10 April 2003: CRINMAIL 463 Contents: Special Edition on Child Rights at the Commission on Human Rights *********************************************************************************** - COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: Statement by Mr. Jakob Egbert Doek Chairperson, Committee on the Rights of the Child [statement] - COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: Report by Juan Miguel Petit, Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography [report] - RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: An Omnibus Resolution on the Rights of the Child [background information] - CHILDREN'S HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUS: Documents and Reports of the Subgroup on the Commission on Human Rights [reports] - VIOLENCE: UN Study on Violence Against Children [update] *********************************************************************************** Your submissions are welcome if you are working in the area of child rights. To contribute, email us at info@crin.org. Please note that we are unable to respond to emails addressed to crinmail_english@domeus.co.uk Adobe Acrobat is required for viewing some of the documents, and if required can be downloaded from www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html ************************************************************************************ - COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: Statement by Mr. Jakob Egbert Doek Chairperson, Committee on the Rights of the Child [statement] [Geneva, 9 April 2003] - "? On behalf of the CRC Committee I like to thank the UN Commission for this opportunity to brief its members on some of the recent and most important developments regarding the implementation and monitoring of the CRC. This opportunity is particularly welcome because the CRC Committee is very much aware of and highly appreciates the Commission's support for the realization of children's rights. Just as an example and an important one, I like to refer to the support of your Commission for the recommendation of the CRC Committee to the General Assembly to ask the Secretary General to conduct an international study on violence against children. The Committee received with great satisfaction the information that Mr. Pinheiro has been appointed as the international expert for this study. Violence against children is wide spread, happens in all States Parties to the CRC and is committed not only by strangers or State's agents, but also by parents and other care takers, persons the children depend upon for their healthy and harmonious development. The CRC committee intends to be involved in this study and supports Mr. Pinheiro as much as possible. The Committee also counts on your Commission's ongoing interest in and support for this international effort to develop the most effective ways and means to prevent, reduce and ultimately eliminate all forms of violence against children. Since the last session of your Commission the CRC has adopted two General Comments, one on the Role of Independent National Human Rights Institutions in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child (CRC/GC/2002/2; 15 November 2002) and on HIV/AIDS and the rights of children (CRC/GC/2003/3; 12 March 2003). The Committee also discussed the proposals of the Secretary General for reform of the reporting and monitoring of Human Rights. The suggestion to introduce the possibility of submitting one single or omnibus report, raises many questions which need a full and in depth consideration to assess the viability of such report. The CRC Committee fully agrees with the Secretary General - and many others - that improvements of the efficiency and effect of the existing Human Rights reporting and monitoring system is necessary and should be dealt with as a matter of urgency." [source: OHCHR. For the full statement, go to the following link and select 'statements': http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/NewsRoom?OpenFrameSet] --------------------------------------------------- - COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS: Report by Juan Miguel Petit, Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography [report] Juan Miguel Petit, the Commission's Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, writes in the document that the treatment of child victims of trafficking, especially when they are placed in protective custody, has a punitive effect. "Apart from the injustice of treating exploited children as criminals", he states, "there are other serious consequences for children. Being part of a legal process is traumatic for any child, but when the child in question is considered to be in conflict with the law and possibly subject to penal sanctions, this trauma is compounded". In some cases, states the Special Rapporteur, sex offence legislation is discriminatory. Laws only recognize the rape, sexual exploitation or prostitution of females, leaving boys with no legal protection. Some legislation criminalizes underage sex with members of the opposite sex, which means that where the act is performed with children of the same sex, the child is not protected. The Special Rapporteur notes that awareness about trafficking, child sexual abuse and exploitation is increasing in many regions of the world, and many States have recently introduced new strategies and legislative amendments to tackle these problems. Penalties for those trafficking other persons are becoming stiffer and criminal liability for crimes against children generally is being strengthened. The report focuses on the legal consequences of the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, particularly on the criminalization of child victims, and recent national policy and legislative developments to address these concerns. It also focuses briefly on illegal or coercive adoptive practices which have the effect of selling a child, and on HIV/AIDS. [source: OHCHR. For the full story and for the report, go to: http://www.ohchr.org/news/childsum.htm] ----------------------------------------------- - RIGHTS OF THE CHILD: An Omnibus Resolution on the Rights of the Child [background information] There are numerous occasions when the rights of the child are addressed at the meeting. They are dealt with as a specific item of discussion and an "omnibus resolution" on the rights of the child is adopted every year. This resolution began as a combination of separate resolutions. Previously a number of resolutions on specific issues affecting children were introduced by the country most concerned about the issue. These included children living and working on the street, sexual exploitation of children and children affected by armed conflict. Concerned about the "proliferation" of resolutions pertaining to children, in 1994 the Commission decided to bring together all the issues in an omnibus resolution. It was initially intended that the omnibus resolution would not only consolidate the many resolutions on children's rights but also would be rationalised and shortened. Although there have been some attempts to streamline the resolution, at the same time the resolution has continued to grow through the inclusion of new issues. This growth has often occurred on an ad hoc basis rather than in response to a clear, coherent overarching structure and purpose. The resolution adopted by consensus at the 58th session was co-sponsored by 104 countries and, although still very long, contains strong language, including many of the issues that NGOs have pushed for, such as the appointment of an independent expert to carry out the study on violence against children, the fact that the 'Convention on the Rights of the Child [?] and other relevant human rights instruments must constitute the standard in the promotion and protection of the rights of the child', a call to 'abolish by law as soon as possible the death penalty for those under 18 at the time of the commission of the offence'. This year's resolution is currently being negotiated. A draft resolution should be available shortly. To view previous resolutions adopted by the Commission on Human Rights, go to: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/unchr.htm [source: subgroup on the Commission on Human Rights and CRIN] ------------------------------------------- - CHILDREN'S HUMAN RIGHTS CAUCUS: Documents and Reports of the Subgroup on the Commission on Human Rights [reports] The subgroup on the Commission on Human Rights brings together NGOs willing to promote the rights of the child at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The subgroup aims to ensure that this important international human rights mechanism addresses the specific rights and situations of children worldwide in its regular work and annual sessions on human rights. By advocating for the inclusion of its concerns into the Commission's resolutions, the NGO community can further ensure better support and coherence between international politics and local realities affecting the realisation of children's rights. The subgroup on the UN Commission on Human Rights works in close partnership with all the thematic subgroups of the NGO Group for the CRC, to enable their participation in the plans and events of the subgroup during the Commission. The subgroup also has regular consultation with member States, special rapporteurs and the Committee on the Rights of the Child, to promote mutual information sharing and dialogue in support of promoting children's rights within the work of the Commission. The subgroup hosts a special interest group called the Children's Human Rights Caucus during the Commission. Documents and report of panels and briefings issued by the Caucus are available on the CRIN website in both word and pdf format. Themes include children in Palestine, minimum age of criminal responsibility, girl soldiers and a briefing with Theo Van Boven, Special Rapporteur on Torture. ? Morning briefings in Word: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/subgroup-CHR-Caucus-briefing.doc; and pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/subgroup-CHR-Caucus-briefing.pdf ? Report from lunch panels in Word: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/subgroup-CHR-Lunch-Panels.doc; and pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/subgroup-CHR-Lunch-Panels.pdf ? Sessional reports in Word: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/subgroup-CHR-Sessional-Reports.doc; and pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/subgroup-CHR-Sessional-Reports.pdf ? High Level Segment in Word: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/subgroup-CHR-High-Level-Segment.doc; and pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/subgroup-CHR-High-Level-Segment.pdf For more information about the 59th Session, go to: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/treaties/unchr.htm For more information about the Subgroup on the Commission on Human Rights, go to: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/subgroup-CHR.htm ------------------------------------------------ - VIOLENCE: UN Study on Violence Against Children [update] Paulo Pinheiro, the expert newly appointed to carry out the UN Study on Violence Against Children over the two coming years, participated in two separate events with NGOs during the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva last week. The first event was a panel presentation together with the supporting UN agencies (OHCHR, WHO, UNICEF), the chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, and a representative of the NGO Subgroup on Children and Violence. The second was a closed-door two-hour informal meeting with NGOs. In both meetings, he expressed his intention to work closely with the NGO community on the study. A summary of the panel discussion is available on the CRIN website in Word: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/NGOCHR-Violence-Panel-April2003.doc; and pdf: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/NGOCHR-Violence-Panel-April2003.pdf For more information about the Subgroup, visit: http://www.crin.org/docs/resources/publications/NGOCRC/subgroup-violence.htm [source: subgroup on Violence against Children] ************************************************************************************* The CRINMAIL is an electronic mailing list of the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN). CRIN does not accredit, validate or substantiate any information posted by members to the CRINMAIL. The validity and accuracy of any information is the responsibility of the originator.
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