Convention on the Rights of the Child
G. The right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
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- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- VI. Family environment and alternative care A. Parental guidance
- B. Parental responsibilities
- C. Separation from parents
- D. Family reunification E. Recovery of maintenance for the child
- Direct social care services for orphans placed in orphanages
- G. Family foster care ( kafalah ) for orphans
- H. Transfer of children abroad
G. The right not to be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment 127. Yemen ratified the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography) in 2004. 128. Concerning draft amendments to national laws relevant to child rights, existing clauses were amended or deleted and new clauses and entire sections were added as a result of the review process, as in the case of the Penal Code, to which a section was added to cover offences relating to child smuggling and the exploitation of children for begging or sexual purposes. 129. The penal provisions generally protect the right to physical integrity and prescribe stringent penalties for anyone who violates or diminishes that right, as follows:
130. Concerning torture and child discipline, article 146 (c) of the Children’s Rights Act provides that the State, acting through the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, “shall protect children from ill-treatment and exposure to physical torture and bring to justice anyone who subjects children to such acts, taking into account the legitimate and legal right of parents to discipline their children”. 131. The draft amendments included the addition of an article entitled “Restriction of the right to impose discipline”, which provides as follows: “(a) The right to impose discipline shall in no way justify the following acts:
(b) A term of up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to 50,000 Yemeni riyals (YRI) shall be imposed on any person entitled to discipline a child who commits any of the offences listed in paragraph (a), without prejudice to the victim’s right to claim payment of blood money (diyah) or an indemnity for bodily injury (arsh), as the case may be.” VI. Family environment and alternative care A. Parental guidance 132. The Constitution and Yemeni law affirm that the family is the natural place and the fertile setting for the child’s healthy development. It is the fundamental unit for building society and it falls to the State to guarantee a decent family life by creating conditions conducive to family cohesion and by providing access to essential services and to education and health facilities. The State seeks to develop parental guidance programmes through:
133. In addition, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour ran a training programme for female instructors on raising awareness of children’s rights within the family, with over 6,000 families reaping the benefit during the reporting period. 134. The Ministry’s Comprehensive Social Service Centres in San`a and Aden also play a part in delivering health and education advice and awareness-raising to families and children. Approximately 4,000 households, comprising 14,029 individual parents and children, used these services during the period 2003–2007. B. Parental responsibilities 135. The law affirms the role of mothers and fathers (parents) in shouldering the responsibility for the child’s protection, care, survival and development. The law also guarantees to every child the enjoyment of his or her legitimate rights, in particular the right to establish his or her parentage, to be breastfed, nurtured and maintained, and to see his or her parents in order to promote the idea that the father and mother are jointly responsible for the child’s care and upbringing. The State seeks to support parents in fulfilling their role through a number of programmes and activities. 136. Concerning the impact of polygamy on a child’s upbringing and development, an academic researcher worked in collaboration with the Women’s Centre at the University of Aden to produce a scientific study, which was presented at an international women’s conference held at the University in February 2006. The study dealt with the psychological and social effects of polygamy on women and children, concluding with suggestions for ensuring that children receive attention from their fathers and mothers and for creating a loving and affectionate relationship among siblings from different mothers.
137. The national legislation asserts the importance of catering to the best interests of the child when it comes to determining his or her situation in the event that the parents separate. The draft legal amendments include an important modification, adopting the principle of equality and non-discrimination and affirming the interest of the child in determining his fate by extending the period of custody to 13 years instead of 9 for both males and females, unless the child’s interests require otherwise. The reason for so doing is to prolong the right to custody in the interest of the child (proposal for the amendment of article 28 of the Children’s Rights Act). 138. The personal status courts adjudicate family disputes in accordance with the Personal Status Act, following a number of procedures when taking decisions on cases, in particular:
D. Family reunification E. Recovery of maintenance for the child 139. The measures taken in this regard were mentioned in the previous report. F. Children deprived of a family environment 140. The Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour are working with SFD, UNICEF and Save the Children Sweden to set up an alternative family care system and establish its referential, legislative and executive frameworks. Measures taken 141. Children deprived of a family environment have access to temporary or permanent care services provided by social protection homes and centres, which is to say:
142. Work is under way to develop a unified regulation for government- and NGO-run orphanages that includes quality standards and procedures for alternative care and the programmes and services delivered by these institutions, building on general child rights principles (in accordance with the Committee’s recommendation contained in paragraph 50 (b) of its concluding observations). 143. The situation of children in orphanages is monitored and evaluated through inspection and supervisory visits by the concerned authorities, human rights organizations and the Children’s Parliament. Assessments are also carried out and awareness and training programmes are organized for the benefit of persons working with orphans in order to assist monitoring of the situation of children in these institutions. 144. In recent years, orphan care services have been expanded through the establishment of new government-run orphanages and through enhanced cooperation with civil society organizations in that they have been entrusted with the management and operation of some of these orphanages. The Government also provides facilities and support for NGOs engaged in setting up new orphanages. A comparison of the number of government- and NGO-run orphanages between 2005 and 2007 shows a clear increase of 200 per cent; there were 12 of these institutions in 2005 and 31 in 2008.
145. Social care services for orphans (accommodation, clothing, education and activities) are delivered directly and in an integrated manner in both government- and NGO-run orphanages. In the Republic of Yemen, there are 31 homes and centres for orphans run by the Government, NGOs or in partnership between the two. (a) Government-run orphanages
(Table 17 shows government-run orphanages, their capacity, the governorates where they are located, the oversight entities and the support entities). (b) NGO-run homes and centres for orphans, of which there are 21. 146. These homes belong to NGOs and civil society organizations and some of them are supported by the Government, as follows:
147. Some of these homes provide full (permanent live-in) education and rehabilitation care services and some are day centres offering care, education and rehabilitation services and other activities, after which the orphans return to spend the night with their families. 148. Tables 16 and 17 show the number of orphanages run by the Government, NGOs or in partnership between the two in the Republic of Yemen, offering either full care services, including permanent accommodation, or day services and activities only. They also show homes run jointly by the Government and NGOs and homes supported by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and the Social Welfare Fund. 149. An important future approach to the care and rehabilitation of orphans is to implement the activities set out in the electoral programme of the President of the Republic and falling within the remit of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, together with the activities included under the National Strategy and Plan of Action for Children and Youth. The key activities in this sphere involve, inter alia, expanding orphan care, encouraging families to foster orphans, enrolling orphans in education, vocational rehabilitation and training, and building the capacities of persons working with orphans so that they are well placed to deliver proper care and psychosocial recovery services.
150. Family foster care (kafalah) is provided for orphans and is the ideal system in cases where the orphan has relatives or a family with whom he or she lives. Social services and assistance are delivered to children living in single-parent households and children in the poorest groups, as follows: (1) Social security assistance (Social Welfare Fund): The Fund provides social security assistance in accordance with the Social Welfare Act to a number of social groups and segments (see table 18, which shows the number of users of the services of the Social Welfare Fund as at the end of 2007); (2) Food assistance is provided for orphans by the Ministry of Education: Meals are provided for orphans attending regular schools or boarding schools. An estimated 5,000 orphans benefit annually from the Ministry of Education’s school meals programme; (3) NGO-sponsored orphans in family foster care: Under this system, NGOs provide a monthly allowance to cover the living costs of orphans being cared for in foster families, including food, health and education expenses. There are no accurate official statistics, however, on the number of NGO-sponsored orphans in family foster care, although the available information indicates that they number about 40,000; (4) Comprehensive social services (Comprehensive Social Services Centres): The Comprehensive Social Services Centres provide a diverse range of health, educational, social and awareness services for various groups of children and their families. These groups include street children, school dropouts, child workers, orphans, children from marginalized groups (the Akhdam) and children with disabilities, in addition to the families of these groups of children. Since their establishment in 2002, the two centres have successfully delivered health, educational and social services and assistance to at least 3,764 children.
151. The measures taken in this regard were mentioned in the previous report. I. Ill-treatment and neglect 152. The Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood addresses the matter of ill-treatment and neglect as a priority in its plans and programmes via the networks established under its auspices. Numerous activities are currently in progress, including a comprehensive study on ill-treatment and neglect of children in the family, school and workplace settings. The Government has also developed programmes to assist child beggars and street children and has set up special accommodation centres for them. Steps are under way to follow up on the institution of an effective system for ultimately increasing the penalties for ill-treatment and neglect, which are designed to serve as a deterrent and are included in the draft legal amendments. 153. Periodic surveys of child workers are also conducted in order to determine whether they are subjected to any ill-treatment and children are protected in the workplace if the fundamental rights set out in the Labour Code and the Children’s Rights Act are denied to them. Social protection institutions, the Ministry of Health and NGOs work in coordination to deliver mental health services to victims of ill-treatment and neglect. 154. The key measures taken by the Government to protect children from violence, ill-treatment and neglect are described below. Plans and strategies 155. Approved in 2006, the National Strategy for Children and Youth takes on board the issue of violence against children, setting out a key intervention for tackling such violence, as reflected in the implementation plan for children and youth, which has a core focus on combating violence against children in the 6-14 age group. The plan’s other core areas of focus also take into account the ingredients for a child-protective environment (the National Strategy for Children and Youth is annexed hereto, together with the implementation plan for children and youth). 156. A draft national action plan for combating violence against children has been prepared on the basis of the National Strategy for Children and Youth and the recommendations of the World Report on Violence against Children. A draft national action plan for ending FGM has also been prepared and is in the course of being approved. A national action plan to combat child smuggling was likewise discussed and the plan’s activities are now being implemented.
157. In order to obtain information on violence against children, the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood has conducted a number of studies, including, for example:
158. Various governmental bodies and NGOs have also conducted a number of other studies, including, for example:
159. Two studies assessing the problem of child smuggling in Yemen and a study on child poverty are currently being prepared. Yemen additionally responded to a questionnaire for a United Nations study on violence against children, providing ample information on all of the matters covered in the questionnaire. Capacity-building 160. In addition to introductory human rights courses and workshops, several capacity-building training courses have been organized for those in governmental bodies and various NGOs who deal with children, namely:
161. A three-day workshop was also held in March 2005 for 70 head teachers, social workers, instructors and first-grade teachers at the central and local levels. Violence against school students and its relationship with the role of the family and school was discussed and a number of field studies were presented on violence against children in schools, its relationship with children’s psychological and behavioural problems and ways of combating school violence. 162. Between 2005 and 2007, the Ministry of Education ran a number of training courses, attended by a total of 357 educators from the different governorates,4 on combating violence in schools and raising awareness of alternatives to such violence. Yüklə 2,72 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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