Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of all UN Treaty Bodies and their follow-up procedures. This does not include the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child which are available here: http://www.crin.org/resources/treaties/index.asp
Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity.
Scroll to:
- UN Human Rights Committee
- UN Committee against Torture
- UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
- UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- UN Committee on Migrant Workers
- UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
_____________________________________________
(CCPR/C/PER/CO/5)
Last reported: 11 – 28 March 2013
Concluding Observations adopted: 27 March 2013
Concerns raised:
Health: The Committee, recalling its previous Concluding Observations (CCPR/CO/70/PER, par. 20), expresses concern at the high percentage of abortion-related maternal deaths; at the fact that abortion resulting from rape or incest is still criminalized; and at the lack of a national protocol regularizing the practice of therapeutic abortions. The Committee is further concerned about the high rates of maternal mortality in rural areas and of adolescent pregnancies. Furthermore, the Committee regrets the decision adopted by the Constitutional Court prohibiting the free distribution of emergency oral contraceptives (arts. 2, 3, 6, 17 and 26).
The Committee recommends the State party to:
(a) Review its legislation on abortion and make provision for additional exceptions in cases of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest;
(b) Swiftly adopt a national protocol regulating the practice of therapeutic abortion;
(c) Increase its efforts to reduce adolescent pregnancy and maternal mortality, in particular in rural areas, and ensure that adequate sexual and reproductive health services, which include emergency oral contraceptives, are accessible in all regions of the country; and
(d) Increase and ensure the effective implementation of education and awareness-raising programmes at the formal (schools and colleges) and informal (mass media) levels on the importance of contraceptive use and on sexual and reproductive health rights. (para 14)
Child labour: The Committee is concerned that the rate of child labour in the country remains high (arts. 8 and 24).
The State party should strengthen its efforts to ensure the effective implementation in all parts of the country of the existing policies and laws that are designed to prohibit child labour. The State party should ensure violations of these laws are effectively investigated, prosecuted and punished, and should keep reliable statistics on this phenomenon. (para 23)
_____________________________________________
Last reported: 30 and 31 October 2012
Concluding Observations adopted: 15 and 16 November 2012
Concerns raised:
Violence: The Committee is concerned at reports on widespread violence against women and girls, including domestic and sexual violence and femicide, and at the low numbers of investigations and prosecutions in such cases, as well as the lack of statistics on sexual violence. While taking note of the adoption of the Second National Action Plan to Combat Violence Against Women 2009-2015, the Committee is concerned that domestic violence and forms of sexual violence and harassment, other than the crime of rape are not defined as offences in the Criminal Code and at the obstacles victims of violence face when accessing justice, combined with the insufficient number of shelters available to them (arts. 2, 12, 13 and 16).
The State party should intensify its efforts and urgently ensure implementation of effective protective measures to prevent and combat all forms of violence against women and girls and amend its legislation to include domestic violence and forms of sexual violence as offences under the Criminal Code, as is the case with rape, and develop a better overview on the prevalence of the offence. The State should further strengthen all efforts to prevent violence against women, enhance the access of victims to justice, ensure that all acts of violence are promptly, effectively and impartially investigated and prosecuted, perpetrators brought to justice and victims provided with redress. The State party should set up not only an effective complaints mechanism for women and girls but also a monitoring mechanism to prevent all forms of violence against them. The Ministry of Health should provide specialized training to health personnel dealing with victims of violence and a single, consolidated system for keeping records on cases of violence against women should be established. Broad awareness-raising campaigns should be initiated and training on combating and preventing violence against women and girls for law enforcement officers, judges, lawyers, and social workers should be provided. (para 14)
(…) It is concerned further at the under-reporting of cases of sexual violence against women and girls during the armed conflict [from 1980-2000], the limited number of investigations, the absence of sentences and the lack of effective redress to victims of sexual violence during the conflict. It is also concerned that rape is the only form of sexual violence that may give rise to individual economic compensation under Law No. 28592 and that all forms of sexual violence are not covered by the law on reparation. The Committee takes note that the State party ratified the Rome Statute in 2001, but is concerned that Bill No. 1707/2007/CR on rape as a crime against humanity, was submitted to Congress in 2007 but has not been passed to date (arts. 2, 12, 13, 14 and 16). (para 16)
The Committee is concerned that violence against children, including domestic and sexual violence, is widespread and that corporal punishment of children in the home, schools, penal institutions and care settings is not explicitly prohibited (arts. 2 and 16).
The Committee recommends that the Code on Children and Adolescents and the Penal Execution Code be amended to prohibit explicitly violence against children, and in particular sexual violence, and define corporal punishment in all settings as an offence under the law. (para 20)
Child labour: The Committee is concerned at reports on forced labour practices amounting to slavery, debt bondage (enganche) and serfdom in such sectors as agriculture, stock-raising and forestry that particularly concern indigenous communities, and also at the situation of domestic workers living in conditions of domestic servitude. It is further gravely concerned at the increasing number of children affected by the worst forms of child labour in various sectors such as mining, brick-making and saw mills and that one third of persons in domestic servitude are children. The Committee is particularly concerned that the prohibition of slavery and forced labour is not adequately covered in the Penal Code. The Committee is further concerned at the trafficking in human beings for labour and sexual exploitation and in particular of women and young girls from impoverished rural regions in the Amazon who are recruited and coerced into prostitution in brothels located in mining shantytowns (arts. 2, 12, 13, 14 and 16).
The State party should strengthen its efforts to:(...)
(b) Ensure in practice the elimination of such contemporary forms of slavery and in particular protect children; (…) (para 21)
Data collection: The Committee regrets the absence of comprehensive and disaggregated data on complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of cases of torture and ill treatment by law enforcement, military, security and prison personnel, as well as on trafficking, violence, against women, children and other vulnerable groups, including domestic and sexual violence, as well as means of redress (arts. 2, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16).
The State party should compile statistical data relevant to the monitoring of the implementation of the Convention at the national level, including disaggregated data on complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of cases of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement and prison personnel, trafficking, violence, including domestic and sexual, against women, children and other vulnerable groups as well as on means of redress, including compensation and rehabilitation, provided to the victims. (para 23)
_____________________________________________
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(E/C.12/PER/CO/2-4)
Last reported: 2 and 3 May 2012
Concluding Observations adopted: 18 May 2012
Concerns raised:
Violence: The Committee is concerned about the prevalence and extent of domestic violence, including violence and sexual abuse of children. The Committee is also concerned at the fact that domestic violence is not specifically defined as an offence in the State party’s Criminal Code, and at the obstacles in accessing justice for victims of domestic violence, in particular for indigenous and rural women, and the lack of enforcement measures (art.10). (…) (para 14)
Child labour: The Committee is concerned that child labour in the State party remains extensive, in particular in the informal sector, and that children are exposed to dangerous and/or degrading work, in particular in mines, garbage dumps and battery recycling. The Committee is also concerned that the minimum age for admission to employment is set at 14 years, which is below the age of the end of compulsory education, set at 15 years (art.10.)
The Committee recommends that the State party take urgent steps to address child labour, including through ensuring effective enforcement of legislation protecting children from economic exploitation and exposure to hazardous or abusive work. The Committee also urges the State party to expedite the process of adoption of the Bill amending the Child and Young Persons Code, raising the minimum age for admission to employment to 15 years. (para 15)
Street children: The Committee is concerned about the situation of street children in the State party, as well as their high numbers (art.10).
The Committee recommends that the State party address the situation and the high number of street children, with the aim of protecting these children and preventing and reducing this phenomenon. The Committee also recommends that these efforts focus on recovery and social reintegration services, as well as on ensuring adequate nutrition, housing, health care and educational opportunities. (para 16)
Health: The Committee is concerned that a significant number of children still suffer from malnutrition, in particular those living in rural and remote areas (art.11).
The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to combat and prevent malnutrition amongst children, in particular those living in rural and remote areas. (para 18)
The Committee is concerned about the high rate of teenage pregnancies, and the lack of adequate sexual and reproductive health services. It is concerned that the Criminal Code classifies consensual sexual relations between adolescents as statutory rape, which in practice inhibits the access of adolescents to reproductive health services. The Committee is concerned about the high maternal mortality rate in rural regions, which is still above the MDG target. It is also concerned that the conditions under which therapeutic abortions can be performed are not nationally regulated, and that abortions are penalized in cases of pregnancy resulting from rape(art.12).
The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to address the high rate of teenage pregnancies and ensure the accessibility and availability of sexual and reproductive health services, including delivery attendance, institutional birth services and emergency contraceptives, particularly in rural areas. It recommends that the Criminal Code be amended so that consensual sexual relations between adolescents are no longer considered as a criminal offence and that abortion in case of pregnancy as a result of rape is not penalized. It also recommends that the State party establish a domestic protocol for the performance of therapeutic abortions. (para 21)
Education: The Committee is concerned about the discrepancies in quality and infrastructure between urban and rural schools. It is furthermore concerned about the very high dropout and repetition rates, in particular for girls in rural areas, and the illiteracy rate among the indigenous and Afro-Peruvian communities (arts. 13 and 14).
The Committee recommends that the State party take steps to improve the quality of instruction in and physical infrastructure of schools in rural areas. It also recommends that the State party take urgent steps to increase attendance rates, address the high dropout and repetition rates, in particular for girls in rural areas, and address the illiteracy rate among children of indigenous and Afro-Peruvian communities. (para 26)
_____________________________________________
UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(CRPD/C/PER/CO/1)
Last reported: 17 April 2012
Concluding Observations adopted: 20 April 2012
Concerns raised:
Children with disabilities: While recognizing positive developments, such as the creation of a Permanent Multi-Sectoral Commission and the establishment of the CONADIS (National Council for the Integration of Persons with Disability), the Committee regrets the lack of meaningful participation of persons with disabilities, in particular the involvement of children and women with disabilities, and their representative organizations in the design of the legislation, as well as in other policy and decision-making processes.
The Committee recommends that the State party take specific measures to ensure active participation of persons with disabilities, including children and women with disabilities, in planning, executing, and monitoring of public decision-making processes at all levels and in particular in the matters affecting them. (para 9)
The Committee regrets the low level of disaggregated data on persons with disabilities. The Committee recalls that such information is indispensable to: understanding the situations of specific groups of persons with disabilities in the State party who may be subject to varying degrees of exclusion, especially indigenous people, women and children with disabilities and persons who live in rural areas; developing laws, policies and programmes adapted to their situations; and assessing the implementation of the Convention. (para 46)
While taking note that the Code on Children and Adolescents (Law 27337) recognizes certain rights of children with disabilities, the Committee is concerned at their de facto enjoyment of those rights. The Committee is concerned at the invisibility of children with disabilities, in particular 15. amend its legislative framework to provide special protection to women and girls with disabilities, as well as to adopt effective measures to prevent and redress violence against women and girls with disabilities. (para 16)
The Committee recommends that the State party make special care and assistance to children with disabilities, in particular indigenous children, a matter of high priority, and invest to the maximum extent of available resources in the elimination of discrimination against them, as well as gather accurate data to monitor the upholding of their rights. The Committee further recommends that the State party take steps to prevent violence, abuse and extreme abandonment of children with disabilities. (para 17)
Discrimination: The Committee is concerned that, albeit the existence of a large number of different ethnic groups in Peru, indigenous and minority persons with disabilities are not considered as being at high risk of suffering multiple discrimination and that no data on their number and situation exists. In this connection, the Committee expresses its concern at the situation of indigenous and minority persons with disabilities, in particular women and children with disabilities that live in rural areas, as well as persons with disabilities of African descent. (para 12)
The Committee urges the State party to improve its data gathering in order to have clear statistics on indigenous and minority persons with disabilities. The Committee recommends that the State party place emphasis on the development of policies and programmes on indigenous and minority persons with disabilities, in particular women and children with disabilities that live in rural areas, as well as persons of African descent, in order to address the multiple forms of discrimination that these persons may suffer. (para 13)
The Committee urges the State party to accelerate its efforts to eradicate and prevent discrimination against women and girls with disabilities, by incorporating gender and disability perspectives in all programmes, as well as by ensuring their full and equal participation in decision-making. The Committee urges the State party to amend its legislative framework to provide special protection to women and girls with disabilities, as well as to adopt effective measures to prevent and redress violence against women and girls with disabilities.(para 15)
Education: While taking note with appreciation of a number of Ministerial Directives aimed at establishing the framework of an inclusive education system, the Committee is concerned at the existing gaps in the de facto implementation of these provisions, in particular at the illiteracy rate among the indigenous peoples and Afro-Peruvian communities, and the impact that this may have on the indigenous and minority children with disabilities. (para 36)
The Committee recommends that the State party allocate sufficient budget resources to achieve advances in the progress for an inclusive education system for children and adolescents with disabilities, and take appropriate measures to identify and reduce illiteracy among children with disabilities, especially indigenous and Afro-Peruvian children. (para 37)
Health: The Committee is concerned that, according to State party’s replies to the list of issues, no rehabilitation services exist for 81 per cent of the population with a disability, and only 1.42 per cent of persons with disabilities are covered by social security programmes. The Committee is also concerned at the lack of health services, in particular in rural areas, as well as numerous limitations to persons with disabilities imposed by the Supreme Decree 004-2007-SA on Comprehensive Health Insurance. It further regrets the lack of early detection programmes of deafness for children in order to minimize and prevent further disabilities. (para 38)
_____________________________________________
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
(CERD/C/PER/CO/14-17)
Last reported: 3 and 4 August 2009
Concluding Observations adopted: 24 August 2009
Concerns raised:
Discrimination: The Committee expresses concern at the limited enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by indigenous peoples and Afro-Peruvian communities, in particular with regard to housing, education, health and employment, despite the economic growth in the State party.
The Committee recommends that the State party take the necessary steps to achieve effective protection from discrimination against the indigenous peoples and Afro-Peruvian communities in various domains, in particular, employment, housing, health and education. The Committee also requests that the State party include information in its next report on the impact of programmes aimed at giving effect to the economic, social and cultural rights of the indigenous population, as well as statistical data on progress in this regard. (para 16)
Education: While the Committee takes note of the progress made recently in efforts to combat illiteracy within the indigenous and Afro-Peruvian population, it continues to be concerned at the illiteracy rate among the indigenous peoples and Afro-Peruvian communities. Furthermore, while the Committee welcomes efforts to establish a bilingual educational system, it is concerned at the shortcomings in applying the intercultural bilingual system in practice.
The Committee encourages the State party to take action in the short and medium term to implement effective measures that will reduce illiteracy among indigenous people and Afro-Peruvians. Also, the next report of the State party should include specific data on the percentage of indigenous people and Afro-Peruvians who have access to primary, secondary and university education. (para 18)
_____________________________________________
UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
CEDAW/C/PER/CO/7-8
Adopted by the Committee: 30 June-18 July 2014
Published: 18 July 2014
Issues raised:
Legal reform:
The Committee welcomes the progress achieved since the consideration in 2007 of the State party’s sixth periodic report (CEDAW/C/PER/CO/6) in undertaking legislative reforms, in particular the adoption of Act No. 29600 (2010) on school reintegration of students who are pregnant and/or young mothers (para.4).
Development of policies:
The Committee welcomes the steps taken by the State party to improve its institutional and policy framework aimed at accelerating the elimination of discrimination against women and promoting gender equality, such as the adoption of: The Multisectoral Plan of Teenage Pregnancy Prevention 2013-2021 (2013) (para.5).
Trafficking and sexual exploitation:
The Committee notes the initiatives carried out by the State party to combat trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and girls. However, it is concerned at the low levels of budget allocations to implement existing programmes, the lack of preventive programmes to address the root causes of trafficking, in particular among girls and their families living in poverty, as well as the insufficient protection and rehabilitation measures for women and girl victims of trafficking. It is also concerned at the lack of information on prosecution of trafficking cases and of their monitoring and follow-up. The Committee is particularly concerned about trafficking in adolescent girls for sexual or labour exploitation, in particular in the mining and logging industries. The Committee regrets the insufficient information on the extent of internal trafficking and on exploitation of prostitution in the State party (para.23).
The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation (CEDAW/C/PER/CO/6, para. 31) and calls upon the State party to:
Fully enforce its legislation on trafficking and increase the resource allocations for the implementation of the national action plan and other measures to combat trafficking;
Build the capacities of the judiciary, law enforcement and border officials, as well as social workers, on gender-sensitive ways to deal with victims of trafficking;
Address the root causes of trafficking by increasing its efforts to improve the educational and economic opportunities for girls, women and their families, thereby reducing their vulnerability to exploitation by traffickers;
Take measures for the rehabilitation and social integration of women and girls who are victims of trafficking and ensure that their protection includes the establishment of special shelters for victims; and
Provide in its next periodic report comprehensive information and data on trafficking in girls and women and on prosecutions and convictions of traffickers (para.24).
Nationality:
The Committee notes efforts undertaken by the State party to issue identity documents, in particular, to rural and indigenous women and children, with a view to enabling them to claim nationality, citizenship and social benefits. However, the Committee is concerned about:
The lack of birth registration and access to documentation of children in indigenous communities, particularly in isolated communities in the Amazonian region; and
The fact that in spite of the jus soli principle in national legislation, children born to foreign parents in the State party’s territory lack access to birth registration or to personal documentation (para.27).
The Committee encourages the State party to continue facilitating access for personal identity documents to undocumented women and girls, including those living in extreme poverty and/or in remote, isolated communities. The Committee also urges the State party to ensure universal birth registration and access to personal documentation to all children born in the State party (para.28).
Education:
However, the Committee is concerned about the disparities in access to quality education among rural girls, in particular those whose mother tongue is not Spanish and that illiteracy rates among rural and indigenous women and girls and girls with disabilities continue to be high due to their lack of educational opportunities. The Committee is also concerned that girls are often victims of abuse on the way to or in schools and about the high number of teenage pregnancies, and regrets the absence of information on the implementation of initiatives to address school dropouts resulting from such pregnancies. The Committee notes the Ministry of Education’s new curricular framework which includes comprehensive sex education. Nevertheless, the Committee is concerned that the framework has not been implemented and that adolescents have limited access to age-appropriate information and intercultural perspectives on their sexual and reproductive health and rights, including on responsible sexual behaviour, prevention of early pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, and protection measures from sexual abuse (para.29).
The Committee recommends that the State party:
Allocate sufficient human and financial resources for the implementation and monitoring of the laws and public policies designed to combat discrimination in access to education and to include the use of temporary special measures in promoting the education of girls and women, in particular in rural areas and indigenous communities and among girls with disabilities;
Disseminate information among girls and women of their rights under existing legislation, in particular the right to remain in and reintegrate to school when pregnant or after delivery; and provide information in the next periodic report on the number of adolescent girls who reintegrated into the school system after pregnancy;
Develop the necessary educational infrastructure particularly in rural areas, and the capacity of teachers and personnel, at all levels of the education system, on gender equality and the rights of girls and women and provide them with the appropriate tools to support their role in combating discrimination against women; and
Implement comprehensive programmes on sexual and reproductive health and rights in school curricula providing age-appropriate information on responsible sexual choices, including the right of women to make their own choices with regard to reproductive and sexual health, as well as information on the prevention of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. It also recommends that teachers be adequately trained to handle these issues with sensitivity and professionalism (para.30).
Reproductive health:
Ensure access to family planning services, in particular in rural areas, and adopt all the necessary measures to carry out the free distribution of emergency contraceptives within the public health system, particularly to women and girls victims of sexual abuse; Develop capacities on the right to health, including sexual and reproductive health, of medical staff with a view to ensuring an adequate provision of health services to women and girls (para.36).
(CEDAW/C/PER/CO/6)
Last reported: 19 January 2007
Concluding Observations published: 2 February 2007
Concerns raised:
Health: The Committee expresses its concern about the inadequate recognition and protection of the reproductive health and rights of women in the State party. It is particularly concerned about the high rate of teenage pregnancies, which presents a significant obstacle to girls’ educational opportunities and economic empowerment, and about the limited availability of emergency contraceptives, particularly in the rural areas. The Committee notes with concern that illegal abortion remains one of the leading causes of the high maternal mortality rate and that the State party’s restrictive interpretation of therapeutic abortion, which is legal, may further lead women to seek unsafe and illegal abortions. It is further concerned that the recommendations of the Human Rights Committee in KL v Peru (CCPR/C/85/D/1153/2003 (2005)) were not adhered to by the State party. (para 24)
The Committee urges the State party to step up the provision of family planning information and services to women and girls, including emergency contraception, and to promote sex education widely, in particular in the regular education curriculum targeted at adolescent girls and boys, with special attention to the prevention of teenage pregnancies. The Committee also urges the State party to provide women with access to quality services for the management of complications arising from unsafe abortions so as to reduce women’s maternal mortality rates. The Committee urges the State party to review its restrictive interpretation of therapeutic abortion, which is legal, to place greater emphasis on the prevention of teenage pregnancies and to consider reviewing the law relating to abortion for unwanted pregnancies with a view to removing punitive provisions imposed on women who undergo abortion, in line with the Committee’s general recommendation 24 on women and health, and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The Committee further calls upon the State party to comply with the recommendations of the Human Rights Committee in KL v Peru. (para 25)
Education: The Committee is concerned about the low education level of girls, particularly their levels of illiteracy, truancy and school drop-out rates. It is particularly concerned about the education of rural girls who continue to face significant disadvantages in access to and quality of education, as well as in years of formal schooling, a situation that results in rural women’s increased functional illiteracy. (para 26)
Poverty: The Committee is concerned about the situation of those women who face a high risk of consistent poverty and social exclusion in the State party, including children and girls working on the street, and the absence of gender perspectives in poverty eradication strategies. (para 28)
The Committee urges the State party to accelerate its efforts to eradicate poverty among women, including children and girls working on the street, by incorporating gender perspectives in all development programmes and ensuring women’s full and equal participation in decision-making on those programmes, as well as in their implementation processes.(para 29)
Trafficking: While noting the State party’s recent initiatives to address the problem of trafficking in women and girls, the Committee remains concerned about the insufficient information on the causes and extent of trafficking in Peru as an origin, transit and destination country, and the absence of adequate measures to combat the phenomenon of trafficking in women and girls. (para 30)
The Committee calls upon the State party to ensure that legislation on trafficking is fully enforced and that the national action plan and other measures to combat trafficking in human beings are fully implemented. The Committee urges the State party to collect and analyse data from the police and international sources, prosecute and punish traffickers, and ensure the protection of the human rights of trafficked women and girls. It also recommends that the State party address the root cause of trafficking by increasing its efforts to improve the economic situation of women, thereby eliminating their vulnerability to exploitation and traffickers, and take measures for the rehabilitation and social integration of women and girls who are victims of trafficking. The Committee requests the State party to provide in its next report comprehensive information and data on trafficking in women and girls and on prostitution, as well as the measures in place to combat these phenomena and their impact.(para 31)
Birth registration: The Committee notes with concern the large number of women, particularly indigenous and rural women, who do not have any documentation registering their births and consequently cannot claim nationality and social benefits in the State party. (para 32)
Marriage: The Committee expresses concern that the minimum legal age of marriage is 16 years for both girls and boys and that such a low legal age of marriage may prevent girls from continuing their education, lead them to drop out of school early and may result in difficulties in their achievement of economic autonomy and empowerment. (para 34)
The Committee urges the State party to take measures towards raising the minimum legal age of marriage for girls and boys to 18 years with a view to bringing it into line with article 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and with article 16, paragraph 2, of the Convention and the Committee’s general recommendation 21 on equality in marriage and family relations. (para 35)
_____________________________________________
UN Committee on Migrant Workers
Ratified in 2005, but not yet reported.
_____________________________________________
UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance
Ratified in 2012, but not yet reported.