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COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD EXAMINES REPORT OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
21 January 2009
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Committee on the Rights of the Child
21 January 2009
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today reviewed the second periodic report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Introducing the report, Upio Kakura Wapol, Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that, despite the political and economic situation, marked by the ongoing war in the east of the country and the large human rights violations that that situation engendered, the Government had inscribed among its priorities the promotion and protection of fundamental rights and individual freedoms enshrined in the different international human rights instruments in general, and the rights of the child in particular. Considerable efforts had been made to ratify the majority of international and regional conventions for the protection of children, such as International Labour Organization Conventions on the minimum age for employment and on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, and to adapt domestic legislation to international standards with regard to the protection of children's rights. Two major developments in that sphere were the Constitutional definition of the child as any person under the age of 18 and the law of 10 January 2009 on the Protection of Children, which brought together in a single text all legislation concerning children and harmonized them with international standards.
Among national plans, policies and strategies to address core concerns, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol highlighted a national strategy on social action with a focus on prevention of the break-up of families, provision of assistance and the reunification and reinsertion of children into their families; a national plan of action for the prevention and combat of violence against children was being implemented under the coordination of the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children; and a national policy to ensure that as many children as possible could have access to education, with a focus on girls, and to rebuild and maintain new schools. The latter policy had seen encouraging results, notably in the number of children attending school, which had grown constantly since 2006.
In preliminary concluding observations, Moushira Khattab, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said the armed conflict was a major obstacle, and it was hoped that peace would be established soon. Until then, the State was under the obligation to respect and ensure the rights of children during armed conflict. Armed forces and all warring factions had to respect those rights, such as the right to be free from abuse and violence, and that victims received rehabilitation and perpetrators were brought to justice. Among the Committee's recommendations would be the creation of a stronger body in charge of children's issues; accelerated action to continue putting in place an adequate legal framework for children, compatible with the Convention; the creation of a Children's Ombudsman, in accordance with the Paris Principles; and the establishment of a national plan for children, with a special emphasis on marginalized children, including children affected by societal discrimination such as girls, and children affected by armed conflict, poverty and HIV/AIDS. Chief areas of concern were discrimination, be it gender, regional or otherwise and the right to education and health, which were both severely hampered. There were a whole list of issues that needed immediate and concerted action, including the establishment of a database; the eradication of impunity; the elimination of harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation; and the protection of street children and orphans.
Other Experts also raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, high levels of malnourishment among children; inconsistencies in the law regarding the age of marriage, legal responsibility and rape, despite the new Constitutional definition of the minor; monitoring for the implementation of plans and programmes for children; a decline in the actual value of the government expenditure on children's issues; child trafficking; alarming rates of infant and under-five mortality and maternal mortality; decreasing indicators with regard to access to clean water and sanitation; children deprived of family care, including the number and type of institutions to care for such children; details on the new adoption laws; plans to protect displaced and refugee children; and programmes to address the culture of gender discrimination that fostered the current situation of gender-based violence.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the second periodic report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 30 January 2009.
The delegation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo also included Marie-Ange Lukiana Mufwankolo, Minister for Gender, Family and Children, Antoine Mindua Kesia-Mbe, Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations Office at Geneva and members of the Permanent Mission, as well as other representatives from the Ministry of Human Rights, the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of International and Regional Cooperation.
As one of the 193 States parties to the Convention, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to comply with the provisions of the treaty. The delegation was on hand throughout the day to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee Experts.
When the Committee reconvenes on Friday, 23 January, at 10 a.m., it will consider the third and fourth periodic reports of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (CRC/C/PRK/4).
Report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
As part of the implementation of the Government’s policy of promotion and protection of the rights of the child, the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children created the National Council for Children in 1998, says the second periodic report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (CRC/C/COD/2). The Council was decentralized in 2003 and now local councils in the country’s communities and neighbourhoods provide a forum close at hand where violations of children’s rights can be reported. The National Council for Children is entrusted with coordinating activities for implementation of the Convention and ensuring follow-up. More specifically, interventions with regard to protecting the rights of children are pursued in the framework of sectoral action plans developed in cooperation with all stakeholders both public and private. The above holds true with regard to the national plan of action for recording of births in the Civil Registry, adopted on 24 July 2004 for the period 2004-2005, and the national plan of action for preventing and combating violence against children, of March 2007, which should be implemented during the period 2008-2012. The National Council is also entrusted with centralizing the collection of data through provincial councils for children, but the lack of budgetary resources does not permit data to be collected nationwide.
Since mid-2005, more than 30,000 victims of sexual violence have been reported nationwide. With a view to preventing and severely punishing violations involving this type of violence and ensuring systematic care for victims, two Acts were adopted in 2006: Act No. 06/018 which strengthens penalties for rape and criminalizes other forms of anti-social behaviour which had heretofore gone unpunished; and Act No. 0619, which provides for an expedited procedure for investigation and trial of sexual violence cases. The adoption of these laws was preceded and followed by broad-based awareness-raising campaigns, advocacy with political and judicial decision-makers and training sessions for thousands of law-enforcement personnel, with a view to ending impunity. These activities are carried out as part of the “Joint Initiative to combat sexual violence against women, youth and children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo”, launched in March 2004. The actions of the Joint Initiative include advocacy; awareness-raising; psychosocial care; medical attention; and legal aid. Of 30,000 victims identified since mid-2005, 70 per cent received aid in one form or another. In the two Kivu provinces, since the launch of the initiative in 2003, 27,460 victims have received psychosocial attention, 17,089 have received specialized medical care, 6,134 have been guided towards economic reintegration activities, and 34 have received legal and judicial assistance. Moreover, the perpetrators of rape and other sex offences are being prosecuted and convicted, especially in military jurisdictions.
Presentation of Report
UPIO KAKURA WAPOL, Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that, despite the political and economic situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, marked by the ongoing war in the east of the country and with regard to the large human rights violations that that situation inevitably engendered, the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo had inscribed among its priorities the promotion and protection of fundamental rights and individual freedoms enshrined in the different international human rights instruments in general, and the rights of the child in particular. All efforts had been made to make up for lost time in the submission of the initial reports to the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The initial report on the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict had been submitted to the Secretary-General in 2007. As to the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, that would be available during the second quarter of this year.
With regard to legislation, since the presentation of its initial report, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had made considerable efforts, on the one hand, to ratify the majority of international and regional conventions for the protection of children, such as the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and International Labour Organization Conventions 138 and 182 (on the minimum age for employment and on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour) and, on the other hand, to adapt its domestic legislation to international standards with regard to the protection of children's rights.
In that regard, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol wished to highlight two major developments. First, the Constitution had, for the first time, given a definition of the child, in its article 41, which stated: "A minor child is any person, regardless of gender, who has not yet attained the age of 18". Secondly, the law of 10 January 2009 on the Protection of Children was noteworthy as it brought together in a single text all legislation concerning children and harmonized them with international standards. The Government was currently putting in place the mechanisms for the implementation of that law.
As for structures for the protection and promotion of children's rights, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol said the National Council for Children, which had the responsibility for coordinating activities with regard to the implementation of the Convention, was currently being reformed to improve its performance.
Concerning budgetary resources allocated to the social sector, those had seen a constant growth since 2001. For example, national budget allocations for education had passed from 3 per cent in 2004 to 7.1 per cent in 2006, 7.8 per cent in 2007 and 8.2 per cent in 2008. The Government was also allocating some of its budgetary resources directly to non-governmental organizations supporting children, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol added.
Regarding birth registration, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol highlighted that the national plan of action implemented in 2004 to increase the number of births registered had been integrated into a global action plan for reform of the Government, which was still being finalized. The implementation of that action plan sought not only to reinforce technical and institutional capacity, but to raise awareness among the community, and it had already produced encouraging results. Thus, the number of civilly registered births was rising constantly, with, for example, the number of births registered in Kinshasa rising from 25.9 per cent in 2001 to 45 per cent in 2008.
As for the rights of children linked to survival, development, protection and participation, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol noted that those areas had been of particular concern to the Government and had been translated into policies, programmes and legislative measures, despite material and financial constraints and the more than decade-long war in the country. The Government deplored those who had contributed to that war, the primary victims of which were sadly women and children, who constituted the majority of the 950,000 persons displaced in the provinces of Orientale, North and South Kivu. The war had caused more than 5 million deaths. What was worse, it had been the occasion for the recruitment of children into armed groups.
The Government had spared no effort to put an end to that situation, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol underscored, so as to allow legitimate institutions created as a result of free and fair elections to put more of the resources available for areas directly impacting on the well-being of children, such as health programmes, the Poverty Reduction Strategy and the "five workshops of the Republic", targeting the improvement of basic infrastructure, access to education, water, electricity and others.
Regarding the social protection of vulnerable groups, among whom were children deprived of a family environment, the Ministry for Social Affairs, Solidarity and Humanitarian Action was implementing a national strategy for social action with a focus on prevention of the break-up of families, provision of assistance and the reunification and reinsertion of children into their families. Action in this area was regulated by a code of conduct that private associations working in this area were obliged to follow.
As to the fight against violence, abuse and exploitation of children of any kind, in particular abandoned children and those accused of witchcraft, who suffered the worst treatment, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol highlighted that the fight against violence and abuse of children was inscribed in the Constitution. Furthermore, a national plan of action for the prevention and combat of violence against children had been implemented, under the coordination of the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children, and various laws established heavy penalties for such actions. As an example, a well-known Congolese musician had recently been convicted to five years of penal servitude for raping a minor.
On education, the Government was implementing a national policy to ensure that as many children as possible could have access to education, with a focus on girls, and to rebuild and maintain new schools. That policy had seen encouraging results, notably in the number of children attending school, which had grown constantly since 2006.
Finally, with regard to children in conflict with the law, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol noted that major reforms had been undertaken since 2001 to create the children's tribunals foreseen in the Law on the Protection of the Child. It now remained to build the courts, rehabilitate and build detention and education facilities for juveniles and train judicial, administrative and social service staff.
Questions by Experts
MOUSHIRA KHATTAB, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, welcomed the announcement of the adoption of the Law on the Protection of Children by the Government. However, the Committee sought stronger political will and commitment to implement the rights of the child as outlined by the Convention. While the Committee was aware of the many steps taken so far in that regard, they remained very concerned about what the Democratic Republic of the Congo had gone through for the past several years – the armed conflict – and the impact that had had on children.
Turning to specific concerns, Ms. Khattab asked how much involvement non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had in the drafting of the report and whether children had been consulted.
In the midst of the internal situation in the country, Ms. Khattab wondered how much attention children actually received. How many people really treated children as the subject of rights? Also, to what extent was the Government willing or able to implement the Committee's recommendations? It was necessary for the Committee to know to what extent the armed hostilities would impact on the ability of the Government to implement the Convention.
With regard to education there were a number of issues, including low enrolment rates, low quality of education and hidden costs. On health, main issues were high infant and under-five mortality rates and a lack of accessibility to services.
Ms. Khattab also mentioned the numerous international conventions that were relevant to children's rights that the Government had yet to sign or if it had signed, to ratify, including the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel mines and the Hague Convention on adoption.
A further concern was the power of the National Council for Children, the coordinating body for the implementation of the Convention, as it did not have its own human resources but was dependent on other ministries for funding. Also, what was the relationship of the Council with the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children? In that connection, Ms. Khattab was disappointed not to see a representative from the National Council for Children in the delegation.
With regard to the serious issue of gender-based violence against girls and adolescents, which was increasing with the deterioration of the situation in the east of the country, including in the camps of internally displaced persons, Ms. Khattab specifically asked what was being done in the schools to educate children about this phenomenon? Also, what measures were being taken to ensure that victims had access to justice?
KAMEL FILALI, the Committee Expert serving as co-Rapporteur for the report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, asked for information on the impact of the legislation in place on children and the actual situation of children on the ground. There were not enough implementing decrees. He was also concerned about the legal situation in which old laws still remained on the books, even if they had been superseded by new laws. There were cases in which judges were not using the new definition in law for minors, relying on older laws.
Mr. Filali was also curious about the long delay in adopting the Law on Child Protection. What had been the sticking point? What was really new in this law? Also, what was the budget for its implementation?
In a similar vein, what had happened to the draft law on families and children, Mr. Filali asked? Had that been blocked in the legislature and if so why?
On birth registration, as far as Mr. Filali could see from the figures, the number of registrations was going down, and he wanted to know what the Government was doing to address that situation?
Other Experts then raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, the procedure for statistics gathering on children's issues; high levels of malnourishment among children; inconsistencies in the law regarding the age of marriage, legal responsibility and rape, despite the new Constitutional definition of the minor; monitoring for the implementation of plans and programmes for children; what measures had been taken to combat the killing of street children; whether there was an independent national human rights institution in place and, if not, if there was another instance for receiving complaints from children that their rights had been infringed; discrimination against Batwa or Pygmy children; and what documentation was needed to access social services, and if a birth certificate was necessary.
An Expert noted that despite claims that the amount of money allocated for children's issues had grown because the percentage of the budget had grown, it was basically meaningless given the rate of inflation in the country, which had meant that the actual amount spent on children was less. He also wished to know what percentage of the budget was spent on military expenditures vis-à-vis children's issues.
Response by the Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said that, with regard to the January 2009 Law on Child Protection, which had been gazetted on 12 January, that that law contained many innovations.
On gender violence, the delegation noted that there was a governmental subgroup on gender violence, which included members of various government ministries, as well as non-governmental organizations, as well as an inter-ministerial plan to tackle sexual violence – the joint initiative on sexual violence – which had a number of different thematic areas. One was the fight against impunity, with action in that area spearheaded by the Ministry of Justice. A large-scale campaign to raise awareness was in place under the Ministry of Justice. It was true there were no courts available throughout the country but they were working on establishing roving judges to travel to areas where they were needed. A recruitment campaign for more judges had also been launched. It remained to train the judges and increase the number of female personnel, and there was a training programme that was already up and running.
The joint initiative took a holistic approach to the problem. Other priority thematic areas included provision of medical care and rehabilitation for victims, as well as awareness-raising among the population, the delegation added.
As for complaints, children could complain through the courts, or could lodge a complaint directly with the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children, as provided for in the new Law on Child Protection. The National Council for Children also had the competence to hear children's complaints, the delegation added.
On budgetary questions, the Inspector General of Finance monitored budgetary spending. There were resources that should have been used for social development, such as health and education, which had been diverted to basic social protection in conflict zones, the delegation agreed.
As to NGO funding, some 15 NGOs working with children who needed special protection had received funding in 2007 from the Ministry of Social Protection, to implement programmes for things such as street children and abandoned children and their reinsertion into the community. There were other such projects under the other Ministries. NGOs received support from a number of sources, including the State budget, national organizations and multilateral support structures.
Further Questions by Experts
In a second round of questions, Mr. Filali, the co-Rapporteur for the report, asked about the situation of minors between the ages of 16 and 18 in conflict with the law. In particular, he was concerned about the slow pace of judicial proceedings, owing to a lack of staff, and wondered what steps the Democratic Republic of the Congo was taking to cut down on the backlog of cases, including through establishment of alternative punishments. Furthermore, owing to a lack of detention facilities, minors were often kept in police stations, or held together with adults.
Turning to prisons, Mr. Filali was concerned that there were no social workers to ensure that juveniles did not spend too long in prison and that their special needs were catered to.
Ms. Khattab, the Rapporteur, was concerned about a lack of special techniques and facilities for the investigation of crimes of sexual violence. According to information received, in 2006-2007 more than 2,000 sexually violated children were cared for by UNICEF out of a total of 37,000 victims, and that perpetrators were only being prosecuted if and when multilateral or bilateral agencies were bearing the cost of that action. Could the delegation confirm if any prosecutions had been carried out solely at the Government's expense?
Could the Government also confirm that the national forces were not involved in cases of violence against children, such as those committed in October 2008 in Goma, where reportedly some children were raped and others killed, Ms. Khattab asked? Could it also confirm that no children were being recruited for use in the National Army?
Further concerns voiced by Ms. Khattab included children subjected to hazardous forms of labour in the mines in Katanga; and a police policy of arresting street children, who were held in detention cells with adults and were subject to abuse, and then releasing them.
Other Committee Experts also raised a number of issues, including child trafficking; a horrific rate of infant mortality – with one in eight infants dying – and under-five mortality – with one in five children dying before age five; decreasing indicators with regard to access to clean water and sanitation; strategies to help strengthen families so as to prevent break-up and to assist in reinsertion of children into their families; statistics on children deprived of family care, including the number and type of institutions to care for such children; statistics on cases of child abuse; details on the new adoption laws, as well as on the numbers of domestic and international adoptions, if any; what programmes were in place to assist child-heads of household among the refugee and internally displaced population; what plans were in place to protect displaced and refugee children; and programmes to address the culture of gender discrimination that fostered the current situation of gender-based violence.
An Expert, citing the Secretary-General's report on the situation of children and armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo of 10 November 2008, said that at least 3,500 children were involved in armed groups in the country, and asked what was being done to ensure children were not recruited. An Expert was disturbed that only 12 per cent of children who were officially demobilized were girls, while they represented 40 per cent of those taken by armed groups. Reportedly, that was because the girls were considered to be the "wives" of the rebel soldiers. Another issue was what happened to the many children who were not "officially" demobilized. Did they have access to services?
He was also worried about reports that proven perpetrators of sexual violence against children were quickly released and that there was a lack of records of arrests of children, in particular in the case of children who were not civilly registered. Finally, what measures would be taken under the new Children's Law or were available now to ensure that children did not languish in prisons or other detention facilities.
Concern was also expressed about female genital mutilation and other harmful traditional practices, and it was asked what the National Committee to Combat Female Genital Mutilation had achieved so far. Had there been any awareness-raising measures taken at the local level, for example, or had any perpetrators been prosecuted?
A particularly disturbing trend was the demonification of "witch" children. The number of children designated as witches had risen to 539 in one town, and in Kinshasa, the capital, over 440 such children had been reported. According to one report, over 70 per cent of street children had been separated from their parents and thrown into the street following witchcraft accusations. Another disturbing fact was that the majority of such accusations came from the parents themselves. What was being done to intensify education on the root causes of poverty, HIV/AIDS and other phenomenon for which these child "witches" were blamed, an Expert asked. Also, was the Government considering appointing a special adviser to help the Government devise a strategy to combat this growing practice?
Response by the Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said that, with regard to the use of children in armed groups, steps had been taken and progress made in this area as far as the regular army was concerned. However, this was still a problem with regard to the other armed groups, who for the moment escaped the control of the Government. It was hoped that that issue would be resolved as part of the peace process.
With regard to the events carried out by the Armed Forces in Goma in August 2008, the perpetrators were now being dealt with, the delegation said. Those who had been responsible for crimes against women and children had met with very serious punishment and those penalties were being carried out.
Referring to the case raised by Experts, there had been a case of the release of a known rapist back into the community by a magistrate, the delegation confirmed. When that case came to light, the magistrate responsible had been prosecuted and convicted. Awareness-raising of that decision was taken at an official level, so that other magistrates would be aware that there was no impunity, and that a zero tolerance policy was being pursued. The real issue was the lack of judges to try such cases. But there were serious reforms of the justice system being carried out, including strengthening of justices of the peace and empowering them to deal with cases of sexual violence.
The national strategy for the demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers included a programme, supported by the international community, which allowed them to monitor the situation of such children comprehensively. However, as long as armed conflict continued in the country the Government would be unable to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers by armed groups it could not control.
The delegation enumerated the enormity of the violations against children owing to the armed conflict, including rape of children as young as three months old, the infection of children with HIV/AIDS virus, and the loss of children's development, including the ability to attend school. For that reason, the Government had made addressing violence against women and children a priority with four main areas of intervention: awareness-raising, including a protest March by 150,000 women and television information spots; legal assistance, including legal reforms to tighten penalties; strengthening of protection mechanisms, including the National Council for Children which had a local reach; advocacy, in which the National Council for Children also played a role; and psychosocial care and medical care for victims. Among planned actions to combat this phenomenon were the prosecution of such violence against children as crimes against humanity; the publicization of trials of perpetrators; identifying leaders of groups for prosecution; and working towards establishing compensation mechanisms for victims.
The women and children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were appealing for international solidarity in helping them to eradicate the armed groups that were rife, in particular in the east of the country. The current situation had its origins in the creation of a humanitarian corridor by Turkish troops, when the Democratic Republic of the Congo had accepted to open its borders to 1 million persons at threat in their home country. That decision had resulted in the export to the Democratic Republic of the Congo of genocidal practices and sexual violence. Perhaps that humanitarian corridor could be reopened now to allow the refugees to return home, which would also allow armed groups to leave, the delegation said.
In response to Experts' concern about the coordination of the mandate of the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children and the National Council for Children and the possible duplication, the delegation insisted that there was a need for the National Council for Children so that there was not just a one-sided approach to children's issues. The Ministry was a government body, whereas the Council was a separate structure that incorporated non-governmental organizations, international organizations and others. It also provided a local dimension, and enabled them to reach the grassroots via the local councils. That was in particular important with regard to the compilation of statistics.
Regarding capacity-building in services for children, the delegation said, with regard to the judiciary, and the need to increase their salaries, there had been an increase. When the current President came to power, in 2006, the basic wage was $2 a month, as compared with today when the minimum salary was $70 a month. That was still nothing, only covering a third of what a household of five needed for a month, but an effort had been made.
It should be understood how little social services there were to start with. That was the de facto situation they had been left with as a result of the long conflicts the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been subject to. In that situation, non-governmental organizations had become very important. For example, the vast majority orphanages in the country today were private ones that were simply under Government monitoring and control, with assistance from UNICEF. The only State-run orphanages were in the northeast of country. There was a children's directorate within the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children that was responsible for monitoring the situation in the orphanages, and for providing advice and assistance. They had to find the political will to set up such orphanages again. There were also no childcare centres. And legal aid centres were just now being established.
Turning to the use of children in mining operations, the Government had adopted the relevant ILO Conventions and a national committee against the worst forms of child labour had been set up in 2008 and was just beginning to implement programmes. One such programme was a school for child miners run by the Government in conjunction with UNICEF. Other programmes included assistance for the families of those child miners to allow them to attend school.
For street children, activities were being carried out together with development NGOs and the Government had made some very controversial attempts to move those children to other provinces and to try and keep them within a school framework, to try and prevent them from returning to the street, the delegation said. The priority in addressing street children was, however, of course to get the children back into their families. They did not have a hotline, as a Committee Expert had suggested, but that was a good suggestion and would be taken on board.
On the witch children, there was a specific law prohibiting the treatment faced by such children and more legislation was in the pipeline. There were also a number of initiatives in place, which demonstrated the Government's determination to address this problem, the delegation said.
Regarding adoptions, the new law had settled this matter. Before this law, it was possible to believe that there was a traditional practice of adoption based on the extended family, but the new law enshrined the right of all children to adoption in accordance with its rules. What was happening as part of traditional practices was that children from the extended family were often welcomed into another family to be raised, but that was not considered adoption as such. As far as the delegation was concerned, there was nothing standing in the way of the ratification of the Hague Convention on adoption, which, like many other international instruments, was waiting in line to be adopted by the Government.
Concerning health issues, the delegation said that from 306 medical staff in 2006, they had increased to 515 today, so social services were more widely available to the people. Vaccination coverage was also increasing, with many of the basic vaccinations having attained over 90 per cent coverage in 2008. Regarding health and water, with the help of UNICEF, the Government had constructed over 1,000 latrines, numerous wells and 234 water collection points, which had scaled down the incidence of diarrhoea to 13 per cent. In May 2008, over 11 million children had been given vitamin A supplements, over 90 per cent of the affected population, and over 9 million children had been dewormed.
As far as adolescent health was concerned, numerous awareness-raising seminars had taken place with over 17,000 trainers for HIV/AIDS, and over 9,000 condoms and 500 female condoms had been distributed by young people themselves. AIDS activities had been stepped up, with better coverage – 168 health areas were covered, as compared with 166 in 2006. Nevertheless, the HIV infection rate increased from 2.2 per cent in 2006 to 3.2 per cent in 2007.
Shortage of medical staff was not the reason why certain sectors of the population were not getting medical care, the delegation specified. The single greatest reason was lack of access to conflict-affected areas, with the displaced suffering the most. That was also the primary reason why vaccination rates had fallen between 2007 and 2008, because of the escalation of conflicts.
With regard to the right to education, the national strategy to strengthen overall implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child with regard to education could be seen in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. That strategy had also been reflected in the national action plan on social services. The aim of the National Poverty Reduction Strategy was to provide a suitable framework for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, including the provision of basic education free of charge. The Constitution provided for free compulsory primary education in public establishments and the Government was attempting to ensure that that was reality. In 2007, a National Fund for the Promotion of Education was set up by Presidential Decree and the Government had already begun to implement the measures derived from that fund, and they were working on raising the funds to ensure that that became a reality.
The delegation reiterated that, for the past three years, the Government had been pursuing a campaign to strengthen education for young girls. As cited in the report, that campaign had been relatively successful. There was also now a ratio of 1:1 for boys and girls of preschool age enrolling in early childhood institutions, with over 160,000 children in preschool and there was a plan to extend preschool to cover all children in the country. For the school year 2006-2007 the average student teacher ratio was 38:1, with some differences in the more sparsely populated areas.
With regard to the new law on juvenile justice and whether there were sufficient resources allocated for its implementation, the delegation noted that, in any case, the law contained a deadline of two years for the setting up of the juvenile courts.
The new law abolished the possibility that children could be considered as adults in the prosecution of criminal charges and raised the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years. It also established a mediation mechanism for matters to be settled out of court; and provided for the specialization of the police in juvenile justice area.
Preliminary Concluding Remarks
MOUSHIRA KHATTAB, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, presenting some preliminary concluding observations, said the Committee interpreted the presence of the very high-level delegation as evidence of a renewed commitment on the part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the implementation of the Convention. The Committee was fully aware of the limitations and constraints facing the Government, but was still convinced that it could do better.
A major obstacle was the armed conflict and it was hoped that peace would be established soon, Ms. Khattab said. Until then, the State was under the obligation to respect and ensure the rights of children during armed conflict. Armed forces and all warring factions had to respect those rights, such as the right to be free from abuse and violence, and that victims received rehabilitation and perpetrators were brought to justice.
Ms. Khattab said the Committee would recommend that a stronger body be put in place in charge of children's issues, one that was adequately mandated and resourced; and that accelerated action continue to put in place an adequate legal framework for children, compatible with the Convention, as well as training of professionals on the law and the allocation of resources to implement those activities. The Government should create a Children's Ombudsman, in accordance with the Paris Principles, as well as a national plan for children, with a special emphasis on marginalized children, including children affected by societal discrimination such as girls, and children affected by armed conflict, poverty and HIV/AIDS. The Democratic Republic of the Congo should also give stronger consideration to the voice of children, and make children a priority in budget allocations.
Discrimination, be it gender, regional or otherwise was a major concern, Ms. Khattab underscored. Legal tools prohibiting and criminalizing discrimination were essential, but it was not enough to eliminate societal discrimination. Raising awareness of the need to change attitudes and education as well as affirmative action for victims of discrimination was badly needed.
Moreover, the definition of the child had to be brought into line with the Convention and the Government had to ensure that all children had their births registered.
The right to education was severely hampered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ms. Khattab observed. The Government had to eliminate hidden costs of education, to improve its quality and to ensure that schools were safe from armed forces including in Ituri and North Kivu. Boys and girls had to be encouraged to go to school and to stay there; hidden children, child witches and children involved in armed activities had a right to health, educational and other services. In that connection, the Government also had to prioritize and mainstream peace education and quality early childhood development programmes, including in rural areas.
The right of the children of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to health was also severely compromised and the Government needed to allocate more human and financial resources to improve the health indicators, such as infant and under-five mortality and nutrition and vaccination rates. Adolescents and reproductive health rights also needed attention, with a focus on gender-based violence and its correlation with HIV/AIDS.
Ms. Khattab concluded with a whole list of issues that needed immediate and concerted action, including the establishment of a database; the eradication of impunity; the elimination of harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation; and the protection of street children and orphans.
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For use of the information media; not an official record
21 January 2009
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today reviewed the second periodic report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Introducing the report, Upio Kakura Wapol, Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that, despite the political and economic situation, marked by the ongoing war in the east of the country and the large human rights violations that that situation engendered, the Government had inscribed among its priorities the promotion and protection of fundamental rights and individual freedoms enshrined in the different international human rights instruments in general, and the rights of the child in particular. Considerable efforts had been made to ratify the majority of international and regional conventions for the protection of children, such as International Labour Organization Conventions on the minimum age for employment and on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, and to adapt domestic legislation to international standards with regard to the protection of children's rights. Two major developments in that sphere were the Constitutional definition of the child as any person under the age of 18 and the law of 10 January 2009 on the Protection of Children, which brought together in a single text all legislation concerning children and harmonized them with international standards.
Among national plans, policies and strategies to address core concerns, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol highlighted a national strategy on social action with a focus on prevention of the break-up of families, provision of assistance and the reunification and reinsertion of children into their families; a national plan of action for the prevention and combat of violence against children was being implemented under the coordination of the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children; and a national policy to ensure that as many children as possible could have access to education, with a focus on girls, and to rebuild and maintain new schools. The latter policy had seen encouraging results, notably in the number of children attending school, which had grown constantly since 2006.
In preliminary concluding observations, Moushira Khattab, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said the armed conflict was a major obstacle, and it was hoped that peace would be established soon. Until then, the State was under the obligation to respect and ensure the rights of children during armed conflict. Armed forces and all warring factions had to respect those rights, such as the right to be free from abuse and violence, and that victims received rehabilitation and perpetrators were brought to justice. Among the Committee's recommendations would be the creation of a stronger body in charge of children's issues; accelerated action to continue putting in place an adequate legal framework for children, compatible with the Convention; the creation of a Children's Ombudsman, in accordance with the Paris Principles; and the establishment of a national plan for children, with a special emphasis on marginalized children, including children affected by societal discrimination such as girls, and children affected by armed conflict, poverty and HIV/AIDS. Chief areas of concern were discrimination, be it gender, regional or otherwise and the right to education and health, which were both severely hampered. There were a whole list of issues that needed immediate and concerted action, including the establishment of a database; the eradication of impunity; the elimination of harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation; and the protection of street children and orphans.
Other Experts also raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, high levels of malnourishment among children; inconsistencies in the law regarding the age of marriage, legal responsibility and rape, despite the new Constitutional definition of the minor; monitoring for the implementation of plans and programmes for children; a decline in the actual value of the government expenditure on children's issues; child trafficking; alarming rates of infant and under-five mortality and maternal mortality; decreasing indicators with regard to access to clean water and sanitation; children deprived of family care, including the number and type of institutions to care for such children; details on the new adoption laws; plans to protect displaced and refugee children; and programmes to address the culture of gender discrimination that fostered the current situation of gender-based violence.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the second periodic report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 30 January 2009.
The delegation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo also included Marie-Ange Lukiana Mufwankolo, Minister for Gender, Family and Children, Antoine Mindua Kesia-Mbe, Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations Office at Geneva and members of the Permanent Mission, as well as other representatives from the Ministry of Human Rights, the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of International and Regional Cooperation.
As one of the 193 States parties to the Convention, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to comply with the provisions of the treaty. The delegation was on hand throughout the day to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee Experts.
When the Committee reconvenes on Friday, 23 January, at 10 a.m., it will consider the third and fourth periodic reports of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (CRC/C/PRK/4).
Report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
As part of the implementation of the Government’s policy of promotion and protection of the rights of the child, the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children created the National Council for Children in 1998, says the second periodic report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (CRC/C/COD/2). The Council was decentralized in 2003 and now local councils in the country’s communities and neighbourhoods provide a forum close at hand where violations of children’s rights can be reported. The National Council for Children is entrusted with coordinating activities for implementation of the Convention and ensuring follow-up. More specifically, interventions with regard to protecting the rights of children are pursued in the framework of sectoral action plans developed in cooperation with all stakeholders both public and private. The above holds true with regard to the national plan of action for recording of births in the Civil Registry, adopted on 24 July 2004 for the period 2004-2005, and the national plan of action for preventing and combating violence against children, of March 2007, which should be implemented during the period 2008-2012. The National Council is also entrusted with centralizing the collection of data through provincial councils for children, but the lack of budgetary resources does not permit data to be collected nationwide.
Since mid-2005, more than 30,000 victims of sexual violence have been reported nationwide. With a view to preventing and severely punishing violations involving this type of violence and ensuring systematic care for victims, two Acts were adopted in 2006: Act No. 06/018 which strengthens penalties for rape and criminalizes other forms of anti-social behaviour which had heretofore gone unpunished; and Act No. 0619, which provides for an expedited procedure for investigation and trial of sexual violence cases. The adoption of these laws was preceded and followed by broad-based awareness-raising campaigns, advocacy with political and judicial decision-makers and training sessions for thousands of law-enforcement personnel, with a view to ending impunity. These activities are carried out as part of the “Joint Initiative to combat sexual violence against women, youth and children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo”, launched in March 2004. The actions of the Joint Initiative include advocacy; awareness-raising; psychosocial care; medical attention; and legal aid. Of 30,000 victims identified since mid-2005, 70 per cent received aid in one form or another. In the two Kivu provinces, since the launch of the initiative in 2003, 27,460 victims have received psychosocial attention, 17,089 have received specialized medical care, 6,134 have been guided towards economic reintegration activities, and 34 have received legal and judicial assistance. Moreover, the perpetrators of rape and other sex offences are being prosecuted and convicted, especially in military jurisdictions.
Presentation of Report
UPIO KAKURA WAPOL, Minister for Human Rights of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said that, despite the political and economic situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, marked by the ongoing war in the east of the country and with regard to the large human rights violations that that situation inevitably engendered, the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo had inscribed among its priorities the promotion and protection of fundamental rights and individual freedoms enshrined in the different international human rights instruments in general, and the rights of the child in particular. All efforts had been made to make up for lost time in the submission of the initial reports to the two Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The initial report on the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict had been submitted to the Secretary-General in 2007. As to the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, that would be available during the second quarter of this year.
With regard to legislation, since the presentation of its initial report, the Democratic Republic of the Congo had made considerable efforts, on the one hand, to ratify the majority of international and regional conventions for the protection of children, such as the Optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and International Labour Organization Conventions 138 and 182 (on the minimum age for employment and on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour) and, on the other hand, to adapt its domestic legislation to international standards with regard to the protection of children's rights.
In that regard, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol wished to highlight two major developments. First, the Constitution had, for the first time, given a definition of the child, in its article 41, which stated: "A minor child is any person, regardless of gender, who has not yet attained the age of 18". Secondly, the law of 10 January 2009 on the Protection of Children was noteworthy as it brought together in a single text all legislation concerning children and harmonized them with international standards. The Government was currently putting in place the mechanisms for the implementation of that law.
As for structures for the protection and promotion of children's rights, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol said the National Council for Children, which had the responsibility for coordinating activities with regard to the implementation of the Convention, was currently being reformed to improve its performance.
Concerning budgetary resources allocated to the social sector, those had seen a constant growth since 2001. For example, national budget allocations for education had passed from 3 per cent in 2004 to 7.1 per cent in 2006, 7.8 per cent in 2007 and 8.2 per cent in 2008. The Government was also allocating some of its budgetary resources directly to non-governmental organizations supporting children, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol added.
Regarding birth registration, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol highlighted that the national plan of action implemented in 2004 to increase the number of births registered had been integrated into a global action plan for reform of the Government, which was still being finalized. The implementation of that action plan sought not only to reinforce technical and institutional capacity, but to raise awareness among the community, and it had already produced encouraging results. Thus, the number of civilly registered births was rising constantly, with, for example, the number of births registered in Kinshasa rising from 25.9 per cent in 2001 to 45 per cent in 2008.
As for the rights of children linked to survival, development, protection and participation, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol noted that those areas had been of particular concern to the Government and had been translated into policies, programmes and legislative measures, despite material and financial constraints and the more than decade-long war in the country. The Government deplored those who had contributed to that war, the primary victims of which were sadly women and children, who constituted the majority of the 950,000 persons displaced in the provinces of Orientale, North and South Kivu. The war had caused more than 5 million deaths. What was worse, it had been the occasion for the recruitment of children into armed groups.
The Government had spared no effort to put an end to that situation, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol underscored, so as to allow legitimate institutions created as a result of free and fair elections to put more of the resources available for areas directly impacting on the well-being of children, such as health programmes, the Poverty Reduction Strategy and the "five workshops of the Republic", targeting the improvement of basic infrastructure, access to education, water, electricity and others.
Regarding the social protection of vulnerable groups, among whom were children deprived of a family environment, the Ministry for Social Affairs, Solidarity and Humanitarian Action was implementing a national strategy for social action with a focus on prevention of the break-up of families, provision of assistance and the reunification and reinsertion of children into their families. Action in this area was regulated by a code of conduct that private associations working in this area were obliged to follow.
As to the fight against violence, abuse and exploitation of children of any kind, in particular abandoned children and those accused of witchcraft, who suffered the worst treatment, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol highlighted that the fight against violence and abuse of children was inscribed in the Constitution. Furthermore, a national plan of action for the prevention and combat of violence against children had been implemented, under the coordination of the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children, and various laws established heavy penalties for such actions. As an example, a well-known Congolese musician had recently been convicted to five years of penal servitude for raping a minor.
On education, the Government was implementing a national policy to ensure that as many children as possible could have access to education, with a focus on girls, and to rebuild and maintain new schools. That policy had seen encouraging results, notably in the number of children attending school, which had grown constantly since 2006.
Finally, with regard to children in conflict with the law, Mr. Upio Kakura Wapol noted that major reforms had been undertaken since 2001 to create the children's tribunals foreseen in the Law on the Protection of the Child. It now remained to build the courts, rehabilitate and build detention and education facilities for juveniles and train judicial, administrative and social service staff.
Questions by Experts
MOUSHIRA KHATTAB, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, welcomed the announcement of the adoption of the Law on the Protection of Children by the Government. However, the Committee sought stronger political will and commitment to implement the rights of the child as outlined by the Convention. While the Committee was aware of the many steps taken so far in that regard, they remained very concerned about what the Democratic Republic of the Congo had gone through for the past several years – the armed conflict – and the impact that had had on children.
Turning to specific concerns, Ms. Khattab asked how much involvement non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had in the drafting of the report and whether children had been consulted.
In the midst of the internal situation in the country, Ms. Khattab wondered how much attention children actually received. How many people really treated children as the subject of rights? Also, to what extent was the Government willing or able to implement the Committee's recommendations? It was necessary for the Committee to know to what extent the armed hostilities would impact on the ability of the Government to implement the Convention.
With regard to education there were a number of issues, including low enrolment rates, low quality of education and hidden costs. On health, main issues were high infant and under-five mortality rates and a lack of accessibility to services.
Ms. Khattab also mentioned the numerous international conventions that were relevant to children's rights that the Government had yet to sign or if it had signed, to ratify, including the Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel mines and the Hague Convention on adoption.
A further concern was the power of the National Council for Children, the coordinating body for the implementation of the Convention, as it did not have its own human resources but was dependent on other ministries for funding. Also, what was the relationship of the Council with the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children? In that connection, Ms. Khattab was disappointed not to see a representative from the National Council for Children in the delegation.
With regard to the serious issue of gender-based violence against girls and adolescents, which was increasing with the deterioration of the situation in the east of the country, including in the camps of internally displaced persons, Ms. Khattab specifically asked what was being done in the schools to educate children about this phenomenon? Also, what measures were being taken to ensure that victims had access to justice?
KAMEL FILALI, the Committee Expert serving as co-Rapporteur for the report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, asked for information on the impact of the legislation in place on children and the actual situation of children on the ground. There were not enough implementing decrees. He was also concerned about the legal situation in which old laws still remained on the books, even if they had been superseded by new laws. There were cases in which judges were not using the new definition in law for minors, relying on older laws.
Mr. Filali was also curious about the long delay in adopting the Law on Child Protection. What had been the sticking point? What was really new in this law? Also, what was the budget for its implementation?
In a similar vein, what had happened to the draft law on families and children, Mr. Filali asked? Had that been blocked in the legislature and if so why?
On birth registration, as far as Mr. Filali could see from the figures, the number of registrations was going down, and he wanted to know what the Government was doing to address that situation?
Other Experts then raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, the procedure for statistics gathering on children's issues; high levels of malnourishment among children; inconsistencies in the law regarding the age of marriage, legal responsibility and rape, despite the new Constitutional definition of the minor; monitoring for the implementation of plans and programmes for children; what measures had been taken to combat the killing of street children; whether there was an independent national human rights institution in place and, if not, if there was another instance for receiving complaints from children that their rights had been infringed; discrimination against Batwa or Pygmy children; and what documentation was needed to access social services, and if a birth certificate was necessary.
An Expert noted that despite claims that the amount of money allocated for children's issues had grown because the percentage of the budget had grown, it was basically meaningless given the rate of inflation in the country, which had meant that the actual amount spent on children was less. He also wished to know what percentage of the budget was spent on military expenditures vis-à-vis children's issues.
Response by the Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said that, with regard to the January 2009 Law on Child Protection, which had been gazetted on 12 January, that that law contained many innovations.
On gender violence, the delegation noted that there was a governmental subgroup on gender violence, which included members of various government ministries, as well as non-governmental organizations, as well as an inter-ministerial plan to tackle sexual violence – the joint initiative on sexual violence – which had a number of different thematic areas. One was the fight against impunity, with action in that area spearheaded by the Ministry of Justice. A large-scale campaign to raise awareness was in place under the Ministry of Justice. It was true there were no courts available throughout the country but they were working on establishing roving judges to travel to areas where they were needed. A recruitment campaign for more judges had also been launched. It remained to train the judges and increase the number of female personnel, and there was a training programme that was already up and running.
The joint initiative took a holistic approach to the problem. Other priority thematic areas included provision of medical care and rehabilitation for victims, as well as awareness-raising among the population, the delegation added.
As for complaints, children could complain through the courts, or could lodge a complaint directly with the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children, as provided for in the new Law on Child Protection. The National Council for Children also had the competence to hear children's complaints, the delegation added.
On budgetary questions, the Inspector General of Finance monitored budgetary spending. There were resources that should have been used for social development, such as health and education, which had been diverted to basic social protection in conflict zones, the delegation agreed.
As to NGO funding, some 15 NGOs working with children who needed special protection had received funding in 2007 from the Ministry of Social Protection, to implement programmes for things such as street children and abandoned children and their reinsertion into the community. There were other such projects under the other Ministries. NGOs received support from a number of sources, including the State budget, national organizations and multilateral support structures.
Further Questions by Experts
In a second round of questions, Mr. Filali, the co-Rapporteur for the report, asked about the situation of minors between the ages of 16 and 18 in conflict with the law. In particular, he was concerned about the slow pace of judicial proceedings, owing to a lack of staff, and wondered what steps the Democratic Republic of the Congo was taking to cut down on the backlog of cases, including through establishment of alternative punishments. Furthermore, owing to a lack of detention facilities, minors were often kept in police stations, or held together with adults.
Turning to prisons, Mr. Filali was concerned that there were no social workers to ensure that juveniles did not spend too long in prison and that their special needs were catered to.
Ms. Khattab, the Rapporteur, was concerned about a lack of special techniques and facilities for the investigation of crimes of sexual violence. According to information received, in 2006-2007 more than 2,000 sexually violated children were cared for by UNICEF out of a total of 37,000 victims, and that perpetrators were only being prosecuted if and when multilateral or bilateral agencies were bearing the cost of that action. Could the delegation confirm if any prosecutions had been carried out solely at the Government's expense?
Could the Government also confirm that the national forces were not involved in cases of violence against children, such as those committed in October 2008 in Goma, where reportedly some children were raped and others killed, Ms. Khattab asked? Could it also confirm that no children were being recruited for use in the National Army?
Further concerns voiced by Ms. Khattab included children subjected to hazardous forms of labour in the mines in Katanga; and a police policy of arresting street children, who were held in detention cells with adults and were subject to abuse, and then releasing them.
Other Committee Experts also raised a number of issues, including child trafficking; a horrific rate of infant mortality – with one in eight infants dying – and under-five mortality – with one in five children dying before age five; decreasing indicators with regard to access to clean water and sanitation; strategies to help strengthen families so as to prevent break-up and to assist in reinsertion of children into their families; statistics on children deprived of family care, including the number and type of institutions to care for such children; statistics on cases of child abuse; details on the new adoption laws, as well as on the numbers of domestic and international adoptions, if any; what programmes were in place to assist child-heads of household among the refugee and internally displaced population; what plans were in place to protect displaced and refugee children; and programmes to address the culture of gender discrimination that fostered the current situation of gender-based violence.
An Expert, citing the Secretary-General's report on the situation of children and armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo of 10 November 2008, said that at least 3,500 children were involved in armed groups in the country, and asked what was being done to ensure children were not recruited. An Expert was disturbed that only 12 per cent of children who were officially demobilized were girls, while they represented 40 per cent of those taken by armed groups. Reportedly, that was because the girls were considered to be the "wives" of the rebel soldiers. Another issue was what happened to the many children who were not "officially" demobilized. Did they have access to services?
He was also worried about reports that proven perpetrators of sexual violence against children were quickly released and that there was a lack of records of arrests of children, in particular in the case of children who were not civilly registered. Finally, what measures would be taken under the new Children's Law or were available now to ensure that children did not languish in prisons or other detention facilities.
Concern was also expressed about female genital mutilation and other harmful traditional practices, and it was asked what the National Committee to Combat Female Genital Mutilation had achieved so far. Had there been any awareness-raising measures taken at the local level, for example, or had any perpetrators been prosecuted?
A particularly disturbing trend was the demonification of "witch" children. The number of children designated as witches had risen to 539 in one town, and in Kinshasa, the capital, over 440 such children had been reported. According to one report, over 70 per cent of street children had been separated from their parents and thrown into the street following witchcraft accusations. Another disturbing fact was that the majority of such accusations came from the parents themselves. What was being done to intensify education on the root causes of poverty, HIV/AIDS and other phenomenon for which these child "witches" were blamed, an Expert asked. Also, was the Government considering appointing a special adviser to help the Government devise a strategy to combat this growing practice?
Response by the Delegation
Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said that, with regard to the use of children in armed groups, steps had been taken and progress made in this area as far as the regular army was concerned. However, this was still a problem with regard to the other armed groups, who for the moment escaped the control of the Government. It was hoped that that issue would be resolved as part of the peace process.
With regard to the events carried out by the Armed Forces in Goma in August 2008, the perpetrators were now being dealt with, the delegation said. Those who had been responsible for crimes against women and children had met with very serious punishment and those penalties were being carried out.
Referring to the case raised by Experts, there had been a case of the release of a known rapist back into the community by a magistrate, the delegation confirmed. When that case came to light, the magistrate responsible had been prosecuted and convicted. Awareness-raising of that decision was taken at an official level, so that other magistrates would be aware that there was no impunity, and that a zero tolerance policy was being pursued. The real issue was the lack of judges to try such cases. But there were serious reforms of the justice system being carried out, including strengthening of justices of the peace and empowering them to deal with cases of sexual violence.
The national strategy for the demobilization and reintegration of child soldiers included a programme, supported by the international community, which allowed them to monitor the situation of such children comprehensively. However, as long as armed conflict continued in the country the Government would be unable to prevent the recruitment of child soldiers by armed groups it could not control.
The delegation enumerated the enormity of the violations against children owing to the armed conflict, including rape of children as young as three months old, the infection of children with HIV/AIDS virus, and the loss of children's development, including the ability to attend school. For that reason, the Government had made addressing violence against women and children a priority with four main areas of intervention: awareness-raising, including a protest March by 150,000 women and television information spots; legal assistance, including legal reforms to tighten penalties; strengthening of protection mechanisms, including the National Council for Children which had a local reach; advocacy, in which the National Council for Children also played a role; and psychosocial care and medical care for victims. Among planned actions to combat this phenomenon were the prosecution of such violence against children as crimes against humanity; the publicization of trials of perpetrators; identifying leaders of groups for prosecution; and working towards establishing compensation mechanisms for victims.
The women and children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were appealing for international solidarity in helping them to eradicate the armed groups that were rife, in particular in the east of the country. The current situation had its origins in the creation of a humanitarian corridor by Turkish troops, when the Democratic Republic of the Congo had accepted to open its borders to 1 million persons at threat in their home country. That decision had resulted in the export to the Democratic Republic of the Congo of genocidal practices and sexual violence. Perhaps that humanitarian corridor could be reopened now to allow the refugees to return home, which would also allow armed groups to leave, the delegation said.
In response to Experts' concern about the coordination of the mandate of the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children and the National Council for Children and the possible duplication, the delegation insisted that there was a need for the National Council for Children so that there was not just a one-sided approach to children's issues. The Ministry was a government body, whereas the Council was a separate structure that incorporated non-governmental organizations, international organizations and others. It also provided a local dimension, and enabled them to reach the grassroots via the local councils. That was in particular important with regard to the compilation of statistics.
Regarding capacity-building in services for children, the delegation said, with regard to the judiciary, and the need to increase their salaries, there had been an increase. When the current President came to power, in 2006, the basic wage was $2 a month, as compared with today when the minimum salary was $70 a month. That was still nothing, only covering a third of what a household of five needed for a month, but an effort had been made.
It should be understood how little social services there were to start with. That was the de facto situation they had been left with as a result of the long conflicts the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been subject to. In that situation, non-governmental organizations had become very important. For example, the vast majority orphanages in the country today were private ones that were simply under Government monitoring and control, with assistance from UNICEF. The only State-run orphanages were in the northeast of country. There was a children's directorate within the Ministry of Gender, Family and Children that was responsible for monitoring the situation in the orphanages, and for providing advice and assistance. They had to find the political will to set up such orphanages again. There were also no childcare centres. And legal aid centres were just now being established.
Turning to the use of children in mining operations, the Government had adopted the relevant ILO Conventions and a national committee against the worst forms of child labour had been set up in 2008 and was just beginning to implement programmes. One such programme was a school for child miners run by the Government in conjunction with UNICEF. Other programmes included assistance for the families of those child miners to allow them to attend school.
For street children, activities were being carried out together with development NGOs and the Government had made some very controversial attempts to move those children to other provinces and to try and keep them within a school framework, to try and prevent them from returning to the street, the delegation said. The priority in addressing street children was, however, of course to get the children back into their families. They did not have a hotline, as a Committee Expert had suggested, but that was a good suggestion and would be taken on board.
On the witch children, there was a specific law prohibiting the treatment faced by such children and more legislation was in the pipeline. There were also a number of initiatives in place, which demonstrated the Government's determination to address this problem, the delegation said.
Regarding adoptions, the new law had settled this matter. Before this law, it was possible to believe that there was a traditional practice of adoption based on the extended family, but the new law enshrined the right of all children to adoption in accordance with its rules. What was happening as part of traditional practices was that children from the extended family were often welcomed into another family to be raised, but that was not considered adoption as such. As far as the delegation was concerned, there was nothing standing in the way of the ratification of the Hague Convention on adoption, which, like many other international instruments, was waiting in line to be adopted by the Government.
Concerning health issues, the delegation said that from 306 medical staff in 2006, they had increased to 515 today, so social services were more widely available to the people. Vaccination coverage was also increasing, with many of the basic vaccinations having attained over 90 per cent coverage in 2008. Regarding health and water, with the help of UNICEF, the Government had constructed over 1,000 latrines, numerous wells and 234 water collection points, which had scaled down the incidence of diarrhoea to 13 per cent. In May 2008, over 11 million children had been given vitamin A supplements, over 90 per cent of the affected population, and over 9 million children had been dewormed.
As far as adolescent health was concerned, numerous awareness-raising seminars had taken place with over 17,000 trainers for HIV/AIDS, and over 9,000 condoms and 500 female condoms had been distributed by young people themselves. AIDS activities had been stepped up, with better coverage – 168 health areas were covered, as compared with 166 in 2006. Nevertheless, the HIV infection rate increased from 2.2 per cent in 2006 to 3.2 per cent in 2007.
Shortage of medical staff was not the reason why certain sectors of the population were not getting medical care, the delegation specified. The single greatest reason was lack of access to conflict-affected areas, with the displaced suffering the most. That was also the primary reason why vaccination rates had fallen between 2007 and 2008, because of the escalation of conflicts.
With regard to the right to education, the national strategy to strengthen overall implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child with regard to education could be seen in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper. That strategy had also been reflected in the national action plan on social services. The aim of the National Poverty Reduction Strategy was to provide a suitable framework for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, including the provision of basic education free of charge. The Constitution provided for free compulsory primary education in public establishments and the Government was attempting to ensure that that was reality. In 2007, a National Fund for the Promotion of Education was set up by Presidential Decree and the Government had already begun to implement the measures derived from that fund, and they were working on raising the funds to ensure that that became a reality.
The delegation reiterated that, for the past three years, the Government had been pursuing a campaign to strengthen education for young girls. As cited in the report, that campaign had been relatively successful. There was also now a ratio of 1:1 for boys and girls of preschool age enrolling in early childhood institutions, with over 160,000 children in preschool and there was a plan to extend preschool to cover all children in the country. For the school year 2006-2007 the average student teacher ratio was 38:1, with some differences in the more sparsely populated areas.
With regard to the new law on juvenile justice and whether there were sufficient resources allocated for its implementation, the delegation noted that, in any case, the law contained a deadline of two years for the setting up of the juvenile courts.
The new law abolished the possibility that children could be considered as adults in the prosecution of criminal charges and raised the age of criminal responsibility to 14 years. It also established a mediation mechanism for matters to be settled out of court; and provided for the specialization of the police in juvenile justice area.
Preliminary Concluding Remarks
MOUSHIRA KHATTAB, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, presenting some preliminary concluding observations, said the Committee interpreted the presence of the very high-level delegation as evidence of a renewed commitment on the part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the implementation of the Convention. The Committee was fully aware of the limitations and constraints facing the Government, but was still convinced that it could do better.
A major obstacle was the armed conflict and it was hoped that peace would be established soon, Ms. Khattab said. Until then, the State was under the obligation to respect and ensure the rights of children during armed conflict. Armed forces and all warring factions had to respect those rights, such as the right to be free from abuse and violence, and that victims received rehabilitation and perpetrators were brought to justice.
Ms. Khattab said the Committee would recommend that a stronger body be put in place in charge of children's issues, one that was adequately mandated and resourced; and that accelerated action continue to put in place an adequate legal framework for children, compatible with the Convention, as well as training of professionals on the law and the allocation of resources to implement those activities. The Government should create a Children's Ombudsman, in accordance with the Paris Principles, as well as a national plan for children, with a special emphasis on marginalized children, including children affected by societal discrimination such as girls, and children affected by armed conflict, poverty and HIV/AIDS. The Democratic Republic of the Congo should also give stronger consideration to the voice of children, and make children a priority in budget allocations.
Discrimination, be it gender, regional or otherwise was a major concern, Ms. Khattab underscored. Legal tools prohibiting and criminalizing discrimination were essential, but it was not enough to eliminate societal discrimination. Raising awareness of the need to change attitudes and education as well as affirmative action for victims of discrimination was badly needed.
Moreover, the definition of the child had to be brought into line with the Convention and the Government had to ensure that all children had their births registered.
The right to education was severely hampered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ms. Khattab observed. The Government had to eliminate hidden costs of education, to improve its quality and to ensure that schools were safe from armed forces including in Ituri and North Kivu. Boys and girls had to be encouraged to go to school and to stay there; hidden children, child witches and children involved in armed activities had a right to health, educational and other services. In that connection, the Government also had to prioritize and mainstream peace education and quality early childhood development programmes, including in rural areas.
The right of the children of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to health was also severely compromised and the Government needed to allocate more human and financial resources to improve the health indicators, such as infant and under-five mortality and nutrition and vaccination rates. Adolescents and reproductive health rights also needed attention, with a focus on gender-based violence and its correlation with HIV/AIDS.
Ms. Khattab concluded with a whole list of issues that needed immediate and concerted action, including the establishment of a database; the eradication of impunity; the elimination of harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation; and the protection of street children and orphans.
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For use of the information media; not an official record
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