[child-rights] CRC 32nd Session: Review of report by Czech Republic

UNITED NATIONS
Press Release

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xxxxxxxxxxCOMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD REVIEWS REPORT OF THE CZECH 
REPUBLICxxxxxxxxxx

CRC
32nd session
24 January 2003

The Committee on the Rights of the Child reviewed today a second
periodic report of the Czech Republic, questioning a national
delegation on how the country was giving effect to the provisions of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Introducing the report, Jan Jarab, Government Commissioner for Human
Rights of the Czech Republic, said the country had aimed at
progressive improvement in human rights since it had come into being
as an independent State in January 1993. In 1998, he added, the
Government had established a national Human Rights Council.

Responding to questions put by Committee members, the Government
delegation said among other things that current legal provisions did
not give adequate protection against discrimination, and the
Government was contemplating submitting a draft law to Parliament to
give better protection to individuals, including children, against
any form of discrimination; that the Government was considering steps
to reduce the rate of road accidents, particularly those affecting
children; and that the Government was providing every opportunity to
Roma children to voluntarily integrate themselves into Czech society,
including through preparatory classes in elementary schools.

The Committee will issue its formal conclusions and recommendations
on the report of the Czech Republic before the end of its three-week
session on 31 January.

Other members of the Czech delegation were Alexander Slaby,
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the
United Nations Office at Geneva; Radim Bures, of the Ministry of the
Interior; Jiri Kapr and Jiri Pilar, of the Ministry of Education;
Vera Novotna, of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs; Vit
Schorm, of the Ministry of Justice; Petra Skopova, of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs; Alena Steflova, of the Ministry of Health; Martina
Stepankova, of the Council of the Government for Human Rights; and
Ivana Schellongova, Second Secretary of Permanent Mission of the
Czech Republic in Geneva.

The Czech Republic, as one of 191 States parties to the Convention on
the Rights of the Child, must present periodic reports to the
Committee on the status and well being of the country's children.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. Monday, 27 January, it will
take up an initial report of Haiti (document CRC/C/51/Add.7).

Second Periodic Report of Czech Republic

The report (document CRC/C/83/Add.4), describes activities to
implement the provisions of the Convention since the State party's
initial report was considered in September 1997. It also enumerates
developments in recent related to children and to the promotion and
protection of child rights.

The report reviews legal provisions put in place and gives detailed
information on the State party's cooperation with non-governmental
organizations working in the areas of child protection and the
promotion of rights. Measures taken by the Government to promote the
best interests of the child, non-discrimination, the right to life,
survival and development, and respect for the views of the child are
also described in the report.

Introduction

JAN JARAB, Government Commissioner for Human Rights of the Czech
Republic, said the country had been engaged in an ongoing process
which aimed at enhancement of the protection of human rights ever
since it had come into being as an independent State in January 1993.
Children constituted a major category of vulnerable individuals
requiring special protection. Various categories of children were
doubly vulnerable or disadvantaged by reason of being in
institutional care, suffering from mental or physical disorders, or
having other difficulties.

Since 1998, the Government had taken significant measures in the area
of human rights protection and promotion through the creation of a
Human Rights Council, Mr. Jarab said. The Council, in turn, had set
up a Committee on the Rights of the Child as one of its working
committees. Members of principal non-governmental organizations were
represented on the committee, together with Government deputy
ministers. The establishment in 2000 of a Office of Public Defender
of Rights --- or Ombudsman -- had contributed to the enforcement of
human rights protection, including in the sphere of the rights of the
child.

Mr. Jarab said a process of change in domestic legislation was
currently under way in the Republic, reflecting the obligations
stemming from international treaties in the area of human rights,
including the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Several
substantial amendments had been carried out to the Czech Family Act,
the Act on Social and Legal Protection of Children, and the
Institutional, Protective and Preventive Act.

Recent developments included ratification of the 1993 Hague
Convention on inter-country adoption and of the Optional Protocol to
the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of
Children in Armed Conflict. The ratification process concerning the
Convention's Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child
Prostitution and Pornography was under way. Besides institutional and
legislative developments, policies and practical approaches were also
gradually changing in many areas.

Discussion

Committee Experts raised numerous questions under the main subjects
of general measures of the implementation of the provisions of the
Convention, and the legal definition of the child. The questions
focused among other things on the coordination of the activities
addressing children; violence against children in the family and in
school; implementation of the law on the establishment of an
inter-ministerial committee; child labour; dissemination of
information and training on the provisions of the Convention; data
collection on children; the existence of a national action plan on
children; the responsibilities of municipalities towards children's
rights; and results of judicial debates concerning the best interests
of children.

Responding to the questions, members of the Czech Republic said among
other things that the Government was in the process of creating a
decentralized structure of services with regard to child rights. The
Committee on the Rights of the Child, which was created by the Human
Rights Council, was acting as coordinator for child rights
activities. However, there was no central authority responsible for
overall coordination of policies concerning protection of the rights
of the child and authorized to access all relevant statistical data
and other information.

The Ombudsman had the mandate to evaluate complaints received while
the Human Rights Council was related to the executive branch of
Government in terms of contributing to the realization of legislative
proposals and other actions, the delegation said. The Ombudsman was
an independent office whose head was elected by Parliament. The
Council was composed of representatives of civil society, deputy
Government ministers, and representatives of non-governmental
organizations.

The country's Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms was part of
the Constitutional order of the Republic, the delegation said. The
Charter had the force of a Constitutional statute, and other laws
were required to be in accordance with it. The content of certain
articles of the Convention corresponded to provisions of the Charter.
However, in the event a clash occurred between the Constitution and
the Convention, the Convention would take precedence.

Children aged between 12 and 15 were not liable for crimes they
committed, the delegation said. Although there had been a debate to
reduce the age limit for criminal responsibility, the Government had
maintained the existing law. Under section 11 of the Criminal Code, a
person who had not reached the age of 15 at the time of committing a
crime was not criminally accountable.

The Government would maintain its reservation on article 7 of the
Convention, the delegation said. The Government believed that in
cases of irrevocable adoptions, which were based on the principle of
anonymity of such adoptions, the non-communication of natural
parents' names to the child was not in contradiction with the
provision. The adopting parents replaced the biological parents of
the child, and the child had no right to know his or her natural
parents.

Committee Experts went on pose questions on the main issues of the
general principles of the Convention; civil rights and freedoms; and
family environment and alternative care. Questions were raised, among
other things, about the number of social-service workers; preparatory
classes for Roma children; the situation of disabled children; the
status of stateless children in institutions; the role of the
Parliamentary commission on the family; the number of child-care
institutions; the status of the extended family; discrimination
against Roma and foreign children; the lack of legal provisions
against the corporal punishment; the rate of road accidents; and the
length of the legal divorce process.

Responding, the Czech delegation said among other things that current
legal provisions did not give adequate protection against
discrimination, and the Government was contemplating submitting a
draft law to Parliament to give better protection to individuals
against any form of discrimination. Nor was there a mechanism for
monitoring discrimination in the country.

The Government was seriously considering additional measures against
road accidents, particularly those in which children were affected,
the delegation said. A legal measure would be added to correct
drivers' behaviour, in addition to a series of steps for protection
of children from road accidents. Speed limits would also be regulated
to prevent accidents.

Rehabilitation programmes for victims of violence were carried out by
State institutions and NGOs, the delegation said. Counselling centres
had also been set up to assist victims of violence. The police were
trained in handling victims and in dealing with perpetrators of
crimes against children.

There was no special provision on the prohibition of corporal
punishment, the delegation said. Only cases of physical injury to
persons were considered as crimes, and they were punishable.

After the breakup of Czechoslovakia, there had been some individuals
who did not opt for the citizenship of either of the States, the
delegation said. At present, there were 10,000 individuals in the
country who had not decide on either Czech or Slovak citizenship.
Thus they lived without any status. Refugees crossing Czech territory
without documentation were considered to be stateless in accordance
with the State's legal definition.

The question of the Roma community in the Czech Republic was an issue
of integration and not assimilation, as had been attempted in the
past, the delegation. The Government was providing every opportunity
to Roma children to voluntarily integrate themselves into Czech
society through the acceptance of its rules and regulations. The
process of integration had been made easier for those willing to
benefit from the new system. Roma children were involving themselves
more and more in the country's educational system. Preparatory
classes in elementary schools for Roma and socially disadvantaged
children had been most successful. A high percentage of preparatory
class graduates were successful at the beginning of their attendance
in elementary school.

Committee Experts posed further questions on the main subjects of
basic health and welfare; education, leisure and cultural activities;
and special protection measures, focusing among other things on
breastfeeding and the absence of a legal provision on commercial
standards for substitute milk products; commercial sexual
exploitation of children; trafficking of Czech children to other
European countries; the situation of German sex tourism to the Czech
Republic; non-completion of compulsory education and an absence of
data on school dropouts; detention of minors in adult prisons; the
implementation of a programme against bullying in schools; and
measures against teachers who perpetrated violence against students.

Responding, the delegation said among other things that children
might be found in detention centres whose parents were awaiting
expulsion to their countries of origin. Many of those individuals
were asylum-seekers whose cases had been rejected and who were being
subjected to expulsion by court decisions. Unaccompanied children
were not expelled, and they received special treatment from the
Government.

Juveniles under the age of 18 were kept in a separate prison
department with a special regime and equipment, the delegation said.
The staff included a tutor, special educator and a social welfare
worker. Juveniles remanded in custody were kept in remand prisons and
special prison departments for detainees awaiting trial. There were
13 remand prisons and 6 prisons with special custody departments; and
there were no established rules on the capacity of juvenile detention
facilities. A draft bill on the criminal liability of children and on
the judicial system in matters of juvenile delinquency was currently
being formulated.

There was no significant figure on trafficking of children, the
delegation said. There had been only 15 and 4 cases registered in
2001 and 2002, respectively. The Government had established a common
monitoring mechanism with the Government of Germany on the issue. The
principle of extraterritoriality of crime had been implemented
against Czech citizens who committed crimes abroad.

Preliminary Concluding Remarks

ELIZABETH TIGERSTEDT-TAHTELA, the Committee Expert who served as
country rapporteur for the report of the Czech Republic, said the
dialogue with the Government delegation had broadened the Committee's
view of the implementation of the provisions of the Convention in the
country. Children should be protected in many situations, and should
be considered as individuals with dignity and having their own
opinions. They should also participate in matters concerning their
development.

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