Submitted by crinadmin on
Summary: Currently the only monitoring
mechanism for the Convention on
the Rights of the Child is the State
reporting mechanism. This
Kindernothilfe report makes the case
for attaching a petition procedure to
the Convention to better enforce
children's rights.
[Extract]
On 5th April 2001, Kindernothilfe held a conference in Berlin
together with the Joint Conference Church and Development
(GKKE) to discuss the introduction of a right of petition for
individuals within the framework of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child. Taking part in the conference were experts from the
fields of politics and science as well as from non-government
organisations. Their task was, based on answers to following
questions, to determine whether the right of petition for
individuals would be a more efficient monitoring instrument:
- To what extent can the convention’s guarantee of children’s
rights be strengthened by the creation of a right of petition
procedure for individuals?
- What can be learned from the use of the right of petition
procedure for individuals in other human rights treaties?
- How was the right of petition for individuals in the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of
- Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) achieved?
- How can the right of petition for individuals in the Convention
of the Rights of the Child be achieved?
The starting point in answering these questions was the study of
Dr. Nils Geißler which he wrote in 1999 commissioned by
Kindernothilfe. It outlines the value of a right of petition for
individuals in protecting the rights of the child. He argues that the
initiative for introducing a right of petition for individuals to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child must come from the non-
government organizations. In his presentation, Dr. Norman Weiß
shows the importance of the right of petition for individuals in
other human rights treaties of the United Nations. It is decisive
for the Convention on the Rights of the Child that such a right of
petition should apply to all rights of the child guaranteed in it.
Based on The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
Dr. Messeletch Worku explains the mode of functioning and the
procedure involved in an existing right of petition procedure for
individuals. She underlines the fact that each of the 268 petitions
dealt with up to the end of 2000 has an important announcement
effect for the protection of human rights. The contribution of
Aloisia Wörgetter who headed the working group for pushing
through the optional protocol to the Convention on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) gives an
insight into the difficulties involved based on the Women’s Rights
Convention in achieving a right of petition within the frame work
of the UN Human Rights system. She points out that great
staying power is needed to persuade the various institutions. In
the case of CEDAW it was worthwhile. The optional protocol
contains a right of petition for individuals and groups of
individuals. On 10 th December 1999 it was released for
signatures and in the meantime it has come into force.
All experts agree on one point: An initiative for the creation of a
right of petition for individuals under the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child is meaningful and merits support. Now is the
right time to push ahead because this year the rights of the child
has become a subject of great political importance. The
forthcoming United Nations Special Session on Children should be
used to inform the international community of countries about the
demand for strengthening the monitoring mechanisms of the UN-
Convention on the Rights of the Child and to take the firsts steps
in elaborating a right of petition procedure. The outcome of the
conference has strengthened Kindernothilfe’s determination to
work together with other non-governmental organizations to
work towards introducing a right of petition procedure under the
Convention on the Rights of the Child. The following ten reasons
show why a right of petition for individuals should be used as an
additional monitoring instrument to the UN-Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
1. As an international and independent enquiry procedure before
a UN-commission, the petition procedure has an important
publicity function.
2. The right of petition procedure for individuals allows a
supplementary examination of the facts by a committee of
experts who are familiar with child specific discrimination and
human rights violations.
3. Introducing the right of petition procedure for individuals would
mean strengthening the protection for human rights. Human
rights protection is important for international cooperation.
4. Victims can claim compensation from the state.
5. The Right of Petition would enhance the status of children who
as a vulnerable group in society are in special need of protection.
6. It would strengthen the individuality and the status of the child
as a person before the law (same status for state and individual).
7. Individual petitioning proceedings is the most far reaching
sanction possibility which the UN commission for the
implementation of human rights possesses. The standards of the
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which are binding by
international law would be enhanced by an additional monitoring
instrument.
8. The statements and recommendations of the various UN-
commissions in a petition case would contribute considerably to a
better understanding of the content of the rights and regulations
involved.
9. It would strengthen the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
10. States would make greater efforts to extend and improve
their domestic monitoring facilities which would ultimately
increase the chances of victims having more efficient legal
protection.
Everyone present at the conference was aware that to push
through a right of petition procedure within the frame work of an
optional protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
will require a great deal of lobby work and above all strong
alliances. The fact that it is not only the NGOs who are calling for
a right of petition procedure is shown by the vote of the UN
Committee on the Rights of the Child. In its 25th session from
18th September to 6th October 2000 in Geneva it announced its
recommendation that all efforts should be taken to create a right
of petition procedure for children.
Now is the time to take this matter to the international
community of countries. All efforts should be focussed on the
Special Session of the United Nations on Children in September
2001 mentioned above because this is where the course for the
protection of the rights of the child for the next ten years will be
set. The contributions of the experts of the conference were
decisive in wording the demand for a right of petition for
individuals (see below). We would like to take this opportunity to
thank all those who took part in the conference for their hard
work and commitment.
Kindernothilfe intends to make every effort to encourage the UN
Special Session to include in its outcome document to be passed
by the state’s representatives in September 2001 a demand to
strengthen the monitoring side of the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child and that elements for a petition procedure as
an additional monitoring instrument be elaborated. The exact
wording is as follows: “We must build on the monitoring system
for the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which is
already in place, at national and international levels, including the
elaboration of elements for a petition procedure under the CRC
by the Commission on Human Rights“.
The German national coalition for the implementation of the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child supports the initiative as
does Terre des Hommes, Germany. Supporters on the
international level so far are World Vision Canada and amnesty
international. This initiative is worthy of support because the
need for protecting the generations of the future was never as
great as at the beginning of the 21st century.
pdf: www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/tagungsbeitrage.pdf