Volume 4 (No 1-2)

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Browsing Volume 4 (No 1-2) by Subject "children's rights"
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    Armed conflict and national security depriving children of liberty in the MENA region: Case studies and good practices
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2020) Jambi, Reham ; Arbi, Chiraz ; Werf, Charlotte : van der ; Lotf, Ahmed Samy
    The UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty outlines various pathways to detention in the contexts of armed conflicts and national security. A particular focus of this article falls on a comparative study between three case studies in the Arab region – notably Iraq & Syria (ISIS regions), Libya, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). This comparative study is used in order to identify common problems as well as common good practices towards reaching a preliminary regional approach. With the defeat of ISIS, approximately 29 000 children have been detained in the northeast of Syria and in Iraq. Of those, only a limited number of children have been repatriated to their or their parents’ countries of origin, highlighting the overall reluctance of states to repatriate jihadist fighters for alleged security concerns. Detained children associated with ISIS are susceptible to radicalisation, aggravated socio-psychological harm and deprivation of the right to a normal childhood. The changing nature of armed conflict from ‘traditional’ wars to conflicts between non-state armed groups corresponds with an increase in the treatment of children as perpetrators rather than victims (especially in Libya). Children affiliated with terrorist groups are put to trial in circumstances that are contrary to international child justice standards. In the OPT, a high number of arrested children are mistreated, while they are also subjected to military courts and law. While states have the primary duty to prevent any potential security threats (including terrorism), protecting children from all types of violence is an obligation under international human rights law. Recognising the pressing need to liberate children from their precarious situation within detention camps, this article calls for concerted efforts to bring adequate solutions in accordance with international standards of justice for children in a way that promotes their rehabilitation and reintegration. Key words: children’s rights; armed conflict; national security; deprivation of liberty; children deprived of liberty; children in Palestine; children of ISIS; children in Libya; UN Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty; deprivation of liberty on grounds of armed conflict; deprivation of liberty on grounds of national security
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    Children’s rights budgeting and social accountability: Children’s views on its purposes, processes and their participation
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2020) Lundy, Laura ; Orr, Karen ; Marshall, Chelsea
    Children’s rights budgeting is an international human rights priority and the focus of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s 2016 General Comment on Public Budgeting for the Realisation of Children’s Rights. General Comment 19 was informed by a consultation that gathered the views of 2 693 children in 71 varied national contexts across all five UN regions. The article describes the process and findings of this consultation, setting out the views of children across the world as to how their governments should make spending decisions that are sufficient, equitable, efficient, transparent and participatory. The consultation provides unique insights into how children in very different contexts think about the ways in which their governments can and do allocate public funds for children and their families in ways that support or undermine the realisation of their rights. The article identifies some of the barriers to including children in decision making on public spending, but challenges assumptions that they are not able to be or interested in being involved. It suggests that if participatory budgeting is to be effective for children, it will require bespoke forms of social accountability. Key words: children’s rights; participation; budgeting; social accountability
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    Children’s rights to privacy in times of emergency: The case of Serbia in relation to internet education technologies
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2020) Cendic, Kristina
    In the digital era the privacy of children has become an issue of particular importance. With the spread of COVID-19 many schools turned to online education, causing this vulnerable group of internet users to be more and more engaged in the digital sphere. It has thus become questionable whether children are protected enough when education systems increasingly turn to online teaching. When Serbia declared a state of emergency in an attempt to contain the new virus in March 2020, the national educational system also implemented online schooling. Since there have been severe privacy breaches in Serbia even before this pandemic, a basic question arises as to whether the right to privacy of children was adequately respected and protected when the students were required to use a number of programmes, networks and applications in order to attend classes. This article investigates the right to privacy of children during the recent application of online teaching/learning technologies and platforms in Serbia, exploring key emerging issues concerning online schooling and identifying further research on problems pertaining to this right that will inevitably appear in the years to come.
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    Editorial of special focus: Selected developments in the area of children’s rights
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2020) Altafin, Chiara
    The thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) represented an occasion for many in the field to take stock, reflecting on achievements and challenges of children’s rights advocacy and engagement with the CRC Committee. It also presented an opportunity to critically reflect on the extent to which the Convention has impacted on children’s rights research, including in terms of empirical and conceptual approaches, methodological innovations and gaps. We chose to contribute to the debate generated by the anniversary celebration with this edition of the Global Campus Human Rights Journal, which provides insight into selected developments in the area of children’s rights in different regions covered by the Global Campus of Human Rights.
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    Redressing language-based exclusion and punishment in education and the Language Friendly School initiative
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2020) Hurwitz, Deena R. ; Kambel, Ellen-Rose
    Despite decades of scientific literature showing the benefits of multilingual programmes that allow children to learn through their mother tongue, millions of children around the world continue to be denied the right to be educated through a language they understand. Not only are home languages largely excluded from the official curriculum, but children belonging to ethnolinguistic minorities often are also prohibited and sometimes even punished for speaking their mother tongue on the school grounds. Contrary to what is generally believed by educators, preventing children from using their home language does not improve their educational performance, but rather has harmful social and emotional effects. After presenting examples of these practices in various countries, this article examines the human rights implications when students are banned from using their home language at school, by referring to the international instruments in force regarding children’s rights in education, with a focus on the European context and its relevant framework. We find that such practices violate the right to education, freedom of speech, and the right to be protected against direct and indirect racial and language-based discrimination. The Language Friendly School is introduced as a new initiative with the explicit aim of ending language-based punishment in education by 2030, the ‘deadline’ of the Sustainable Development Goals. While schools are the primary location where these practices take place, tackling the deep inequalities in education cannot be left to schools alone. We end our analysis with a call to action on governments to redress these violations of children’s rights, and to human rights educators, advocates and lawyers to hold them accountable. Key words: right to education; language-based exclusion and punishment; ethnolinguistic minorities; racial discrimination; mother tongue education; multilingual education
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    Rohingya children in Bangladesh: Safeguarding their health-related rights in relation to the available healthcare system
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2020) Das Gupta, Sudipta ; Zaman, Maliha Samiha ; Begum, Korima
    As at March 2020 Bangladesh hosted approximately 859 160 Rohingya people of which 54 per cent were children. The magnitude of their health problems is undeniable and uncertainty about the consequences of these health issues persists. Although Bangladesh is not a state party to key treaties in international refugee law, several human rights treaties to which Bangladesh is party (and some provisions of its Constitution) entail that the state should safeguard the basic human rights of the Rohingya people in its territory. This includes special protection for Rohingya children, particularly in relation to access to essential services. This article analyses whether the healthcare services and provision in one of the 34 camps set up in the Cox’s Bazar district are sufficient to safeguard the health-related rights of Rohingya children. The article employs a qualitative research methodology, on the basis of field work conducted in September and October 2019. In parallel, the authors look at the healthcare system available for Rohingya children from a human rights-based approach, which should inform possible public health interventions. Their analysis illustrates that for different reasons the existing system struggles to provide adequate protection of the health-related rights of these children. In exposing the critical situation related to the ability of Rohingya children to enjoy their rights on Bangladeshi territory, the article suggests that sustainable solutions to safeguard these rights can be found only if the relief distribution, healthcare services, healthcare procedures and related conditions work concurrently in an effective way as they are all interrelated. If a single component does not function well, the affected rights cannot be secured and children’s unhealthy living conditions in the camps are exacerbated.
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    The Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Preliminary case law assessment for the effective promotion and protection of children’s rights
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2020) Carletti, Cristiana
    On the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the locus standi of the child could be considered among its key elements. CRC has also been strengthened by the adoption of the Third Optional Protocol (Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a communications procedure) introducing the communication mechanism under the mandate of the CRC Committee. The decisions released by this monitoring body interestingly exemplify how the mechanism functions. The reasoning the Committee takes on in cases related to the best protection of the rights of claimants is examined in this contribution. In order to understand the operational relevance of the mechanism, different categories of cases so far handled by the CRC Committee will be explored: for instance, communications that have either been declared inadmissible, discontinuous or examined and decided on in order to take measures against the states directly concerned. The investigation will be supplemented by referencing pending cases, as described by the CRC Committee in its latest published report about the communications still under examination. Starting from the rights under examination and the recognition of the locus standi in favour of the child, the ultimate aim of the contribution is to assess how the communication mechanism is relevant in terms of advanced guarantees. Additionally, the article will explore whether, although different from judicial reasoning, it remains a relevant mechanism for the promotion and protection of children’s rights at the maximum level. Key words: Convention on the Rights of the Child; Third Optional Protocol; communication procedure; best interests of the child; children’s rights