(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Such sessions are of utmost importance to ensure that Bahrain is in commitment to its ratification in its implementation of the United Nations Conventions of the Right of the Child. With consideration of the delay for the scheduled session, the BCHR urges the state party to persevere in maintaining convention deadlines. Crucial points were covered in the meeting, and many questions were raised. It was apparent that there was a major gap between the content of the UN Convention on the Right of the Child, and the actual laws of Bahrain which concern children. There is also an embarrassing scarcity of statistical data that can measure the social patterns in Bahrain. It is imperative that the state follows through with the recommendations made by the UN envoys to ensure that the children of Bahrain have guaranteed access to their civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights. BCHR strongly urges the state delegation to not dismiss the reports of international accredited human rights organisation that relate to the condition of children in Bahrain – regardless of the political climate which Bahrain finds itself in. It is important to observe children as right holders. Steps must be taken to empower children to be aware of their rights, and the decisions which affect them. Many points were covered within the meeting. The BCHR reports on some issues which will require further consideration:
Violation of the Right of the Child under the Recent Security Campaigns:Check BCHR latest Report: http://bahrainrights.hopto.org/en/node/4186
It was denied by the state delegation of the actuality of any targeted discrimination towards children of the Shiite sect of Islam. In denial of the claim Dr. Fatima Mohd Al-Balooshi stated that “Our delegation today is made up of both Sunni and Shiite members. We do not discriminate in Bahrain. It is unfortunate that we speak in this way of Sunni and Shiites. There are 19 churches in Bahrain, 2 temples ... and 100s of mosques for both sects.” Dr.Fatima Mohd Al-Balooshi continued “... and the Shiites even have these religious room thing. Which is an extra.”
The delegation maintained that any reports of a Sunni and Shiite split in Bahrain are false claims, as there are no statistics to certify such percentages. There was expressed outrage at the suggestion that Sunni students had possibly attacked Shiite students, or that Shiite students had been targeted in schools by authorities. The delegation stated that “most victims of violence in schools are Sunni students. There are currently 9 students who are still in hospital due to the attacks”.
Dr. Al-Balooshi provided the response that International reports of the violations of the rights of the child in the latest security crackdown suffered a media bias. She questioned the credibility of international coverage in such events, and viewed international human rights reports as discriminatory due to their questioning of whether victims were Sunni or Shiite. She continues “We cannot control their statements, and Bahrain is always open to international human rights organisations. They are still there”.
The UN envoys responded that they cannot accept a complete dismissal of the severity of recent events that occurred in Bahrain. The Secretary General of the UN, as well as the high commissioner of human rights had made official statements in this regard. “What has happened in Bahrain is visible to all.” Many questions were thrown at the delegation. The UN envoys requested an official statement of the number of minors who have died, and requested a justification for the evidence of serious violations. It was also requested that the delegation was to provide details of how many schools formed the object of inspection from the police force, and to provide some clarity as to how many children were detained in the school raids. There was a further request to comment on the military tribunals, and the sentencing of children to life imprisonment.
Initially the government delegation denied that under 15’s had been subjected to imprisonment, or that anyone had been handed a sentence of life imprisonment. Yet cases were presented to the delegation, and further inquiry was promised. Dr. Al-Blooshi asserted that “Politics get in the way ... We have a constitution that preserves freedom of speech”. She pointed out that children were prevented from attending schools, and were illegally taken to demonstrations by protesters so as to be used as “child shields”. Henceforth the National state of security was implemented to protect these children.
See: How Bahrain is Oppressing its Shia Majority - by Joshua Colangelo-BryanHRW - Bahrain: State of Fear Prevails With Arbitrary Detentions, Pre-Dawn Raids Amnesty International Annual Report 2011 - BahrainAmnesty International - Bahrain: A Human Rights Crisis - Briefing paperAmnesty International - Bahrain: Bloodied but unbowed: Unwarranted state violence against Bahraini protesters
The Age of the Child:“For the purposes of the present Convention, a child means every human being below the age of 18 years unless, under a law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier.” – Article 1, Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It was pointed out that there are inconsistencies within the law on what constitutes the age of the child. In order to be in line with international standards amendments must be made to the existing system so as to not infringe on the rights of the child. Achieving a legal consensus on the age of the child will effectively ensure the rights of the child are met in all life spheres. Particularly in laws relating to the social, judicial, and economic aspects.
The Age of the Child and the Penal Code:
There is a discrepancy in the identification of the age of the child in the Bahrain penal code. Article 32 of the 1976 penal code of Bahrain establishes that the minimum age of criminal responsibility is at 15 years. The Juvenile Act No. 17 of 1976, asserts that the state is to provide non-criminal reform and protection responses to younger children, and that the ‘deprivation of liberty is only used as a last resort’[1] . In reality, 15 years is the age of penal majority, and there is no lower age limit to what are clearly punitive responses.BCHR has documented several cases of juveniles tried in the criminal court instead of the juvenile court[2] . Most worrying is that some have been given life sentences.
Report dated November 20th, 2010 : http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/3619
There is some contradiction and lack of clarity in the current Juvenile jurisdiction in Bahrain as to what age one is placed under the juvenile care system, or accounted for as an adult offender. Furthermore there is no clarification to the minimum legal age in which one is to be placed within the juvenile care system. Under the current system minors below the age of 7 could be placed under the juvenile system without reaching the age of criminal responsibility.
Under the current system persons between the ages of 15-18 years of age may bear criminal responsibility. S/he may be arrested during an investigation, made to stand trial and sentenced as is the case of adults. With such a breach of international law, the Office of the Public Prosecutor has recently made a consideration to the protection of persons up to the age of 18 with legislative and legal solutions. This includes a consideration by the court to include minority as a mitigating circumstance in the determination of the sentence, as provided under article 70 of the Criminal Code. The article states : “Having due regard to such cases as are provided for this Act, the youthful age of an accused person over 15 but under 18 years of age shall be taken as a mitigating circumstance”[3].
However, Article 1 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child strictly states that a child is any persons under the age of 18. It is unacceptable that children at the age of 15 are treated as adult criminal offenders. Most troubling is the noted case of Ali Jassim Eisa Sarhan who has been sentenced to life imprisonment at the age of 17.[4] This is a serious infringement of Article 37, Paragraph A, of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which states:
“Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age.” - Article 37, Paragraph A, of the Convention of the Rights of the Child.
No degree of corporal punishment to children is ever acceptable or lawful. Initially the case of Ali Jassim Eisa Sarhan was denied, however after a few phone calls the state delegation promised to review the case once again. It was concluded that there are many flaws within the system, and that the current state of judiciary does not meet with international standards.In response, the government delegation noted that there is to be an introduction of Child Law in Bahrain. However this has yet to pass.
Child Labour:The state report worryingly failed to provide an adequate account of the issue of child labour in Bahrain. There are a number of questions surrounding the state report, as it was limited in a number of legal aspects. There is a contradiction in declaring that child labour does not exist in Bahrain, and then again mentioning the issue of begging found in Street Children. Further contradictions are noted in the claim of challenges that child labour poses in Bahrain in Article 40, IX, K, 513-514. There is particular reference to the Vagrancy Act No. 5 of 2007 in the fight against begging which states “No person, not even a person who has no work or is unfit for work, may engage in begging on the streets or in public or private places or premises.”[5] It is not made clear what the exact consequences are of children who beg, and whether they too are punished according to the Vagrancy Act No. 5. There is no indication of preventative measures to protect children from such a law. It is pertinent that the state clarifies the situation of child labour in Bahrain and provides a statistical analysis of the issue of child labour that several NGO’s have documented on. Specific measures must be made to correct the practice of penalising children for begging.
See: 2009 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor – Bahrain - United States Department of Labor
Health:The delegation asserted that the Ministry of Education works alongside the Ministry of Health to provide a programme on reproductive health. This includes the appointing of a nurse and a psychological counsellor to each and every school. There is also some life skills education for children to learn about substance abuse and sexual health. Alongside this is what was referred to as ‘Peace Education’ so as to educate children on their rights as individuals and children, and make them aware gender equality. Boy’s and Girl schools receive the same set of education.
Furthermore, Sickle Cell Anaemia and marital testing is compulsory. However the state does not reserve the right to interfere in the marriage once the test has been carried out. Since the compulsion of marital testing, the rate of Sickle Cell Anaemia has dropped considerably.
Little was said about child marriages. There is no legal age of sexual consent in sexual relations within Bahrain. The minimum age of marriage has been set in 2007 by the Justice and Islamic Affairs Ministry at 18 for men and 15 for girls. The state report was criticised for not providing any statistical date on child marriages, or teenage pregnancies.
Although it is not a prevalent cultural practice, it is important that the state investigates the practice of Female Gender Mutilation in Bahrain, and to provide some law guidelines on camel racings for children.
The UN envoys noted that the rate of breast feeding is relatively low in Bahrain. This may be due to the fact that there is no designated area within the workspace for breastfeeding. In turn, the journey taken to feed the infant from home and back is tedious, and so infants are forced to drink formula milk. Adverting may also play a role in discouraging mothers from breastfeeding.
Nationality:It is of vital importance that the state grants Bahraini mothers the right to pass on a nationality to the child. The child in this case remains stateless without a nationality, and this may affect the Childs access to health and education. The child in this case suffers legal and logistical discrimination - Regardless of the states stance that ‘everyone is welcome’.
Child Care:The state must not discriminate between boys and girls under any circumstances. The state report indicates that there are open care homes for boys between the ages of 15-21 years of age.[6] However there are questions regarding the states support for girls who have been deprived of a family environment. There was no indication of whether such care homes existed for girls. It is integral to the Convention of the Rights of the Child that the state does not discriminate in care provision on the basis of gender.
You can find the state report and other related documents on the page of the event:http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/crc/crcs57.htm
---[1]IX, C, Article 40, 457-462. CRC/C/BHR/2-3[2]Children in Bahrain : Victims of Physical and Sexual Abuse, Abduction, Arbitrary Detention, and Unfair Trial. BCHR Report, 10 November 2010 - http://www.bahrainrights.org/en/node/3619[3]III, B, Article 1, 102. CRC/C/BHR/2-3[4]same as previous[5]IX, E, Article 32, 502-504. CRC/C/BHR/2-3
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