CRC/C/OPAC/PRT/CO/1
Below is a short summary of some of the key issues from the Committee on the Rights of the Child's 65th session concluding observations for Portugal’s initial report on the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC). Read the full text, and you can find other documents related to the Committee's 65th session (including alternative reports submitted by NGOs and the Committee's concluding observations for other States reviewed in this session) on the Committee’s 65th session page. Please note that these are not official UN summaries.
Military schools: Although the Ministry of Education defines the basic school curricula and courses of the military schools, the Committee is concerned that students below 18 years of age, remain under the control of the Ministry of Defence and under the responsibility of the army. Furthermore, although children do not receive weapon training, the Committee is concerned that military training is mandatory in the Colégio Militar and that military discipline is included in the curricula of children as young as 10 years old. The Committee recommends that the Ministry of Education be given supervision of military schools and that child students of the Colégio Militar are both enrolled as civilians until they turn 18 years and exempted from mandatory military training.
Recruitment and use of children: The Committee notes as positive the adaptation of legislation to criminalise the recruitment and use of children under 18 in armed forces, military or paramilitary forces of a State, or in armed groups or their use in hostilities when committed during an international or non-international armed conflict. However, the Committee recommends reviewing legislation to ensure that the recruitment of children is also criminalised during peacetime and that the recruitment and use of children by private military and security companies is explicitly criminalised.
Migrant children - identification: Given the increasing number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children from conflict-affected countries are entering the State party, the Committee is concerned about the lack of mechanisms for early identification of children who might have been recruited or used in armed conflict abroad. The Committee urges the State party to establish an identification mechanism for asylum-seeking, refugee or migrant children, who may have been involved in armed conflict abroad, and to ensure that personnel responsible for such identification are trained on children’s rights, child protection and child-sensitive interviewing skills.
Migrant children - rehabilitation: The Committee urges the State party to ensure that all refugee and asylum-seeking children who may have been recruited or used in hostilities have the right access to adequate physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration measures. The Committee recommends expanding the provision of special centres for unaccompanied, refugee and asylum-seeking children beyond the Lisbon area.
