consequence, a number of rights such as the rights to nationality, education and social security. Moreover, children were left much more vulnerable to risks of exploitation and forced labour in illegal and undeclared networks.
Right to work and to just and favourable conditions of work
49. JS4 noted that children worked from a very early age in families performing domestic chores or were employed in coffee or cocoa plantations or in mines. Furthermore, child labour was aggravated in cases of forced labour or trafficking. Unfortunately, notwithstanding awareness-raising campaigns, the problem persisted in the country, particularly in some regions and even in urban areas, where domestic workers were in demand.
Right to health
52. In that regard, JS6 recommended that the Government improve access for children, particularly newborns, to preventive and curative health services, through increased investment in capacity-building for health personnel in order to benefit the most vulnerable mothers and newborns.
Right to education
54. JS2 reported that in Côte d’Ivoire the right to education was poorly respected. The State had taken no practical measures to make school compulsory. Many school-age children did not attend school, while others were taken out of school before the age of 15. JS2 added that the system of free primary education was ineffective. Not only were school textbooks distributed late and in insufficient numbers, but enrolment fees and other contributions, although prohibited by the State, were often demanded of parents. Inadequate school infrastructure, excessive numbers of pupils and too few teachers led to poor-quality education.
55. JS4 recommended that Côte d’Ivoire improve the quality of its school infrastructure by opening new classes in order to ensure decent schooling conditions for pupils and reduce enrolment fees for public sector higher education institutions. That would allow the most disadvantaged to access university education. JS6 made similar recommendations.
56. JS7 stressed the need to request technical and financial assistance from the international community in order to continue offering human rights education and training at all educational levels.
Organisation: