UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : CRC Press Conference: findings on Argentina, Armenia, Israel, Mexico and Turkmenistan

I think we can start.

Right. Good afternoon, everybody.

And welcome to this press conference by the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The committee will present findings on six countries

that is Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain,

Israel, Mexico and Turkmenistan.

With us today are Ms Ann Skelton, who is the committee chair.

Mr. Good Branson.

Mr PRA

and Ms

Ai Idris.

Without any further ado, I'll give the floor to Ms Skelton.

Thank you very much. Sa

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has had

a very busy session during the last three weeks.

As you hear, we have been

reviewing Six States parties,

and this is part of our international monitoring role, which requires us to

check with state parties how they're doing in terms of implementing

the UN Convention on the rights of the child to which they have signed up.

So, uh,

today we're going to share with you some of the

highlights that came out of these discussions that we had,

um and also to give you some idea of the recommendations that we've made.

I'll begin with Armenia.

What stood out here was the fact that although

the government is making progress in certain areas.

Um, for example,

they are working on sexually abused Children how to provide better services.

And they've established

a programme called Safe Corner

that is operating in some parts of the country but does need to go to scale.

But what we were concerned about was the issue of Children with disabilities.

We found that there were hundreds of Children with

disabilities who are in state institutions in Armenia.

And we urge the government to increase support

to families and to community based care so that

they can begin the process or increase the speed with

which they can place these Children back into communities.

They really need to invest in early childhood education

and in school infrastructure as well.

And they need to increase the number of qualified teachers

turning now to Turkmenistan.

Here again,

we were worried about the large number

of Children with disabilities in institutions.

So, uh, here we, uh, stressed to Turkmen stun

that deinstitutionalization should be top of their agenda,

and we also pointed out to them another concern that we had and that was

that it was difficult to know how

many Children were affected because their data collection

is very weak.

And as we pointed out,

um, you know, they may have some good policies on the table, but really,

how can you plan for services if you don't know how many Children

there are and what services they are needing?

Turning now to Israel,

which presented its 5th and 6th combined report to the committee,

we spent six hours in dialogue with the

sizeable delegation that came from Israel to Geneva.

Of course,

they placed the 7 October attack high on the agenda,

and the committee listened to very moving testimony by a mother, Sabine,

who lost her eldest son, or

and whose youngest son, Shai, suffered serious injuries.

The government told us about the work they had

done to support these Children and their families.

Many thousands were displaced within Israel after the attack,

and the the government explained that they

have been providing support and trying to help

these Children and their families to move back to where they were living before.

We also heard about two very young Children,

Ariel and

Kafir, who were taken as hostages and who have not yet been returned.

The committee expressed its concerns about the serious mental health situation

for Children in Israel because obviously Children who are living in

this aura of conflict are suffering.

And another concern that we raised with the

government was militarization of schools in Israel.

You know, when the when Israel last came to the committee, which was in 2013,

the committee urged them

to roll out peace education to ensure that every child received peace education.

Instead,

the government has recently passed a law

that makes it a declared aim of education

to educate Children for significant service in the

Israeli defence forces and national civil service.

This is in the mainstream ordinary schooling system.

We pointed out to them that the Convention on the Rights of the

Child says that education should be aimed at the preparation of every child,

for a responsible life in a free society,

in a spirit of understanding,

peace,

tolerance,

equality

and friendship.

And we pointed out to them that there's a huge disconnect here

if that's what they signed up to when they ratified this convention

and yet the aims of education are being shifted towards militarization

well.

Israel has many positive laws and policies that

uphold Children's rights in Israel for Israeli Children

the committee was at pains to point out

that it's our task to be worried about all Children everywhere.

And of course, the situation in Gaza and the West Bank is a massive, unprecedented,

overwhelming

child rights crisis.

The committee has previously called out Israel for its rights violations

in the occupied Palestinian territories as long as a decade ago.

But clearly again during this dialogue it loomed larger than ever.

My colleague Bragi

Gudbrand.

So who led the team within our committee working on Israel will speak

in more detail about the discussions we had with the occupied territory within

concerning the occupied territories, West Bank and Gaza.

But I'll hand back to you now, Sa.

Thank you so much, Miss, uh Skelton, I'll hand over to Mr Goranson.

Ladies and gentlemen,

as you may know, that

there is a fundamental difference

in the position of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on one hand,

and the State Party Israel,

with regard to the application

of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

to the

occupied

Palestinian territories,

including

Gaza,

the

West Bank and

East Jerusalem.

Israel maintains that the application of the

convention is limited to its territorial limits.

That's not the position of this committee.

We believe that the

application of the convention

is valid

due to the exercise of jurisdiction and effective control of Israel

outside the state's sovereign territory.

And this very much marked the debate,

the dialogue with Israel,

the

opinion of the committee, the position of the committee is in line, as you may know,

with the mainstream views of the UN bodies, including the General Assembly,

the reports of the general secretary,

the various human rights treaty body and very importantly to the

International Court of Justice.

But this

obviously presented problems as Israel did not submit

us detailed information with regard to the implementation of the Convention

on the Rights of the Child as we would have liked.

On the other hand, Israel did

recognise that the state party does

apply the rules derived from the principles of international humanitarian laws,

the principles of distinction,

precaution and proportionality in carrying out their military attack.

This obligation is in fact,

highlighted in Article 38 1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,

and a large part of our dialogue with Israel was precisely on this.

How Israel could

in the light of the massive death

and maiming of Children in Gaza, for example,

how could they justify

this in the context of the international humanitarian

rights

laws? I'm sorry.

Now,

with regard to

our concluding observation, we have a very

detailed,

detailed recommendations with regard to Gaza

with regard to the West Bank and generally the occupied Palestinian territories.

We have also,

as

Ms Ann Skelton mentioned, very detailed recommendations with regard to

she mentioned

education and mental health.

To this, I could add

the issue of discrimination.

We, um,

in our concluding observation,

we recall the findings of the International Court of Justice from 19 July last

on

the issue of racial

segregation and apartheid.

It is quite clear that in

Israel

there is a system of discriminatory

legislation that derives from the Basic Law of Israel.

And

in our concluding observations, we raise concerns

over many

issues relating to how this discrimination unfolds,

for example, with regard to

restrictions or moves

on with regard, for example, access to health services,

issues on home,

forcible rates or invention

during nights, which are extremely traumatising for Children,

and on family reunification,

which is also a big issue where families cannot live together

because they come from a different part of the region.

These were the kind of issues that we

emphasised in our concluding recommendation.

I think I will

give the floor knock back to our chair.

OK,

thank you very much, Mr Gudbrand.

I'll give the floor to Ms

Abi

Idrissi.

Thank you very much,

Sara. Thank you very much

in advance. I apologise if I make any mistakes because English is my third language

for Argentina. The positive element

It was the adoption

in 2021 of the law that regulates and extends the right

to voluntary termination of pregnancy and access to

post abortion care to all but main concern.

Main concerns

are related to co ordination co ordination

because there are elimination of the ministry

and co ordination provided now by the Secretariat

with risk of reduction of resource, autonomy and capacities.

Another concern about standard of living, many Children living in poverty

and increase in extreme monetary poverty and food insecurity

in genus

Children, lack of protection policy,

a high level of poverty and high level of mortality

due to malnutrition and disease and lack of access to water

for Bahrain.

We had we had a report under two

optional protocol

and

S

and the positive element and there is no compulsory requirement

and all recruitment is voluntary and all measures are taken to ensure age

for

S.

The positive element was adoption of the Law

Law on Restorative Justice and Protection from Abuse.

But main concern

for

it was allegation and investigation carried

out on serious violations against Children in Yemen.

Attribute to the Coalition for the

For Support of Legitimacy in Yemen

and Article 11 of the International Crimes Act Number 44

of 2018,

which allow for invocation of superior order

in the event of the Commission of Offences

under

SK. The main concern was

the lack.

This legislation doesn't cover all

offences under

S, namely sales crime of sale.

It's similar to traffic, but it's not

as traffic and the absence of information on major taken

to protect Children at risk, namely those in vulnerable situations such as

girls who are victims of domestic violence, migrants,

state

stateless person and migrant

Mexico

the main positive point. It is almost

universal vaccination, almost

universal vaccination

and reform of law

on migration and refuges, but main concern is about the this month

this month

of the comprehensive policy of protection

of Children and adolescents

and the right to live survival and development.

Because there is a high level of homicides,

a high level of disappearance of Children and feminicides.

And despite the reform of law on migration, the

deprivation of liberty is

systematic.

And, of course, after this dialogue with each country,

the committee made several recommendations to address this situation.

Thank you for your attention.

Thank you very much. Uh, are there any further comments?

Otherwise we'll move to questions. We'll start with any questions in the room.

Yes.

Hi. Hello. I have some questions on Mexico.

Um

uh, during this year,

you you are talking about victims of

enforced disappearances and victims of many homicides.

Do you have numbers? Maybe for this year. Or

if you have any numbers on that,

if you

observed or if you talk with the

delegation about enforced recruitment of boys

in cartels and organised crime,

Uh, if you if you observe that

and I would like to know if you are concerned of the ID PS, internal displaced

Children with families or

or maybe alone,

if you can talk about this. Thank you so much. I'm Gabriela Sotomayor for Proo

magazine. Thank you.

Thank you very much for your question.

The number of

disappearance, Children

we don't really remember, but concordant information.

If you understand French, I will move to French. Yes,

French

or in Spanish? Spanish? Yes.

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in internal displaced Children with their families And

because of the violence that we are living in in the country?

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If you if you have any comments on that or if you

if you have any concern on that Thank you so much.

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If I may add something on violence, homicide and femicide in Mexico,

the committee The committee recommends SS the state Party

to declare the fate

against child homicide and feminicides as

a national cause and urgently develop majors

to prevent and eradicate these phenomena in particular by further identify

and addressing

the root causes in dedicating adequate financial and resource and human to it,

and also devoid the highest level of priority

and take immediate and effective measures to prevent,

investigate and sanction the disappearance of Children.

As said by my colleague, it is impunity

Committee was alarmed by this impunity

and the third point to add address root causes of disappearance of Children design,

implement procedure and follow up on cases of medicine Children

by the police and the office of the Public Prosecutor

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Uh, Emma Fudge.

Reuters

Apologies. Maybe just a follow up from Mr Peda.

Go ahead

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So

thank you very much. Uh, in the room, Uh,

Emma Farge. And then Gabriella will get back to you.

Uh,

thank you. Um, a question for the chair or the vice chair, please. Um, on Israel,

Um, I'm wondering, does the committee have any way of enforcing its findings? Um,

or is it up to the political will of the member state? And if not

any of the thoughts on how what you described as

a massive overwhelming child's rights crisis can be addressed?

Um, and And just if you could give me a bit more context, Uh,

you mentioned severe violations in in your findings.

how often does that happen? Um, do states generally comply or

or do they generally not comply? Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh,

you know, the committee here has added its voice to

that of many UN bodies. So the committee on the

rights of the child has now

also added its deep concern about the situation.

But that's after the General Assembly, the Security Council,

even the International Court of Justice.

And so there's a kind of

um, adding of the weight of it,

I think it is encouraging that Israel came

to the committee whilst the conflict is ongoing.

And, um

and that we were able to continue to have this

dialogue for a six hour period that was significant.

And generally speaking, you know,

over time states have shown a good compliance with this convention

and a willingness to try.

Now, of course, the committee, like many others, have been saying

the only real way

to serve Children's rights in this situation

is a ceasefire.

Um, and, uh uh,

uh, you know,

we're not naive enough to think that because we've added our call to that,

uh, call by many that it will now happen as a result of that.

But I do think that there is a kind of declaratory weight

that simply gets heavier and heavier,

and that the the voice of the Committee on the Rights of the Child is significant.

After all, more Children have died in this war than

men or women.

That

is massive.

And I think

when we think about it, and we know that under international humanitarian law

that Israel admits it is bound by

killing of civilian targets

on this scale is unacceptable in international humanitarian

law and international human rights law as well.

And Children are always civilians.

If I may add to this,

uh, reply that has been given

now, 20 years back, the UN defined,

six grave violations against Children during armed conflict.

And, um,

these were selected.

These criteria were selected on the basis of the severity, of course,

but also on how

to measure those.

And I

I don't think we have seen before a violation

that

is so massive as we are seeing in Gaza. Now,

there are three

of the sec six, which there is no doubt about that Israel is violating.

This is killing and maiming of Children.

And secondly, attack on

hospitals and schools

and

three, the denial of humanitarian access.

These are extremely grave violations

that we do not often see.

of course, the, um, outrageous.

death of Children

is

almost historically

unique. This is extremely dark

plays in history.

Thank you very much. Uh, Gabriella with a follow up.

Yes. Thank you very much.

Uh, you You already talk about Children and the war? Uh uh, and

lots of Children that have died,

uh, from Palestine,

But

I arrived a little bit late. I don't know if you already talk about this, but

how is this war affecting Children in Israel,

in their families, in the everyday

life? Thank you.

I did talk about it at the beginning

and I.

I stressed the fact that, you know,

we were It was a lot of what we talked about in the dialogue.

We, the

the state party, was very keen that we should understand

that Children in Israel are suffering as a result of the conflict.

And we certainly heard that when we heard from a mother

whose whose child had died and another of her Children were injured.

And we and we accept that testimony because it was very genuine,

that clearly Children are suffering.

So war is not good for Children, whichever side of the divide they are on.

And Israel did explain to us that they have

taken many measures to try to support those families.

But not all of them have been able to return home yet.

And aside from the attack, of course,

the hostage taking has also been very

distressing for Children whose families were affected

and there remain two Children who are hostages and haven't yet been returned.

Thank you very much. Yes,

thank you. Uh, Dina Abi

SAB, a reporter of several Arabic media.

The Israeli delegation said

in the discussions with you last week that Israel does not target civilians

or Children

in general and that it is respecting the international law.

What is your response to this?

And a second question. We know that there is a very long list of rights of Children

what is still respected in Gaza by Israel. Thank you.

Thank you for this question. I shall try to respond to it

now.

The

we did try to get answers

on the measures Israel had taken

to

protect protect Children in densely populated areas during military operations

in accordance with international humanitarian law.

the application of weapons with wide area effects

in residential buildings, houses.

where, um,

multigenerational

family lives

raises certainly concerns about the protection of civilians and of all Children.

All Children are, of course, civilians.

We did not get any

sufficient answers to this,

and I think the figures

speak for themselves.

I

don't think we can

identify any particular measure that has been taken to save Children's lives

in

this

military operation in Gaza

and

follow up. Has the Israeli delegation shows any intention

to accept or maybe to follow your recommendations?

I would say

we were encouraged by the fact that they they came

and that we managed to

have a conversation.

and at the same time, um, we realised that at times we were talking past one another.

So although traditionally this type of

interaction is called a constructive dialogue,

um, a

dialogue does require listening and engaging.

And there were certainly moments where it was clear that,

the answers were

had been prepared before.

In fact, on the very point of, um

to what extent

the

the measures

in Gaza were disproportionate. For example,

you know, there was someone from an official from their legal department

who is very knowledgeable about

international humanitarian law

requirements.

So they had their answers, but they were were not,

uh in our view,

um, facing up to the reality

that

17,000 Children are dead,

Um, and that there have been repeated attacks on schools and on hospitals.

Of course,

they made the usual, uh, points that

there are tunnels beneath these buildings, et cetera. So we heard all of that.

Um and, um,

but I think what we kept on driving home is just the fact that,

this is

a scale that is,

completely

out of proportion.

And so it's hard to understand how the principle of proportionality is being,

uh, followed under these circumstances.

And I, I think, uh, a further issue was that in the end, um,

when hopefully

this war is over,

all of the rebuilding that has got to happen,

all of the recovery that is going to happen have to happen.

Um

and,

you know, because of the fact that that is all ahead of us,

it wasn't possible for us to get into the detail of what that would require.

But at that some time in the future that has to be faced by Israel and by the world.

Thank you very much. Yes, thank you.

Thank you very much. Moussa

al

TV,

Arabic news channel based

in Lebanon.

Can you give us

an idea about the number of Children killed

or wounded or arrested in Gaza

and in West Bank

from October 7?

Thank you.

Well, this is a difficult question

The

latest confirmed figure that we were working with

was between 16 and 17,000 Children.

the

Palestinian authorities have submitted a list

with the names of between 13 and 14,000,

I believe.

But we know that there are

many Children.

The tower,

uh, buried under the

under the, um

rubble

in

Gaza. Nobody knows, of course, how many?

So the figure can be a lot higher,

and and it will take a long time to

to find this out.

We have.

We were informed of an estimate that it would take about

15 years just to clean up the rebels in Gaza.

And this means that we

are not likely to find bodies.

Uh, all the bodies,

until after some years

to

be able to establish exactly how many deaths there are.

so this is the reality.

OK,

did you have a yes stammer

about the detention

Children in

detention in West Bank and Gaza?

And if you have also an idea about the number of Children

killed in the Israeli side or arrested, you spoke about two Children.

Can I know the age of these two Children? Thank you.

Well, those two Children, Ariel and

kaffir who were kidnapped. If those are the two Children you're referring to,

they were babies when they were arrested.

Uh, sorry.

Kidnapped.

And so they're They've been in captivity for almost a year now.

So actually,

one of the points that was made is that they've

spent more time in captivity than they had lived before.

At least the youngest one had,

um, And with regard to the number of Children who've been

killed and who were detained, we do have those figures.

I don't have them right in front of me now,

but I can certainly provide them to you afterwards.

Thank you very much. Uh, Dima, did you have a follow up?

Thank you.

Any further questions in the room? Otherwise we will take questions online.

I see a question from Isabel from

a,

uh good afternoon. Thank you very much.

Um, I am Isabel

Saco with the Spanish news agency. Uh, I would I would like to ask you please,

to go back back a little bit on what you said, uh, or you explained,

uh, before, um, and my question on this, uh, census.

if, uh during the six hours of, uh, discussions with the Israeli delegation

at any moment. Uh, at any point of this discussion,

there were there was any recognition of the obligation, uh,

by the state of Israel on the protection

of Children in the in the occupied territory, Palestinian territories, Uh,

at any moment, they they recognise that they are responsible for that, uh,

on their well being and protection.

Thank you

to respond to this question. I can only say that

Israel did

admit to its obligation under international humanitarian law.

And, um,

but they did not, as I said earlier,

in my view, in our view, provide us with sufficient

information

that led us to believe that they had taken any

measures to

avoid death to preserve life in Gaza

in a more general way. They did express

that it is regrettable that so many Children have died.

Thank you very much. Uh,

in the room, Dina.

go ahead.

A

follow up about the, uh, Children, um,

Palestinian Children in detention.

Do you have we received many records talking about them. They are facing

due to those reports

violence, sexual violence, famine.

And this is systematic. According to those reports, do you have more details?

about this, please.

Yes. We actually, um, did receive information, um, from,

uh,

lawyers that are representing Children and for a

long period of time whilst in detention,

Children don't have access to lawyers.

But what

we were told that is that when lawyers are reaching them,

um, the Children are in a very poor state.

They are, um these adolescents, of course, are terrified. And, um,

they're suffering from scabies,

which is a disease that you get from living in unhygienic conditions,

uh, which has causes the skin to itch.

Um, and, uh, they, you know,

are also not able to see their families during this period of time.

We did take this all up with the delegation,

and we also expressed a concern about new new laws that

have come in that are allowing for longer periods of time.

This wasn't denied by the Israeli government,

and we also pointed out that you know that

Children

who are being tried in the military courts,

We also object to that because the committee's position is

that Children should not be tried in military courts.

And so again,

whilst there are positive things to say about the

general administration of child justice for Israeli Children.

This doesn't apply to Palestinian Children who are

in the occupied who are in Israel.

Thank you very much. We will take a question online at

Tavik. I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly.

Uh, yes. Uh,

it is correct. Uh, can you hear me?

Yes. Go ahead.

Uh,

OK, I'm from Arabo

Deli.

Uh, and the question is, for chair and vice chair. A

year has already passed since about 120,000 Armenians of Nagorno

Karabakh were forcibly displaced.

And however, Azerbaijan has not yet been punished for ethnic

and violation of the rights of hundreds of thousands of people.

Uh, people, uh, in which they are also Children.

I would like to know what tools do you have to hold Azerbaijan accountable?

Uh, because nowadays the violation of child rights is being continues because

the Azerbaijanis are posting videos in different social media

and Children watch the videos and, uh, see in these videos, their houses,

their place, and so Children got in traumatic situation.

And the second question is about, uh, leg

legislation of Armenia.

Uh, because, uh, I saw that, uh, in the review of the committee,

uh, there is, Uh, um, So something written about, uh, Armenian legislation that

Armenian legislation still didn't ban, uh, corporal punishment in all settings.

I would like to know.

Have you raised this issue before the Armenian authorities, And, uh,

are there any specific deadliness for revising the legis

legislation in this regard?

Thank you.

Yes, thank you for that.

So the committee,

when it reviews Azerbaijan will put these questions to Azerbaijan.

Obviously,

we were aware of the impacts of what you've been discussing on Armenian Children,

and that was

raised. And it was part of the discussion

with regard to Children,

the corporal punishment of Children.

It was one of the issues that the committee focused on.

And we have urged the government to take immediate measures to end

the use of corporal punishment in all settings and to also provide

complaints mechanisms so that Children can

can complain, particularly in schools and in

alternative care settings.

And we also believe that the government must invest in campaigns

to change the attitude about the use of physical punishment on Children

in Armenia.

Thank you very much. Mr

Carleton. Uh, Gabriella,

thank you so much.

Um, do you know if the I AC RC

has access to Palestinian Children who are in detention in in Israel.

Are you aware of that? Thank you.

I'm afraid we can't answer that question.

And when we repeat, receive reports from the

ICRC,

they're usually confidential.

Thank you. Are there any further questions in the room?

I do not see any. Uh, we have a question online. Nick Cumming.

Bruce, The New York Times.

Uh, yeah. Thank you. I just wonder if you could come back on Israel. Um,

whether you got any substantive engagement with the Israeli delegation on the,

uh, allegations of the torture of Children in detention, was there

any substantive discussion on that?

Was there any acknowledgment by them of a need to,

uh, investigate and process that, um, we

Thank you.

It was certainly amongst the questions that we raised.

Um, there was no acknowledgment.

Um, but, um,

I I think that their response generally is that the the detention facilities are, um

are under some kind of reporting process or some kind of

of monitoring process.

We are pushing them, though

in our concluding observations to make that

far more objective and independent so that

there needs to be an independent monitoring process for all Children in detention.

Thank you very much. Uh, are there any further questions in the room?

I do not see any.

Um, we do not have any further questions online. Let me just check again.

OK, so with that, I think we can conclude the press conference.

Thank you very much to the committee members for being with us today.

Thank you so much for coming. Those of you in the room and online

have a good rest of the afternoon.

Thank

you.

CRC Press Conference: findings on Argentina, Armenia, Israel, Mexico and Turkmenistan - 19 September 2024