Calling for a Special Rapporteur on Street Children

Summary: In this submission, the Consortium
for Street Children UK calls for the
naming of a Special Rapporteur on
Street Children.

Committee on the Rights of the Child Day of General Discussion State Violence Against Children Friday, 22 September 2000 – OHCHR (Palais Wilson, Geneva) Submission by Consortium for Street Children UK 2 CONSORTIUM FOR STREET CHILDREN UK Written submission to: Committee on the Rights of the Child Day of General Discussion Friday, 22 September 2000 STATE VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN Calling for a Special Rapporteur on Street Children 3 INTRODUCTION The Consortium for Street Children is a group of 35 UK-based development and human rights NGOs which support projects for street-living and street-working children and children at risk of taking to street life in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The Consortium welcomes the Committee’s decision to devote two discussion days to the theme of violence against children, the first focusing on State violence, with emphasis on “particularly vulnerable groups of children who are temporarily or permanently deprived of a family environment, which renders them more vulnerable to abuse while increasing the obligation of the State to offer special protection.” CSCUK also appreciates the Committee’s specific acknowledgement of: a) the double violation of street children’s rights: both social, economic and cultural as well as civil and political, and b) their double vulnerability in the juvenile justice system (as identified in the 2nd sub-theme for working group discussions, ‘Violence against children in the context of ‘law and public order’ concerns’) - they are more likely to be at risk of entering the system in the first place (legally or illegally) and are simultaneously less able to defend their rights within that system. It is with this in mind, and within the framework established for this day of general discussion, that the Consortium for Street Children UK is calling for the naming of a Special Rapporteur on Street Children. KEY OBJECTIVES OF THE MEETING As identified by the Committee, the key objectives of the meeting will be: 1) To present, analyse and discuss the nature, extent, causes and consequences of violence against children as described above. It is not within the scope of this submission to outline the multiple and complex aspects of violence against street children world-wide - either that within the domestic environment that contributes to children seeking a better life on the streets (to be discussed next year) or that perpetrated and tolerated by the State after that transition has taken place. It is, however, our intention to convince the Committee that the very nature, extent, causes and consequences of that physical, mental, sexual and emotional violence, and the much wider socio-economic problems underlying the phenomenon of street children - which vary enormously from country to country - are such that they require the attention of one dedicated expert or team within the UN to coordinate investigations and develop intelligent responses to them. CSCUK contends that it is not sufficient or appropriate to rely on existing UN human rights mechanisms for this purpose because: · the very complexity of the human rights violations involved in the causes and consequences of street migration (poverty, domestic violence, neglect, war, disease, HIV/AIDS, urbanisation) is such that they need to be examined holistically, rather than in the disjointed, ad hoc way currently available via mechanisms whose foci are not even necessarily child-specific, let alone specific to such a uniquely vulnerable and unsupervised group as street children (i.e. Special Rapporteurs on Torture / Extra-judicial and summary executions, WG on Arbitrary Detention etc.) · it is essential to examine the overall social and economic background of countries in order to devise wider preventative recommendations, in addition to responding to specific ‘urgent action’ situations. In other words, street children need a voice channelled through a flexible and innovative mandate in keeping with the ‘indivisible, interdependent, interrelated’ reality of rights as recognised in the CRC. Nowhere is this approach more relevant than in the case of street children. Such a ‘dual approach’ mandate has already been introduced in the UN by the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women 1 . [For our specific mandate recommendations and other aspects of the Special Rapporteur debate, see below]. In other words, violence against street children is the symptom of wider root causes in societies which seek to punish them for being visible reminders of their failure to provide and protect. Effective remedy requires targeted intervention in relation to both cause and effect. 2) To present and discuss policies and programmes (including legislative and other measures) at the national and international level to prevent and reduce these types of violence against children and to treat and rehabilitate victims of such violence. 3) And, in particular, to present recommendations focusing on concrete measures which should and could be taken by States Parties to the CRC to reduce and prevent violence against children in these circumstances. [These objectives will be discussed simultaneously due to their significant overlap. They will be considered specifically in relation to street children in the juvenile justice system as identified in sub-theme #2, ‘Violence against children in the context of ‘law and public order’ concerns’.] A) National level CSCUK calls for: Legislative measures: · the adoption / adaptation of domestic legislation in compliance with international human rights standards 2 where such legislation does not currently exist 3 ; · the implementation in practice of these standards at all stages of the juvenile justice system, from initial contact with the child to the pre, during and post-trial periods; · the establishment of independent monitoring systems to ensure continued compliance with such legislation by all levels of the police, judiciary and social services etc. Other measures: 1) Alternatives to detention: · an end to the criminalisation of poverty and the struggle to survive by ending the practice of detaining street children for ‘petty theft’, ‘vagrancy’ and ‘prostitution’ against international (and often national) legislation which clearly states that detention must only be used as a last resort and for the minimal time possible 4 . · unnecessary and illegal detention merely leads to further overburdening of already stretched State resources, contributing to overcrowding and inhuman and degrading conditions which lead, in turn, to further outbreaks of violence (such as those documented by Amnesty International in its report on FEBEM juvenile detention centres in Brazil, ‘A Waste of Lives’, July 2000). · Such a short-sighted approach massively contributes to a country’s longer-term problems by unnecessarily turning children into hardened criminals by exposure to adult criminals and by compounding their contempt for a society that has treated them so abusively. Alternatives to detention are infinitely preferable, socially and psychologically, for the children involved. They are also in the State’s best interest, in terms of longer-term social stability and crime prevention. Furthermore they are cost effective: CSC partners in Romania calculate that alternatives to detention are 20 times cheaper 5 . · States must be encouraged through the UN to work with NGOs in systematising the diversion of street children from detention to rehabilitative and educational programmes. 2) Conditions in detention: · an immediate end to all violence against children 6 ; imposition of severe sanctions for all personnel involved in such violence. · immediate improvement in conditions in relation to food, water, health, hygiene, space, privacy, education and rehabilitation 7 . · child detainees must be separated according to their age (children from adults and younger from older children), gender and convicted status 8 . · guaranteed due process / fair trial / access to lawyers / right of appeal etc 9 . · so-called ‘neglected’, as opposed to ‘delinquent’ children must not be processed through the juvenile justice system but rather through social services. 3) Training of all personnel involved with children at all stages of the juvenile justice system 10 : · systematised appropriate human rights training at initial recruitment stages (as part of compulsory general training) and ongoing, in-service training follow-ups with in-built monitoring and evaluation components. Such training must take place in collaboration with NGOs and in an interagency programme. Experience shows that human rights sensitisation training in the field of juvenile justice is only truly effective if each branch (e.g. police, lawyers, judges, probation officers, social workers etc) cooperates with and understands the others. · in addition, the provision of specialised units within those professions whose sole responsibility is the care of minors within the system 11 . 4) Helplines: · Toll free telephone numbers manned by NGOs (and, most successfully, by ex-street children themselves) have proved highly successful in some countries such as India. They provide any child with a means to access friendly help, guidance and services on any range of problems e.g. emergency medical aid / intervention in police violence suffered on the street, emotional support / counselling for domestic violence, concrete requests for shelter etc. Conclusion: Detailed, concrete measures and programmes based on the above principles can only be discussed on a country-specific basis. Many such recommendations for programmes to reduce the level of violence and to improve conditions in detention already exist and are readily available to governments and NGOs, e.g. Amnesty International report on Brazil (‘A Waste of Lives’ 2000) Human Rights Watch reports on juvenile justice / street children / police abuse in Guatemala (‘Guatemala’s Forgotten Children’ 1997), India (‘Police Abuse and Killings of Street Children in India’ 1996), Kenya (‘Juvenile Injustice’ 1997) etc. B) International level CSCUK calls for: · International encouragement, support and pressure on States to adopt these measures (with NGO cooperation) via: 1) UN Committee on the Rights of the Child through: Ø examination of State reports Ø general comments Ø this day of general discussion Ø Coordination Panel on Technical Advice on Juvenile Justice 2) Other UN treaty bodies Ø Human Rights Committee Ø Committee Against Torture 3) UN non-treaty mechanisms (Commission on Human Rights): Ø Special Rapporteur on Torture Ø Special Rapporteur on Summary or Arbitrary Executions Ø Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Ø Working Group on Administration of Justice Ø Special Rapporteur on Independence of Judges and Lawyers 4) Naming of a Special Rapporteur for Street Children to examine the situation of street children in the juvenile justice system holistically, as a specific part of their mandate, as they make up a significant proportion of the population of juvenile detainees in many countries. · Focusing on this most vulnerable group, against whom all abuses are committed, represents getting to heart of problems affecting all juvenile detainees higher up in the socio-economic, ethnic and racial hierarchy. · The flexibility of a Special Rapporteur, compared to the limitations of treaty bodies (whose main energies are necessarily devoted to the consideration of State reports, with all the delays that entails), and the perception by States that Rapporteurs operate more on a ‘humanitarian’ than ‘judgmental’ mandate, means that a Rapporteur is likely to obtain results and responses more quickly to bring an end to the institutionalised violence and abuses committed against street children on a horrific scale on a daily basis in the context of ‘law and order’ concerns. Further arguments in favour of a Special Rapporteur · Collection of information by the Rapporteur serves not only as a means in itself, but also as a way to keep street children constantly on the international agenda and to maintain pressure on governments to remedy immediate abuses and to evolve longer term solutions. · By targeting UN attention via a Special Rapporteur on a group of human beings so marginalised and vulnerable, at the bottom of both the socio- economic and the civil and political rights heaps, national and international government attention will, by default, be directed to other problems affecting wider groups of both children and adults. The work of a Special Rapporteur on Street Children will therefore carry benefits well beyond its immediate sphere, i.e. holistically addressing: ¨ police violence against street children has obvious implications for all people in conflict with the law / in detention; ¨ domestic violence against children (as a ‘push’ factor in street migration) has obvious implications for women; ¨ discrimination - ethnic, racial, gender-based and socio-economic - in relation to street children has obvious implications for wider societal groups [it should also be noted that the Committee itself has highlighted, in the context of this discussion day: “Particular attention will be paid under all these aspects to the position and special vulnerability of girls, of children belonging to ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples, and of socio-economically marginalised children”. CSCUK points out that all these categories are relevant to street children]; ¨ health issues of street children (particularly HIV / AIDS) has obvious implications for wider government policies; ¨ urbanisation / urban migration in relation to street children opens the door to governments confronting problems in rural development issues; Therefore, by encouraging States to acknowledge those at the bottom of a government’s list of priorities, a UN Special Rapporteur on Street Children will - by default - benefit other marginalised groups higher up the socio-economic scale. S/he will kickstart progressive thinking in other policy areas, in addition to tackling specific problems relating to street children, thus proving to be of exponential benefit to the international human rights movement in general. Suggested Functions of the Special Rapporteur: For the Rapporteur to be effective, s/he must be both independent (i.e. a non-political appointee) and an expert in the field of street children, able to balance an adversarial with a supportive approach. Suggested functions are: 1) study and analyse the situation of street children, globally and regionally, with particular emphasis on the causes and origins of the phenomenon; 2) conduct both quantitive and qualitative research into statistical data on numbers of street children by country; 3) seek and receive information regarding street children and their rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child from States, individuals, NGOs, other UN mechanisms etc. 4) make requests to governments to clarify particular situations in their jurisdiction; 5) use an ‘urgent action’ procedure to request that a government take immediate action to prevent or rectify a violation immediately in situations of emergency where the lives of children are in danger; 6) make on-site visits for a more intensive and enduring examination of a particular country; 7) develop recommendations for intelligent national and international responses to the problems identified, with an emphasis on preventative strategies; 8) report to the UN Commission on Human Rights every year to put political pressure on governments and the international community to help improve the situation of street children globally; 9) present an annual report on the reality of the world’s street children 10) develop a directory of organisations working in the area of the defense of children’s rights in order to facilitate coordinated actions; Addressing concerns over the appointment of a Special Rapporteur for Street Children: How will the Rapporteur avoid overlap with other mechanisms and integrate into the evolving UN human rights system? The rapporteur will integrate and exchange (rather than duplicate) information with other UN treaty and non-treaty mechanisms, complementing and supporting them in order to develop the widest possible analysis of street children. A Special Rapporteur on Street Children could offer a model for a new generation of cooperation amongst existing UN mechanisms through an innovative mandate and by virtue of the wide scope of issues involved in the street children phenomenon. Why can’t street children be mainstreamed into existing mechanisms? This would still ignore the need for an integrated approach which is essential if any real progress is to be made in tackling the complexity and interdependency of the problems faced. Also, without anyone to specifically ensure that their interests are mainstreamed, street children will undoubtedly fall through the system yet again. CSCUK reiterates that street children need a single voice to address a problem which is growing rapidly on an annual basis, without governments offering any positive solutions to guarantee these poorest of poor children their rights - both socio-economic and civil and political. Why not appoint an advisor to the Committee on the Rights of the Child instead? The Committee is already immensely overburdened with a backlog of reports, the examination of which must remain their primary function in monitoring implementation of the CRC. Reaction time to cases of urgent rights violations in the context of individual States would be limited to the (unacceptably long) 5-yearly reporting process. Its possibilities to react to violations are also severely limited due to the lack of individual or inter-state petition mechanisms. The Committee would also lack time to devote to the essential task of formulating wider, preventative policies. Why single out street children for special attention? Why not establish a ‘Rapporteur on Children’ in general? CSCUK believes that such a post would be far too broad to be truly effective. Street children are particularly vulnerable and thus deserve particular immediate attention, especially as they have been sidelined for so long. The Committee itself has acknowledged that, unlike children in armed conflict or refugee and asylum-seeking children, the themes chosen for the discussion day, which affect street children so obviously, “have received less sustained attention from a child rights perspective in the context of UN human rights activities”. CSCUK is now calling for that sustained attention. If the Committee is not minded to recommend the naming of a Special Rapporteur, it should consider the appointment of a Special Advisor to the Secretary- General of the United Nations, an office which has been shown to have great effect and flexibility through the work of Graca Machel on children in armed conflict. The emphasis is nevertheless on a sustained, coordinated, holistic and expert examination of the issues affecting street children so as to bring about real change in the lives of millions of children who deserve better, both in terms of freedom from violence - State or otherwise - and in terms of basic provision and protection of their most fundamental rights.