Children and human rights

Across the world children are denied their human rights[1], including for example, their right to education. They are recruited[2]into armed forces. They are subjected to the death penalty[3], are punished by cruel and inhumane methods and suffer many other forms of violence.

Child soldiers

Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of children under 18 have been affected by armed conflict. They are recruited into government armed forces, civil militia[4] and a variety of other armed groups. Often they are abducted[5] at school, on the streets or at home. Others enlist “voluntarily[6]”, usually because they see few alternatives. Yet international law prohibits the participation in armed conflict of children aged under 18.It means that in reality girls and boys illegally and under force, participate in combat[7]where frequently they are injured or killed. Others are used as spies, messengers, servants or to lay or clear landmines. Such children are robbed of[8]their childhood and exposedto terrible dangers and to psychological and physical suffering.Children routinely face other violence - at school, in institutions meant for their protection, in juvenile[9]detention centres[10]and too often in their own homes.Violence against children happens in all parts of the world.

Education

Everyone has the right to education—which should be available free to all at least at the primary level. Education is also indispensable[11] in realizing other human rights.Across the world many children miss out on their education because:

Ø they are made to work

Ø they are recruited into armed forces

Ø their families do not have the means to pay for schooling

Ø discrimination[12] and racism[13] undermine their chance to receive an education

Ø they face violence

School fees and related costs are a common barrier to education. These charges are a greater burden for children from poor families, and they disproportionately affect those who are racial and ethnic minorities, members of Indigenous communities[14]and migrants.

Key facts

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,[15]adopted in 1989 to protect the rights of children, is the most widely ratified [16]human rights treaty in history. It consists of civil rights and freedoms, family environment, basic health and welfare, education, leisure and cultural activities and special protection measures for children.

Examples of what Amnesty International [17]is doing

As a member of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Amnesty International works to end the recruitment of children into armed forces and to reintegrate former child soldiers back into civilian life.Amnesty International has recommended that Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia take immediate action to prohibit discrimination against Roma[18]in education, and take further steps towards eliminating[19] discrimination against Romani children and promoting equality in education.

Success story

On 25 May 2000, the UN General Assembly[20]adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. This represented a milestone[21]in protecting children from participation in armed conflicts.

To mark the sixth anniversary of the Protocol’s adoption, Amnesty International, together with the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, called on the Russian Federation to ratify it without any further delay and set 18 years as the standard minimum age for voluntary recruitment into its armed forces. At the time, both Russia and China were the two remaining members of the UN Security Council[22]not to have become party to the Protocol.Both countries ratified the document in 2008 and – as of February 2014 – a total of 152 countries are party to the Protocol with a further 20 signatories from across the UN set to enact it into law.

[1] The basic cultural,social, economic rights and freedoms that all humans should be guaranteed, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.

[2]To enlist (a person) for service in one of the armed forces.

[3] A capital punishment in which the person who committed the offence is put to death by the state

[4] A group of private citizens who train for military duty in order to be ready to defend their state or country in times of emergency. A militia is distinct from regular military forces, which are units of professional soldiers maintained both in war and peace by the federal government.

[5] to take (someone) away against his will usually by trickery or violence; to kidnap

[6]to enroll, usu. voluntarily, for military service.

[7]active, armed fighting with enemy forces.

[8] to deprive of some right or something legally due

[9] appropriate for children or young people

[10] a large cell where prisoners (people awaiting trial or sentence or refugees or illegal immigrants) are confined together temporarily

[11]

[12]action or policies based on prejudice or partiality:

[13] the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races

[14] originating in and characteristic of a particular region or country; native

[15]human rights treaty which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children.

[16] to confirm by expressing consent, approval, or formal sanction

[17]global independent movement of more than 3 million supporters, members and activists in over 150 countries and territories who campaign to end grave abuses of human rights.

[18] a member of a people with dark skin and hair who speak Romany and who traditionally live by seasonal work and fortunetelling; they are believed to have originated in northern India but now are living on all continents (but mostly in Europe, North Africa, and North America)

[19]to remove or get rid of

[20]one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation. Its powers are to oversee the budget of the United Nations, appoint the non-permanent members to the Security Council, receive reports from other parts of the United Nations and make recommendations in the form of General Assembly Resolutions.

[21]a significant event or point in development.

[22]one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance ofinternational peace and security. Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions; it is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states.

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 1081