Concludes Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights and Starts Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children
The Human Rights Council this afternoon held the second part of its annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child with a panel discussion on family reunification in the context of armed conflict and counter terrorism. The Council also concluded an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights and started an interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children.
A video on family reunification in the context of armed conflict was played at the beginning of the panel discussion.
Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said conflict was one of the major drivers of family separation. The risk for children to be recruited and used by conflict parties was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the deteriorating security situation in some contexts. The international community must ensure that a child rights-based approach was taken when dealing with children associated or allegedly associated with armed groups. No matter what the context, every person under 18 years of age was considered a child under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Cornelius Williams, Director of Child Protection for the United Nations Children’s Fund, said that unaccompanied and separated children were among the most vulnerable children in the world. Governments should provide social support, case work, and inclusive educational and livelihood opportunities, and develop legal and policy frameworks that supported family resilience and prevented separation. States should prioritise the safe and swift handover of any child they encountered during counter terrorism or military operations to child protection actors instead of placing them in detention.
Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, said her mandate increasingly addressed issues related to the rights of the child as it intersected with countering terrorism, violent extremism and broader security policies and measures. According to international law, States must treat children, including children related to or associated with designated terrorist groups, primarily as victims when devising responses, including counter-terrorism responses.
Helen Durham, Director of International Law and Policy, International Committee of the Red Cross, said that being separated from your loved ones as war unfurled around you was a terrifying reality for thousands of children. International humanitarian law contained obligations that sought to ensure that when a child was separated from their family in armed conflict, their needs were met. These obligations also sought to maintain or restore contact and ultimately achieve the reunification of family members when possible. Better respect for these rules would help stem harm to the children.
In the discussion, speakers agreed that the family was the optimal environment to raise children, therefore a united or reunited family was indispensable. Children had the right to live in healthy families and family reunification was a sine qua non condition for the proper growth of a child. Speakers condemned the recruitment of children in armed groups and during conflicts. Armed conflicts and terrorism prevented the enjoyment of human rights of citizens, and children were particularly at risk. The protection of women and children in those contexts was paramount as girls were impacted differently and disproportionately by armed conflict.
Speaking in the discussion were the European Union, Portugal on behalf of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries, Qatar, Ghana, Azerbaijan, Cuba, UN Women, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Venezuela, Russian Federation, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
Also speaking were Save the Children International, Plan International, Amnesty International, Beijing Children’s Legal Aid and Research Centre, and China Soong Ching Ling Foundation.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Council concluded its interactive dialogue with Alexandra Xanthaki, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights. The interactive dialogue started on Tuesday, 8 March and a summary can be found here and here.
In the discussion with the Special Rapporteur on cultural rights, speakers said that the situation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip impeded Palestinians from enjoying their cultural rights. Member States should recognise the unlawful destruction of Palestinian heritage. Others said the importance of women in upholding culture should be recognised. The pandemic had seriously affected the enjoyment of cultural rights by indigenous peoples and communities.
In her concluding remarks, Ms. Xanthaki said that she was paying particular attention to linguistic and cultural minorities. She would also focus on the link between cultural rights and sustainable development. Cultural rights were important because they acted as resources of the past but they should not be stuck in the past as they evolved as societies and communities evolved. They were not static, they evolved according to the wishes of the individuals and the communities.
Speaking were the following non-governmental organizations: Al- Haq, Law at the Service of Man, Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme, and Association for the Defence of Human Rights and the Cultural Rights of the Azerbaijani People.
The Council then started an interactive discussion with Mama Fatima Singhateh, Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children.
Ms. Singhateh said that one of the key challenges to addressing the sale and sexual exploitation of children at the national level was the inadequate implementation of existing laws and policies. From the contributions received, in terms of preventing the sale and sexual exploitation of children, besides having an adequate legal and policy framework in place, education and awareness-raising were the most frequent measures mentioned. What was often lacking was a systemic and comprehensive approach to such prevention measures and the lack of nationwide coverage. Preventing the sale and sexual exploitation of children therefore required a strong and sustained national commitment, coupled with meaningful community involvement and programmes to establish viable alternatives for children and families at risk. She spoke about her country visit to Montenegro.
Montenegro spoke as a country concerned.
In the ensuing discussion, speakers shared concerns regarding States without robust legal frameworks to incorporate new trends in child protection. The international community had to work harder to support national efforts to eliminate child sale, prostitution, trafficking and pornography. Addressing the sale and abuse of children required a strong national effort, combined with efforts aimed at supporting the family structure, in order to eliminate risks at the earliest possible level. Adequate implementation and safeguard measures should be put in place to ensure that children did not fall through the gaps in infrastructure that could exist.
Speaking on the sale and sexual exploitation of children were: European Union, Uruguay (on behalf of a group of countries), Latvia (on behalf of a group of countries), China (on behalf of a group of countries), Paraguay, Egypt, Philippines, Israel, UN Women, Libya, Fiji, United Nations Children’s Fund, Venezuela, France, Malaysia, Iraq, Cuba, India and Luxembourg.
Speaking in right of reply were: Armenia, Cuba and Azerbaijan
The webcast of the Human Rights Council meetings can be found here. All meeting summaries can be found here. Documents and reports related to the Human Rights Council’s forty-ninth regular session can be found here.
The Council will next meet at 9 a.m. on Thursday, 10 March to hold a panel discussion on access to COVID-19 vaccines. It will then conclude its interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, and hold an interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt.
Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights
The interactive dialogue with Alexandra Xanthaki, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, started on Tuesday, 8 March and a summary can be found here and here.
Discussion
In the discussion with the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, some speakers said that the situation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip impeded Palestinians from enjoying their cultural rights. Member States should recognise the unlawful destruction of Palestinian heritage. Others said the importance of women in upholding culture should be recognised. The pandemic had seriously affected the enjoyment of cultural rights by indigenous peoples and communities. States should increase the budgets for culture – there should be sustainable solutions for development programmes for cultural rights for minorities in the case of future pandemics, and for how countries suffering from climate change could better defend their heritage.
Concluding Remarks
ALEXANDRA XANTHAKI, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, said she was paying particular attention to linguistic and cultural minorities. She would also focus on the link between cultural rights and sustainable development. She had taken note of the discussion on the danger of nuclear testing and danger in general. Cultural rights were important because they acted as resources of the past but they should not be stuck in the past as they evolved as societies and communities evolved. It was important to use them in order to build the present. They were not static, they evolved according to the wishes of the individuals and the communities.
Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children, including Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and other Child Sexual Abuse Material
Documentation
The Council has before it (A/HRC/49/51) report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children on a practical approach to addressing the sale and sexual exploitation of children as well as (A/HRC/49/51 Add.1) on her mission to Montenegro.
Presentation of Reports
MAMA FATIMA SINGHATEH, Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material, said her annual thematic report entitled a practical approach to addressing the sale and sexual exploitation of children was a study that provided a set of concrete measures and good practices collected from across the world, to tackle the sale of children for the purpose of child marriage and the sexual exploitation of children in prostitution, in the context of travel and tourism, and online. She would also be presenting the report on her country visit to Montenegro in September 2021.
Her annual report was addressed in the context of prevention, protection and rehabilitation services. There was no gainsaying that there existed a wealth of international and regional instruments as well as literature aimed at promoting the rights of children and protecting them from all forms of violence, including sale and sexual exploitation. However, the incidences of the sale, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children continued to increase and many child victims did not receive adequate support. One of the key challenges to addressing the sale and sexual exploitation of children at the national level was the inadequate implementation of the existing laws and policies. This report therefore offered a more practical approach to addressing this problem to ensure the effective implementation of prevention, protection and rehabilitation measures for children.
From the contributions received, in terms of preventing the sale and sexual exploitation of children, besides having an adequate legal and policy framework in place, education and awareness-raising were the most frequent measures mentioned by States and other stakeholders as good practices. However, what was often lacking was a systemic and comprehensive approach to such prevention measures and the lack of nationwide coverage. Preventing the sale and sexual exploitation of children therefore required a strong and sustained national commitment, coupled with meaningful community involvement and programmes to establish viable alternatives for children and families at risk.
With regard to the protection of children from sale and sexual exploitation, the numerous examples of good practices related to the training of professionals, the importance of closing the gap between the number of offences, of prosecutions undertaken and of convictions handed down for sexual offences against children, as well as treating children as victims, never as culprits. Other protection measures reported consisted of international cooperation.
The Special Rapporteur encouraged States to promote and support the adoption of a child protection policy in all public and private sectors and entities working with, for, or in contact with children. States were also encouraged to take a more sustainable perspective in regard to justice and rehabilitation services by providing yearly budgetary allocations for child victims in order to ensure that no child was left behind and that concrete and practical measures and services were available and accessible to all children as well as guaranteeing a child friendly, trauma informed approach to justice, support and rehabilitation of child victims of sale and sexual exploitation.
With regard to her mission to Montenegro, the Special Rapporteur commended the Government of Montenegro for significant efforts, despite a lack of reliable, centralised, and disaggregated data on the phenomena of child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation which made it difficult to determine the nature and prevalence of the problem. However, she had learned that child sexual exploitation and abuse was most prevalent among children belonging to marginalised communities. There was therefore the need for the Government of Montenegro to continue investing in social, economic and other measures, particularly for marginalised communities.
Statement of Country Concerned
Montenegro, speaking as the country concerned, thanked the Special Rapporteur for her visit to Montenegro, and commended her for her open and professional commitment. The report was constructive, and its recommendations helpful. Montenegro was consistently working to improve the human rights in its country, and cooperated with all Special Procedures, strengthening cooperation with civil society and other partners. Montenegro had adopted a number of strategies and protocols, including on forced early marriages. The authorities were committed to continuing to develop the legislative and institutional frameworks and ensure that policies were in place to implement them. Much of the national legislative framework was in line with international human rights instruments. Nevertheless, further measures needed to be taken to streamline implementation.
Montenegro was mindful that the complex nature of sexual abuse required a holistic and multi-disciplinary approach to rehabilitate the victims of this scourge, and the Government was taking steps in that regard. The Special Rapporteur’s general finding was that Montenegro had made significant efforts to improve its protection for children against violence and sexual exploitation, nevertheless, there was still work to be done, and Montenegro would continue to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in order to ensure effective implementation of the measures.
Discussion
In the ensuing discussion, Speakers highlighted the importance of a multidisciplinary approach on all levels and shared concerns regarding States without robust legal frameworks to incorporate new trends in child protection. It was of great importance to have tools that allowed for the active involvement of children as well as proper training for anyone who came in contact with children. Children must be protected and allowed to enjoy their fundamental rights. Adequate implementation and safeguard measures should be put in place to ensure that children did not fall through the gaps in infrastructure that could exist. The pandemic had had negative effects on children’s safety online, as they had spent more time in front of computers. The sustained effect of the pandemic on sexual exploitation online was of particular concern.
Speakers strongly condemned the sale of children and committed at all levels to eradicate it. The sale of children, aided by new technologies, continued to rise. Children should be educated about acceptable and non-acceptable acts, both online and offline. Child sexual exploitation had also become more prevalent during the pandemic. Child victims and survivors should be given access to justice, whilst avoiding secondary victimisation. Many children were trafficked into sweatshops, domestic work, or enforced prostitution, and the effects of this stayed with them for life. Hate crimes and racism had exacerbated trafficking. All States should combat trafficking, and bring the perpetrators to justice. There should be zero tolerance for trafficking in children.
The report contained a broad range of tools to protect and prevent children from being the victims of trafficking and sale, as well as measures for protecting the most vulnerable. States should have a robust political and legislative framework, but also include new trends, which were necessary in the accelerating digital world, as well as a national systemic approach to all aspects of the issue. Proper training should be provided for anyone in contact with children. The international community had to work harder to support national efforts to eliminate child sale, prostitution, trafficking and pornography. The dialogue with the Special Rapporteur should be spread through all levels of society, including civil society organizations, faith-based organizations, and educational institutions, in order to ensure that all parts of society were brought in to combat the scourge. Addressing the sale and abuse of children required a strong national effort, combined with efforts aimed at supporting the family structure, in order to eliminate risks at the earliest possible level.
Annual Full-Day Meeting on the Rights of the Child Panel Discussion on the Rights of the Child and Family Reunification, with a Focus on Family Reunification in the Context of Armed Conflict and Counter Terrorism Statements by Panellists
VIRGINIA GAMBA, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said conflict was one of the major drivers of family separation. Children were the most vulnerable victims of conflict and at risk of suffering multiple violations and abuses of their rights, including for instance separation from their parents or caregivers because of child abduction and/or recruitment and use by parties to conflict. Conflict-affected children were also frequently victims of transnational crimes and were recruited, abducted, and trafficked across borders, making family tracing and reunification even more challenging. The latest report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict published in May 2021 reported a 90 per cent increase in the number of abducted children. Abductions were often carried out in conjunction with child recruitment and use by armed forces and groups or rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated against them. The risk for children to be recruited and used by conflict parties was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the deteriorating security situation in some contexts.
The international community must ensure that a child rights-based approach was taken when dealing with children associated or allegedly associated with armed groups, including those designated as terrorist groups by the United Nations. No matter what the context, every person under 18 years of age was considered a child under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This status as a child provided boys and girls with specific rights and protection under international law. Amongst the rights they held, children should not be detained merely because of their alleged association with armed groups, including those designated as terrorist groups by the United Nations, as alternatives to detention should always be prioritised. Those principles must be the basis of any policy and action related to children. In the case of judicial or administrative proceedings affecting children, their opinion must be heard in accordance with their age and maturity. To effectively uphold the best interests of children released or otherwise separated from armed forces or groups, including those designated as terrorist groups by the United Nations, they should be handed over swiftly to civilian child protection actors.
CORNELIUS WILLIAMS, Director of Child Protection for the United Nations Children’s Fund, said that during armed conflicts, mass population displacements, mixed-migration contexts, and other humanitarian crises, children were at risk of separation from their families. Unaccompanied and separated children were among the most vulnerable children in the world, often deprived of basic care and access to essential services. Having lost the protection of their families, they were at risk of physical and psychological harm, abduction, trafficking, and recruitment or use by armed forces or armed groups, sexual abuse and exploitation, and permanent loss of their identity and nationality, among other rights. In 2020, the United Nations Children’s Fund and its partners registered over 180,000 unaccompanied and separated children for support across the world. From a gender perspective, there were more adolescent boys than girls living without parental care. This was true because, due to social and cultural norms, girls were often kept closer to the family, while boys were sent to migrate internally or across borders, to work or to study. It was also true because boys, more often than girls, were recruited and used by armed forces or armed groups, including designated terrorist groups. In this context, the United Nations Children’s Fund was deeply concerned that children’s right to family life was not adequately fulfilled, either before, during or after situations of armed conflict, and counter terrorism operations.
Governments should provide social support, case work, and inclusive educational and livelihood opportunities, and develop legal and policy frameworks that supported family resilience and prevented separation, strengthened family-based care, and ended institutionalisation of children, said Mr. Williams. Humanitarian child protection actors must establish systems to identify unaccompanied and separated children and swiftly trace and restore links between them and their families, while also supporting safe alternative care, reunification and reintegration. Policymakers, security and justice actors must work together to end the detention of children. In this regard, States should prioritise the safe and swift handover of any child they encountered during counter terrorism or military operations to child protection actors instead of placing them in detention. In conclusion, Mr. Williams called on duty bearers to do everything they could to realise children’s rights to family life by preventing family-child separation and reunifying any separated child with their family in the context of armed conflict and counter-terrorism operations.
FIONNUALA NÍ AOLÁIN, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, said her mandate increasingly addressed issues related to the rights of the child as it intersected with countering terrorism, violent extremism and broader security policies and measures. An intersectional approach to reflecting the experiences of children in these contexts demonstrated how discrimination and human rights abuses intersected and were compounded as determined by other social identities, including race, ethnicity, religion, ability, age and so on. Children, both girls and boys, bore heavy and unseen burdens resulting from the direct and indirect impacts of security practices, not least because any prevention effort in the “pre-criminal” or the “pre-terrorist” space could have a specific focus on children and render children as “suspect” on the basis of religious or ethnic belonging, geographic location and gender. According to international law, States must treat children, including children related to or associated with designated terrorist groups, primarily as victims when devising responses, including counter-terrorism responses. Children were always considered vulnerable and in need of special protection.
Turning specifically to the issue of children of individuals with alleged links to ISIL, particularly in the context of northeast Syria, the mandate had underscored the multiple human rights and humanitarian law violations that children suffered from as a result of their detention, both in the camps as well as in the prisons and other detention centres, including so-called rehabilitation centres. Extending the arm of counter-terrorism to children allegedly associated with non-state armed groups designated as ‘terrorist’ shifted the discourse from protection to punishment, from protected victim to security threat. In turn, this also changed the protection to which they were entitled, notably regarding detention, applicability of criminal law and treatment under criminal justice, as well as their rights, away from a child right perspective and the question of responsibility for violations of the rights of the child, including recruitment and use. Children could only be detained as a measure of last resort and for the shortest amount of time possible.
Contrary to international law, multiple States had engaged in citizenship stripping on a basis that appeared primarily to involve the prevention of return of the individual (and possibly their children) to their country of citizenship. In such circumstances, the withdrawal of citizenship appeared distinctly punitive. Citizenship stripping could control and define on security grounds who may legally benefit from family membership, which revealed the profound connection being forged between family regulation and contemporary security policy. The protection of the rights of the family in all its diverse forms constituted a distinct and complex agenda within the international legal framework for the protection and promotion of human rights.
HELEN DURHAM, Director of International Law and Policy, International Committee of the Red Cross, said that being separated from your loved ones as war unfurled around you was a terrifying reality for thousands of children. From Rakhine state, to northwest Iraq, to Niger, to Afghanistan, to Ethiopia – thousands of children were in situations of prolonged displacement. Especially when unaccompanied, they may be left without access to education, nutrition or healthcare. In many conflicts, children were recruited by armed forces or armed groups, separated from caregivers and communities, and exposed to a multitude of violations. For several years now in northeast Syria, children had lived in camps or had been separated from their families and detained without due process, including as part of counter-terrorism measures. Family separation also occurred when States opted to repatriate children nationals present in a conflict zone while leaving their mothers behind. Separated from their parents or other family members, children were more likely to be at risk of exploitation and violence. They faced barriers in accessing essential services. This was a brief, but sobering highlight of some of the causes of separation that children in war faced today. In this grim reality, the international community must work for more effective application of the powerful protections of international law.
International humanitarian law contained obligations that sought to ensure that when a child was separated from their family in armed conflict, their needs were met. These obligations also sought to maintain or restore contact and ultimately achieve the reunification of family members when possible. Better respect for these rules would help stem harm to the children.