A compilation of extracts from ngo reports to the Committee on the Rights of the Child relating to violence against children This document is an annex to the publication
KUWAIT Middle East & North Africa No report available on the CRIN KYRGYZSTAN
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KUWAITMiddle East & North Africa No report available on the CRIN KYRGYZSTANEurope and Central AsiaCRC Session 37, 13 September - 1 October 2004 Youth Human Rights Group - English www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.37/kyrgyzstan_ngo_report.doc […]
Torture is wide spread. There is wide mistrust of the police. Access of information by civil society is limited. "The government proclaims human rights as a basis of national policy, but in practice it makes no real effort to implement these claims." International law is only defined as "part of national legislation in the Constitution. Government has no rehabilitation program for children who are victims of violence. […]
Only 25% of children in institutioncare do not have parrents; others are so-called 'orphans’. Beating is seen as normal. Abuse and neglect is a serious problem […]
Conditions of care have been so poor in institutions that the inadequate conditions have caused the patients to suffer serious and irreparable harm. […]
collective punishment is often used in orphanages […]
Violation of right to peaceful assembly, 95% of children repport having been assulted in the days following their arrest. False confessions. Police are and judges themselves sexually exploit children. […]
Street children have a hard time finding a safe place to live. Many girls end up in prostitution after instituntional care. LAO PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICEast Asia & Pacific CRC Session 16, 22 September - 10 October 1997 - Save the Children UK – English www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.16/Laos_NGO_Report.pdf […]
Road accidents involving teenagers on motorbikes are very common in Vientiane and urban centres. Observation indicates that the cause is most often reckless driving and/or a failure to enforce traffic regulations and age limits for the use of a motorcycle. Whilst it is difficult to obtain disaggregated figures of accidents involving children and young people it is said that the accident rate/capita is one of the highest in the region. […]
There is lack of appropriate resources to respond to juvenile offenders. Should courts wish to impose a custodial sentence on young people aged between 15-18 years there is no special facility and young people are held in adult prisons where there are few opportunities for separation on the basis of age or gender or to provide therapeutic work. It is our understanding that, as a consequence, Courts are reluctant to make custodial sentences and young offenders are returned to the community for re-education. However, the problems with young people which are now emerging are new and extremely challenging for those officials charged with reeducation. Discussions held at the workshops (mentioned above) have recognised a lack of skills and training to respond to these young people. It is suggested that one result may be that when methods of re-education in the community are not successful the young people are rejected by their families and the Police have few alternatives but to hold the young person (without charge) in police cells. If there is no charge the 72 hour detention limit in the Penal Code does not apply. […]
Sexual Exploitation: In the absence of data it is impossible to show whether the numbers of young people involved in the sex trade is increasing. However, the incidence of these problems in neighbouring countries, the changing expectations and behaviour of young people, the development of a highway infrastructure in the Lao PDR and the length and porous nature of borders (1700 km border with Thailand) must be causes for concern both for Lao children within the country and those who are tempted by promises of work into other countries. Added to this is the expressed concern (above) on the delay and lack of concerted efforts on implementing education and information programmes on the risks of HIV infection. Whilst there have been no extensive studies conducted on sexual mores in the Lao PDR, it is possible that some of the findings in neighbouring countries with regard to the youthfulness of the prostitute and apparent protection against HIV infection would pertain in this country. […]
Latvian Save the Children – English www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/CRC.26/Latvia_ngo_report.pdf […]
Since January, 1997, in "Bulduri" is functioning a Violence Centre ( hereinafter -the Centre) a special rehabilitation department for sexually abused children and for child victims of violence. Unfortunately, the Centre receives no financing from the state budget, its by-laws have not been approved by Welfare Ministry , and rights of the employees of the Centre have not been determined by the law. Currently, the parent suspected of having committed violence against the child can take this child out of the Centre and take him or her back home without any restrictions. For example, in January , 1997, a father of a child, placed in the Centre, came and demanded the child being returned to him, and took this child home, regardless the fact that the mother of the child appealed to the Centre due to suspicions that the father sexually abuses that child. In this case, employees of the Centre had no legal basis to keep the child in the Centre as the father's power of a parent had not been legally suspended or annulled. A parent can be divested of his power over a child in case of existence of substantial evidence proving the fact of sexual abuse (in this case father having sexually abused his daughter). […]
The information gathered by Latvian "Save the Children" and provided by the population suggests that in certain cases the police ignores reports of the people requesting to find out living conditions of a child begging on the streets. However, the police is quite powerless in such situations, because it is impossible to gather all the children beggars, without proper system of social welfare assistance, because the children taken away from the streets are back there in one or two days as, the social reasons pushing him/her to beg have not been averted, and that child has not been placed in an orphanage or a foster family. […]
High-quality medical services are available only to wealthy people against considerable fees which most of the Latvian families are unable to pay. Local doctors do not send children to the central specialized clinics, since in that case the local governments must transfer the money for the treatment of children to Riga, as a result of which the local medical institutions loose these funds. Parents are often unable to bring their children to the best hospitals of Latvia, because they do not have the money to pay for the transportation. Parents are also unable to stay with their children in hospitals, because they cannot pay for they stay. Adequate care for children is not provided in most of the Latvian hospitals if parents are absent. Those children who are not citizens or permanent residents of Latvia, receive only minimum medical aid, which is in contradiction with general human rights. […]
Generally about 80% of children are already living under the subsistence minimum, but life is especially hard for those groups who do not receive the state allowances or receive such allowances in absolutely insufficient amounts. The following groups are unable to provide the necessary means for food and development of their children: single parents, especially if a mother has a child under the age of three; unemployed; -older disabled persons; grandparents; if children are disabled or seriously ill. It is mentioned in the Government's report, what groups receive state allowances, but it is not mentioned that these allowances cover only a small part of their needs. Many people do not have an officially registered residence, and in this case they receive no allowances whatsoever . It is not mentioned in the Government's report that the state allowance for a family with a child covers only about 5-10% of the actually necessary expenditures to support the child. […] In addition to the information included in the Government's report, it should be noted that living conditions of refugees, including children, placed in the temporary camp for the illegal refugees in Latvia, do not correspond to requirements of the international human rights. Latvian "Save the Children" has repeatedly appealed to officials responsible for these issues to ensure that living conditions of the child refugees are improved. […] In Latvia, conditions in penal institutions of juvenile offenders do not comply with the Beijing rules of November 29, 1985 which set the minimum standard requirements of the United Nations respective regulations. The situation has slightly improved since 1991, yet the children placed in penal institutions are still not ensured appropriate health care, and education opportunities are restricted. Treatment of children in such institutions by no way promotes the child's sense of human dignity and self-respect. No measures are taken to reintegrate such children. Actually, after returning from penal institutions the children remain outcasts, they do not receive appropriate social assistance and cannot take up a job, and very often they commit new crimes. […] Latvia 's legislation provides for criminal penalty to a person found guilty in rape or in obscene sexual activities, and for having sexual intercourse with a person under 16 years of age, or seduction of such persons to obscenity. In opinion of Latvian "Save the Children", the legislation is still too vague as to naming criminal activities of persons inducing or using children in unlawful sexual activities. In 1995, Latvian "Save the Children" submitted to the Parliament drafts of appropriate amendments to the Criminal Code on sexual exploitation of children. The proposed amendments have been supported by various Parliamentary committees, yet they have not been considered at the plenary session. The fact that official institutions only recently recognized the existence of sexual exploitation of children and launched research as to how widespread it is, stands behind the delay. Statistical data as to sexual abuse of children in family are not available because many of the families (children and mothers of the children) are hiding facts unwilling to unveil them in public. Upon launching the Emergency Telephone Line project, Latvian "Save the Children" urged children sexually abused within their family, their mothers, grandmothers or neighbors to call the line and tell about their problems. The children have been provided medical and psychological treatment thanks to the Emergency Telephone Line, but in several cases, legal proceedings were initiated. We should note with regret that approach of police and Prosecutor's Office to investigation of cases of sexual abuse of children within family is of formal nature. To illustrate this statement a following example can be mentioned: in 1996, a mother of a child reported to the police that her son-in-law sexually abused her daughter. Basing on evidence of the man who denied the accusations, the police inspector took decision to refuse to initiate a criminal case and instead charged the mother and the daughter for submission of untrue information. The criminal case on the fact of sexual abuse of the girl was filed only after lawyers of Latvian "Save the Children" sent a letter of complaint to the Prosecutor General. Until now the investigation of the criminal case has not been finished and the victim-girl has been repeatedly interrogated about the fact. The fact of sexual exploitation, repeated interrogations, insufficient measures of rehabilitation has left substantial influence to the girl's psychic and physical health. The Prosecutor of Aluksne district has not yet taken a decision on forwarding the concrete criminal case to Court. The above example once more approves that each child should be ensured competent legal assistance to protect his/her rights. At present, Latvian "Save the Children" is the only organization providing legal consultations to children and their parents on rights of the children, two times a week and free of charge. […] Although only about 10-20% of children in the country are practically healthy, adequate food is provided only for 20-30% of children, thousands of children do not attend school and are not even officially registered as being out of school, for thousands of children (10-15) their health and life is endangered in their own families, and there is no real movement under the state policies towards elimination of such gross violations of children’s rights, which is in contradiction with all international standards of human rights. LEBANONMiddle East and North AfricaCRC Session 29, 14 January - 1 February 2002 The Coordination Forum of NGOs working in the Palestinian Community http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.29/lebanon_ngo_report.pdf There was no mention of violence in this report. LESOTHOEastern and Southern Africa CRC Session 26, 8-26 January 2001 National Coalition of Lesotho www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/crc.26/lesotho_ngo_report.doc […] NGOC is concerned that children’s civil and political rights are not protected and are frequently violated by the police and courts. Children have reported cases of illegal detention and abuse by police. Some courts and court officers continue to disregard the UNCRC and even national legislation when dealing with children. National legislation also allows for corporal punishment and for children to be detained for up to three years without having committed any offence and without any legal recourse to appeal. Children have complained that this restricts their freedom of expression and association. […]
NGOs provide accommodation for orphaned, abandoned and abused children but most are inadequately resourced; there is no framework of support or supervision by GOL; and DSW does not appear to be able to provide proper follow up or maintenance for the children they place in NGO care. Most children are placed in the care of NGOs without any proper legal process, system of review or appeal, or mechanism for complaint. Conditions in many residential institutions are poor, due to lack of resources, guidelines, or trained staff. […]
The traditional justice system is quite harsh and allows for physical beatings and abuse. Children are frequently mistreated by the police and detained for excessive periods of time. When children are brought before the courts their rights are usually not understood or respected. Sentences tend to be harsh and children can be detained for up to three years. Many children are detained in adult prisons for long periods of time – on remand, awaiting transfer to JTC or, in the case of girl children, serving sentences. Both JTC and the Probation Unit need to be developed and strengthened and a wider range of sentencing options made available. The Prison Proclamation (1957) needs to be revised urgently to allow JTC staff to adopt a rehabilitative and educational, rather than custodial, role. Separate facilities need to be built to ensure that girl offenders are no longer imprisoned with adult offenders. […] HIV/AIDS pandemic will inevitably increase family breakdown and place more children in a vulnerable situation. […]
Women and Law in Southern Africa’s posters and publications deal with problems of child rape, abuse and domestic violence. They have also cooperated with SC UK and Selibeng to organise public campaigns against child abuse. […]
Anomalies between civil and customary law and differences within civil law between boys and girls creates a lot of confusion about the age at which marriage is allowed and in practice children younger than 16 have been partners in arranged marriages. For some purposes, eg the age at which a person may work for pay outside the family, or the age of sexual consent, a person ceases to be a child at sixteen. Also a girl who marries before the age of eighteen (whatever her age) is regarded as a woman rather than a child. 2. However, under both customary and civil law, a married woman never ceases to be regarded as a minor, under the care and control of her husband. Thus a female who marries never ceases to be a child. Despite this girl children do not receive the same protection under the law eg girls who become pregnant or marry are usually expelled from school. […] GOL and NGOs try to provide care for children in difficulty, but there are many gaps. There is no adequate provision for children in conflict with the law. In practice children are detained in adult district prisons awaiting trial or transfer to JTC. Girls are remanded to, and serve their sentences in, a part of the female prison. In JTC juvenile offenders are mixed in with children whose parents feel they are “out of control,” but who have committed no crime. There are as yet no separate (or adequate) facilities for these children in need of care. There is no government approved school or residential centre for these children other than JTC, and only ad hoc community based arrangements. 2. There is limited budgetary provision for children born to women in prison, and thus they are often dependant on family or NGOs for clothing or food other than the mother’s milk. There are no facilities for care and development of children in the female prison. 3. There are no government operated homes for orphans and abandoned children. NGOs run several orphanages, homes and centres for “street kids.” DSW gives financial support to some, but neither DSW nor NGOs have adequate funding so standards are generally low. The one exception is the SOS Children’s Village, which houses 100 children. […]
There is no adequate provision for children affected by HIV/AIDS, or for AIDS orphans. Child and teen-age pregnancy is a problem that needs addressing. With the increased stress on economic survival, especially in urban areas, young girls resort to prostitution as a source of income. This can leave the child either pregnant or infected with HIV or both. Pregnant children are often expelled from school and often, in panic, either abort illegally or abandon their babies. After identification some children are assaulted to the point of death. There may be no other support systems for them, once expelled from school, so they usually take to the streets. […]
There are too many childhood deaths, many related to malnutrition due to poverty and/or poor cultural feeding practices. A general lack of professionals threatens health care - too many children die of diarrhoea because parents do not know about, or are not able to provide, basic hygiene. […] Sexually abused children have difficulty being heard. They are not encouraged to report what happened, or to speak with a sympathetic adult. For disabled children the situation is even worse. […]
The Lesotho Constitution guarantees all relevant civil and political rights. However, these are not necessarily enforced in relation to children eg detention of children in police stations for more than 48 hours. Detention of those under the age of 18 in JTC, for their “welfare and education”, as allowed by the Constitution directly contravenes Article 37 (b,c & d) of the Convention. […] A major concern related to orphan children is that there is no guarantee that the late parents' property will go to the orphaned child or be used for the benefit of the child. WLSA has received complaints from concerned neighbors that children are being hired out as labourers while guardians are squandering the property left in their care for the benefit of children. No protection for these children exists, and interested parties have no right to speak on their behalf. Most people do not write wills. This leaves children even more unprotected. […] Children gave examples of the many problems that occur when a mother is married to a man other than the child’s biological father. Often stepfathers refuse to provide for a child. NGOs report that these children are often neglected or even thrown out of their homes. There are several current cases of children placed in institutions (JTC, MCV and Ministry of Insured Salvation) because the stepfather did not allow the child to stay at home. Culturally children are identified with their mothers. A man who fathers a child usually does not offer consent of paternity if he is not married to the child’s mother. This brings up property and maintenance issues. Often a woman must choose between her husband and her child. There is no government support for women in this situation, and socially women are powerless. […] The only legal protection instrument is the Child Protection Act (1980) which brackets children that have been abused with those who have committed an offense. The CPA does not correspond to the spirit of the Convention (as stated in the GOL report) and new child protection legislation is required urgently. Also, there is no national strategy on prevention of abuse and neglect. Situation Analysis: 1. Statistics on child abuse are very limited. There are many unreported cases. Selibeng and FIDA indicate that the majority of cases brought to their attention are not reported to the police, for reasons of shame, guilt, threats, or attempts by adults to avoid scandal and stigmatization of the child. Most of the children taking part in the CFG had knowledge or experience of abuse, though many were unclear how abuse was defined. 2. Some cases of abuse and neglect stem from poverty. Regional trends of migration to cities, retrenchment of miners from RSA, unequal distribution of wealth (both on a national scale and in the family setting) and cultural practices all play a part in families’ inability to provide for their children or to protect them from violence. 3. Due to the low status women have in society, mothers often can’t protect children from male relatives and do not have a legal voice to even request assistance. If the mother chooses to leave the husband to protect her child, she usually loses her right to property. […]
Corporal punishment is common in both homes and schools. Sometimes corporal punishment is so severe that children run away from home and seek shelter elsewhere. Law Enforcement and Service Provision : 1. Sentences for offenders who abuse a child is arbitrary, not standard. Punishment is often too lenient for the offense and reflects unwillingness by magistrates and court officers to treat such cases seriously. Research vicarried out by Save the Children UK in the Maseru and Mohale’s Hoek court districts in 1999 showed that many cases of rape against children were downgraded to indecent assault so that local courts could deal with them. Sentencing was inconsistent and inappropriately lenient when compared with sentences issued against children for theft or minor crimes. Cases included rape of a 5 month old infant by a 19 year old man(Sentence: 6 strokes with a light cane); Rape of an 11 year old girl by a 23 year old man (Sentence: $115 fine) Rape of a 16 year old girl by a 27 year old man (Sentence: $40 fine); Rape of an 11 year old girl by a 20 year old man (Sentence: $7 fine or one month’s imprisonment) Compare with theft of one sock by two boys of 16 & 17 (Sentence: $4 fine); Theft of a cap and t-shirt by a 16 year old girl (Sentence: $20 fine); Theft of 50kg of maize and 5 litres of oil by a 16 year old (Sentence: $15 fine) 2. There are no rehabilitation services for those who commit violence against children and there are no GOL services that offer protection and rehabilitation to abused children. Teachers, doctors, community health workers and community leaders all need training in identifying early signs of abuse and referring children to responsible agencies. Parents, neighbors and even abused children themselves come to NGOs involved in assessment, counseling and follow-up because they don’t know who else can address the problem. […] It should be noted that there are children placed at JTC and in the Girls’ Section of the Women’s Prison who are not child offenders but are children in need of care. 6 of the 56 boys at JTC are children in need of care, and 3 of the 11 girls at Women’s Prison are children in need of care. These 9 children are not juvenile offenders. 2. There are also cases of juvenile offenders being sentenced for more than the allowed 3 year period. There is currently a boy at JTC who was sentenced for 5 years. There is supposed to be an automatic review of all cases where juvenile offenders are sentenced for more than 18 months. This process should be initiated by the Senior Clerk of Courts but this does not seem to be occurring; NGOs report cases of children being released after 4 or 5 years without ever having had a review. […] Abandoned, orphaned, abused and neglected children including herd-boys, domestic workers and those affected by HIV/AIDS are still not catered for. […]
Some CFG members complained of inappropriate behaviour by teachers, particularly towards girl pupils, and of excessive corporal punishment. […] Treatment of young offenders by various institutions responsible for administration of justice is often inappropriate and abusive. Community Crime Watchers (Shapa! Shapa!) often treat children very harshly. The same is true of chief’s courts. NGOC reported one situation where a child was tied to a pole for the night after being found guilty by a chief’s court. Police stations do not have separate facilities for children. Children are placed in cells with adults where they are sometimes sodomized, verbally and physically abused, and given very little food. Cases of physical abuse by police were reported by the JTC Children’s Group. Children also reported being held from 3 days to a month, before being brought before the court, despite the fact that the Constitution states that they can only be held for 48 hours. 2. Once a juvenile reaches the Magistrate's Court, there is no guarantee that the proceedings will be held in camera. It is not automatic and sometimes only occurs if the prosecutor or lawyer for the child requests it. Remand hearings are often before a public audience. Children in JTC were not aware that they were entitled to a private hearing. Prosecutors do not necessarily respect children’s rights in court. 3. If a child is placed in JTC, verbal abuse on admission can happen and there have been allegations of physical abuse. However, although the JTC Children had many complaints about being in JTC, they all reported that they are generally well taken care of and are not physically mistreated or held in solitary confinement. However, staff intimated that solitary confinement is an option in JTC. 4. JTC is the only correction/training facility for young offenders. JTC is under the jurisdiction of the Director of Prisons. Currently female juvenile offenders are kept in a separate room at the Women's Prison (though they do attend classes at JTC). They wear the same uniform as adult prisoners and mix with adult prisoners. 5. There are also cases of children being taken to Magistrate's Court by their parents and being placed in JTC without the involvement of the Probation Unit. 6 of the 56 boys detained at JTC and 3 of the 11 girls held in the Women’s Prison have committed no crime. 6. All the children at JTC complained that three years detention is too long and that it encourages criminality, especially as this is expected after release. Children also complained that many children are innocent of the crimes of which they are convicted but do not know how to defend themselves against police allegations or charges in court. Directory: docs docs -> Application for acem docs -> Observational Assessment of Teaching Practices Teaching Assessment Initiative Proposal Submitted to The Teachers for a New Era project docs -> Traditional British values docs -> From Warfighters to Crimefighters: The Origins of Domestic Police Militarization docs -> Borzoi Club of America Register of Merit Program I. What is a Register Of Merit docs -> Protecting the rights of the child in the context of migration docs -> United Nations E/C. 12/Esp/5 docs -> 9th May 1950 the schuman declaration docs -> Getting To Outcomes® in Services for Homeless Veterans 10 Steps for Achieving Accountability Download 4.33 Mb. Share with your friends:
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