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COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD EXAMINES REPORT OF GEORGIA
20 May 2008
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Committee on the Rights of the Child
20 May 2008
The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning reviewed the third periodic report of Georgia on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Right of the Child and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
Archil Gagnidze, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, noted that, despite recent economic growth, about 11 per cent of Georgian students still lived below the poverty line. To address that, up to 2.5 million Georgian Lari had been allocated to buy school books for 57,699 students in 2007. The Government also paid particular attention to the integration of ethnic minority children, as well as internally displaced children from conflict regions such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Government prioritized inclusive education in order to promote equal access to education. In 2004, the Government had launched a Child Welfare Reform, aiming to construct a new family-based childcare system for the reinforcement of the child’s right on family. More than 3,600 children had been deinstitutionalized and rescued from abandonment. A Child Welfare Reform Action Plan, 2008-2011, had also been elaborated, to tackle poverty as a factor hampering families from providing care for children, and to combat child abuse and the use of large-scale institutions.
Continuing to present the report, Tamar Tomashvili, Legal Consultant of the Permanent Mission of Georgia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that the juvenile justice system in Georgia was undergoing significant reforms aimed at establishing an administration of juvenile justice in compliance with the Convention. Georgia had understood that key priority should be given to the promotion of alternative measures to detention of minors – with deprivation of liberty used only as a measure of last resort. The new system was tailored to the specific needs of children in conflict with the law and focused on rehabilitation and reinsertion of juveniles through different programmes, such as psycho-social rehabilitation, therapy, professional skills and sports activities.
Committee Expert Dainius Puras, serving as rapporteur for the report of Georgia, in some introductory comments, noted an apparent lack of trust between civil society and political leaders, and stressed thatcivil society had to be taken on board by national authorities as equal partners to build a healthy and child-friendly environment. He also asked for clarification on the level of implementation and which institutional bodies were responsible for the implementation process and the status and financial means of the different National Action Plans since 2003 and which measures were included for the protection of children in the new Anti-Torture Plan.
Also in preliminary concluding observations, Nevena Vuckovic-Sahovic, the Committee Expert serving as co-rapporteur, asked, among other things, to what extent the Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children had been used by the Government or informed its policies? Also, what was the Government's position on the issue of corporal punishment, which was not forbidden within the family?
Main concerns of Experts centred on, among other things, a comprehensive, general law on children's rights; children's participation in legal procedures; the status of victims of trafficking; the relationship between the large non-governmental organization community in Georgia and the government authorities; birth registration; plans to review the existing refugee legislation; and if Georgia had a child mental healthcare system. Further concerns included measures to improve low numbers of pre-school enrolment and early childhood development; how the Government was addressing the issue of child labour; the phenomenon of social orphans; and whether children were sufficiently protected from sexual exploitation and sex tourism under the laws.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Georgia towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on Friday, 6 June.
The delegation of Georgia also included other representatives from the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia, Permanent Mission of Georgia to the United Nations Office and the Ministry of Justice.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 21 May, it will take up the second periodic report of Bulgaria (CRC/C/BGR/2).
Report of Georgia
The third periodic report of the Republic of Georgia (CRC/C/GEO/3), which covers the period from the submission of the second report in June 2001 up to 2005, notes that, after the "Rose Revolution" in 2003, a radical change has taken place in the political life of Georgia. Protection of human rights became one of the key issues on the agenda of the new Government, which expressed its full commitment to improving the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country, including the rights of the child. However, a comprehensive legislative act concerning children’s rights had not been adopted, but children’s rights were regulated by a number of national laws and legislative acts. The Government’s Plan of Action set out a number of measures aimed at ensuring children welfare until 2008.
Georgia has not implemented any special programme for children living below the poverty line, since the protection of the interests in this category of society was envisaged within the framework of the Programme on Economic Growth and Elimination of Poverty. Results of monitoring activities by the Government have shown that problems connected with health care, malnutrition, education etc. of children also still remained unresolved. The Child Rights Centre that dealt with the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as other international conventions and treaties on children, and the Organic Law on the Public Defender of Georgia, was re-established under the auspices of the Public Defender. However, protection of children's rights still lacked unification and compliance.
Among others, the report also points out measures of the Government regarding non-discrimination, torture, deinstitutionalization and childcare. Several measures have been implemented in 2005 concerning the child healthcare system. With regard to education, a Law on General Education had been adopted in 2005 and Government programmes been implemented for creating different kinds of schools. Georgia has acceded to International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182 (on prohibition of the worst forms of child labour) in May 2002, and the new Labour Code entered into force in July 2006. Trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors have been criminalized in the Criminal Code of Georgia. Furthermore, Georgia has acceded to the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography in June 2002 and June 2005, respectively.
Presentation of the Report
ARCHIL GAGNIDZE, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, said that Georgia was committed to its obligations concerning the rights of the child. He thanked the Committee for its understanding concerning the postponement of the third report from January 2008 to the current session, which had been necessary due to the existing tense political situation within the country.
Summarizing the latest practical experience concerning developments for education and welfare of children in Georgia, Mr. Gagnidze said that Georgia shared the international understanding that civic education played a key role in raising civic-minded citizens and had included civic education as a subject in the national curriculum. Despite recent economic growth, about 11 per cent of students still lived below the poverty line, so that up to 2.5 million Georgian Lari had been allocated to buy school books for 57,699 students in 2007. The Government also paid particular attention to the integration of ethnic minority children as well as internally displaced children from conflict regions such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Government prioritized inclusive education in order to promote equal access to education. In 2004, the Government had launched a Child Welfare Reform, aiming to construct a new family-based childcare system for the reinforcement of the child’s right on family. More than 3,600 children had been deinstitutionalized and rescued from abandonment. A Child Welfare Reform Action Plan, 2008-2011, had also been elaborated, to tackle poverty as a factor hampering families from providing care for children, and to combat child abuse and the use of large-scale institutions. Also worth mentioning were recent legislative developments, such as the adoption of Laws on Foster Care, on Adoption and on Social Assistance.
TAMAR TOMASHVILI, Legal Consultant of the Permanent Mission of Georgia to the United Nations Office and Other International Organizations in Geneva, said that the juvenile justice system in Georgia was undergoing significant reforms aimed at establishing an administration of juvenile justice in compliance with the Convention. Georgia had understood, inter alia, that key priority should be given to the promotion of alternative measures to detention of minors – with deprivation of liberty used only as a measure of last resort – as well as developing and implementating other measures to properly deal with children in conflict with the law. The new system was tailored to the specific needs of children in conflict with the law and focused on rehabilitation and reinsertion of juveniles through different programmes, such as psycho-social rehabilitation, therapy, professional skills and sports activities. A new Anti-Torture Action Plan had also introduced improvements for juvenile offenders, such as an improved probation system and alternatives to imprisonment. The decision for the launch of that plan was expected for next week.
Questions by Experts
DAINIUS PURAS, Committee Expert serving as rapporteur for the report of Georgia, observed that numerous achievements had been made in Georgia, including measures to combat corruption and build up a democratic change. The unprecedented societal change in Georgia presented a challenging context. However, while huge progress had been made in Georgia, and the commitment of the Government to democratic development was acknowledged, that was no excuse to not make the rights of the child a priority on the Government's agenda.
Economic growth should be translated into modern development of the protection of the rights of the child. There seemed to be a lack of trust between civil society and political leaders. Both sides had good intentions to build up modern society, but, paradoxically, those efforts were not always supported by national policies and measures. To reach those goals civil society had to be taken on board by national authorities as equal partners to build a healthy and child-friendly environment, Mr. Puras stressed.
Mr. Puras asked the delegation to clarify the level of implementation and which institutional bodies were responsible for the implementation process and the status and financial means of the different National Action Plans since 2003 and which measures were included for the protection of children in the new Anti-Torture Plan.
NEVENA VUCKOVIC-SAHOVIC, Committee Expert serving as co-rapporteur for the report of Georgia, was concerned about children of internally displaced persons and migrant groups. She said there was improvement in this sphere, but still a lack of integration of those children. The Government had focused mainly on the return of those children; however, this was not the right decision. What kind of future was given for those children within Georgia? Moreover, the Government of Georgia was apparently not capable of assessing the situation in some provinces, so who would do this necessary assessment?
With regard to discrimination, Ms. Vuckovic-Sahovic said that there was mention of some programmes in the report, however, she was still concerned about the status of Roma, for which no data had been given. Lastly, she asked how the new definition of torture – which was not expressly applicable to children – would protect children from mistreatment and how the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility to 12 in the juvenile justice system was justified by the government.
Among issues raised by other experts were questions related to the Committee's suggestion that Georgia adopt a more comprehensive, general law on children's rights, in place of the existing situation in which children's rights were diffused in many different laws; children's participation in legal procedures, in particular family law procedures; the status of victims of trafficking and their participation in legal proceedings; the relationship between the large non-governmental organization (NGO) community in Georgia and the government authorities; the role of the Ministry of Education and Science in the protection of the child; special difficulties experienced when raising awareness concerning vulnerable groups; the dissemination of the Convention; the status of the girl child; birth registration of children; plans to review the existing refugee legislation; and the application of the Convention by courts in Georgia.
Response by the Delegation
Responding to questions by Experts, the delegation stressed the important role the NGO community was playing in the discussions and creation of action plans and papers concerning the rights of the child. NGOs were the main advisers to the government in this sphere. NGOs and international organizations were always involved in inter-agency-committees, such as the inter-agency commission on torture and the inter-agency-commission on the fight against trafficking. With regard to trafficking, shelters were often run by NGOs, and a lot of legal aid was done by NGOs for the victims of trafficking.
Regarding birth registration, there were registration offices established in various regions. There had been good progress in this area due to a range of projects and programmes, such as a monitoring project in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The delegation stressed that all children in schools and in childcare institutions were already registered.
Good and close cooperation had been established between the Government and the Committee on the Prevention of Torture of the Council of Europe, representatives of which had often visited the detention centres in Georgia without any problems. Perhaps the only problem with the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture was its application in conflict regions. While it had not been able to implement all Conventions and Protocols, Georgia was trying to comply with all its obligations. There were internal units for the monitoring of the human rights situation in detention centres within the Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior. In addition, medical examination was compulsory before the transfer of a detainee to the Ministry of Justice for legal proceedings, and there were prosecution services to follow up on human rights violations, the delegation said.
With regard to criminal proceedings against juveniles, the delegation said that juveniles from the age of 14 faced limited criminal responsibility and could be put into detention centres. There was a clear separation of investigation rights and duties between the police and the prosecution, and the Ombudsman had the right to inquire into criminal investigations. Even NGOs could file such inquiries. Moreover, the right of the Ombudsman to visit and monitor detention centres could not be interfered with by the State.
Concerning the dissemination of the Convention, different trainings for teachers, childcare workers and judges on the rights of the child, as well as several awareness-raising programmes, were in place, the delegation affirmed.
As an instrument of international law, the Convention took precedence over domestic law. The delegation stressed that all laws in Georgia regarding detention had been amended according to the recommendations of the Committee.
Further Questions by Experts
Mr. Puras, the rapporteur, asked how the healthcare system, which had collapsed after the revolution, took into account maternal and child healthcare issues. He also asked if Georgia had a child mental healthcare system.
Ms. Vuckovic-Sahovic, the co-rapporteur, asked to what extent the Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children had been used by the Government or informed its policies? Also, what was the Government's position on the issue of corporal punishment, which was not forbidden within the family?
A number of Experts asked about measures regarding the low numbers of pre-school enrolment and early childhood development. An Expert asked the delegation to explain the perception that child labour supported the development of the child and how the Government was addressing the issue of child labour in general. Other worries raised by Experts included the phenomenon of social orphans, or children placed in institutions because their parents did not have the means to care for them, and whether children were sufficiently protected from sexual exploitation and sex tourism under the laws.
Response by the Delegation
Regarding education issues, the delegation said that new schools had been built and renovated, with a result that there were now 2,000 public schools in Georgia. Education of teachers was the main problem of the education system. To address that, 100 pilot teacher training centres had been established three years ago. Moreover, a new national curriculum would include teachers’ certification and more money would be allocated for further teacher training. Education was free in general, and violations were aggressively investigated. There were also minority language programmes run by the State.
With regard to adolescent pregnancy and abortion, the delegation said that sex education was not included in the educational curriculum in Georgia as it was a very touchy issue.
The Government had started to develop strategies on inclusive and special education on the basis of recent best practice examples. Concerning participation, freedom of expression and assembly, a nationwide programme had been established, a crucial part of which was to develop a code of conduct for teachers, students and administration, in which the students were actively involved. Georgia also piloted a parent’s education programme to help parents educate their children.
Concerning internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, the delegation said that children of IDPs and refugees had an equal right to education. Georgia had adopted a national strategy for IDPs envisaging a "doable" approach for their return.
With regard to children's civil and criminal rights, when a child was questioned as a victim of a crime, Georgia had detailed laws on the procedure for undertaking such an interview, including guarantees for victims' rights. As for the right for a child to be heard in civil matters, the situation was simple and clearly set out by the civil code. A child was qualified to participate in adoption and divorce related issues if it was more than 10 years of age and asked for its opinion to be heard, which should be taken into consideration in the best interest of the child.
The delegation noted that Georgia had also taken a different attitude regarding victims of trafficking, in particular regarding non-cooperative victims, who were meant to benefit from the protection rights granted under the relevant law.
As for IDPs, the Government had developed a strategy for reintegration and prompt return of all IDPs from Abkhazia to their homes in security and dignity. The right for return included the new generation. Indeed, a recent draft resolution of the UN General Assembly regarding IDPs and refugees had been initiated by Georgia. However, the situation in the Gali region was complicated and deteriorating, with no return being organized. Children living in the Gali region were sometimes punished for speaking the Georgian language. There was only one human rights officer in the Gali region, who had no chance to change the situation.
Here, Experts asked if the Government was interested to get a human rights report for those areas. The Committee could ask the High Commissioner of Human Rights to could send a team to the area to assess the implementation of the Convention. However, the Committee stressed that it would be important to elaborate who was the interlocutor in these regions, as separatists were not subject to international law. The Observation Mission of the UN in Georgia could maybe be addressed in this regard. The delegation said that it would be greatly helpful if it could receive such a report.
With regard to South Ossetia, the delegation said the situation was quite different, even just in terms of geography. There was a current economic rehabilitation programme which included schools in the Georgian and separatist controlled areas. The government participated in this programme, also through financial contributions.
Regarding progress of the Welfare Action Plans on Children, the delegation stressed that only 2,600 children were in public care in Georgia and that financial support, reintegration, deinstitutionalization and training had been implemented. The number of local adoptions had increased, and even though Georgian families did not like adopting children with disabilities or diseases, the number of adoptions of these children had also increased. Social work teams provided shelter, training, and education for mothers as a preventative measure against child abandonment. Free day-care centres and small group homes had also been established, as well as emergency funds, to help families bring up their children, and foster care homes were looking after children that could not be cared for by their families.
Concerning health care, the delegation said that Georgia was in a transitional period with a health care reform being launched. Some 700,000 people were currently insured by private companies as part of a new programme. Maternal and childcare was a priority, and several Government authorities were addressing the need to achieve the Millennium Goals on that issue. A new law about psychiatric care had been adopted, including a chapter specifically on children. Many NGOs were also working on these issues and general practitioners were trained on basic mental psychiatric services.
Concerning early childhood development, medical staff was trained in this regard, the delegation said. Infant and maternal mortality was high due to regions especially in the southern part of Georgia was high as people preferred to give birth at home, and not go to maternity institutions. This was based on issues of religion, which also lead to the hiding of children from immunization. The government, including the first lady in person, was trying to increase parents’ education and raise awareness towards different issues of reproductive health and abortion. Sex education was not included in the curricula, but it was under discussion that it be put under the umbrella of reproductive health.
The delegation stressed the unreliability of the statistics in the report, which stated that the rate of abortion had been doubled in recent years, which had been based on earlier data, and said that new health statistics would show lower numbers today. Results of survey done by NGOs of a programme on raising awareness on reproductive health could be provided to show the effects of the programme. Children had the right to go to the doctor and make decisions about their health, including abortion, in cooperation with the doctor from the age of 16 onwards.
Concerning poverty, the delegation said that in the past 5 years 300,000 people had received cash benefits, and 700,000 people received insurance from the government. This was not a very good result, but it was difficult to give specific measures to vulnerable groups, in particular children, who had not been receiving direct cash support but had benefited as part of the households which had received such support. The delegation stressed that the government was continuing to combat poverty. As 60,000 students still fell below the poverty level, by presidential decree those children were provided with financial means to by buy books. In addition, sports good, laboratory equipment and library books were provided by the government to schools. In addition, a new Action Plan on Child Welfare aimed at the establishment of a more modern welfare system, and addressed gaps in areas of poverty and abuse.
With regard to street children, the Government was assessing the situation in major cities and had studied their behavioral patterns and background, the delegation said. The results of the study were expected in July, and were meant to be followed by measures and policies to address the identified problems, which were all related to poverty.
While noting that 45 per cent of children had been said to be working as child labourers, the delegation said the latest studies had shown that that was not a problem in Georgia. The question of child labour was a question of definition. About 20 per cent of children worked in domestic services and households.
There were reservations on the legislation regarding the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility to the age of 12, and there were no budgetary allocations from the government for that amendment, which would mean that the provision would not come into force on 1 July 2008. There was strict legislation against juveniles being imprisoned together with adults, so that there were no cases of such imprisonment in Georgia. The delegation also stressed that the imprisonment of juveniles of 12-14 years of age could only be used as last resort in cases involving grave crimes. With regard to the zero tolerance policy, that had been a success in the country, and its application would be extended for example to custodial measures and anti-torture measures. The delegation pointed out that in 2007, recorded crimes had been reduced by 12 per cent and organized serious crime by 55 per cent. The Government was aiming for a specific juvenile justice system, including specific training of judges. The figures of juveniles in jail were not disastrous, and the rate of non-custodial measures had increased.
Preliminary Concluding Observations
In their preliminary observations, DAINIUS PURAS and NEVENA VUCKOVIC-SAHOVIC, Committee Experts serving as co-rapporteurs for the report of Georgia, said that it had been a very constructive dialogue, focusing on most sensitive issues such as juvenile justice system. If more resources would be used, and mutual trust and cooperation strengthened, Georgia could be a real success story, which was mainly based on the political will and the financial means. They expressed the Committee's solidarity for the Georgian people in these difficult times and thanked the delegation for its work.
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For use of the information media; not an official record
20 May 2008
The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning reviewed the third periodic report of Georgia on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Right of the Child and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
Archil Gagnidze, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, noted that, despite recent economic growth, about 11 per cent of Georgian students still lived below the poverty line. To address that, up to 2.5 million Georgian Lari had been allocated to buy school books for 57,699 students in 2007. The Government also paid particular attention to the integration of ethnic minority children, as well as internally displaced children from conflict regions such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Government prioritized inclusive education in order to promote equal access to education. In 2004, the Government had launched a Child Welfare Reform, aiming to construct a new family-based childcare system for the reinforcement of the child’s right on family. More than 3,600 children had been deinstitutionalized and rescued from abandonment. A Child Welfare Reform Action Plan, 2008-2011, had also been elaborated, to tackle poverty as a factor hampering families from providing care for children, and to combat child abuse and the use of large-scale institutions.
Continuing to present the report, Tamar Tomashvili, Legal Consultant of the Permanent Mission of Georgia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said that the juvenile justice system in Georgia was undergoing significant reforms aimed at establishing an administration of juvenile justice in compliance with the Convention. Georgia had understood that key priority should be given to the promotion of alternative measures to detention of minors – with deprivation of liberty used only as a measure of last resort. The new system was tailored to the specific needs of children in conflict with the law and focused on rehabilitation and reinsertion of juveniles through different programmes, such as psycho-social rehabilitation, therapy, professional skills and sports activities.
Committee Expert Dainius Puras, serving as rapporteur for the report of Georgia, in some introductory comments, noted an apparent lack of trust between civil society and political leaders, and stressed thatcivil society had to be taken on board by national authorities as equal partners to build a healthy and child-friendly environment. He also asked for clarification on the level of implementation and which institutional bodies were responsible for the implementation process and the status and financial means of the different National Action Plans since 2003 and which measures were included for the protection of children in the new Anti-Torture Plan.
Also in preliminary concluding observations, Nevena Vuckovic-Sahovic, the Committee Expert serving as co-rapporteur, asked, among other things, to what extent the Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children had been used by the Government or informed its policies? Also, what was the Government's position on the issue of corporal punishment, which was not forbidden within the family?
Main concerns of Experts centred on, among other things, a comprehensive, general law on children's rights; children's participation in legal procedures; the status of victims of trafficking; the relationship between the large non-governmental organization community in Georgia and the government authorities; birth registration; plans to review the existing refugee legislation; and if Georgia had a child mental healthcare system. Further concerns included measures to improve low numbers of pre-school enrolment and early childhood development; how the Government was addressing the issue of child labour; the phenomenon of social orphans; and whether children were sufficiently protected from sexual exploitation and sex tourism under the laws.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Georgia towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on Friday, 6 June.
The delegation of Georgia also included other representatives from the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia, Permanent Mission of Georgia to the United Nations Office and the Ministry of Justice.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 21 May, it will take up the second periodic report of Bulgaria (CRC/C/BGR/2).
Report of Georgia
The third periodic report of the Republic of Georgia (CRC/C/GEO/3), which covers the period from the submission of the second report in June 2001 up to 2005, notes that, after the "Rose Revolution" in 2003, a radical change has taken place in the political life of Georgia. Protection of human rights became one of the key issues on the agenda of the new Government, which expressed its full commitment to improving the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country, including the rights of the child. However, a comprehensive legislative act concerning children’s rights had not been adopted, but children’s rights were regulated by a number of national laws and legislative acts. The Government’s Plan of Action set out a number of measures aimed at ensuring children welfare until 2008.
Georgia has not implemented any special programme for children living below the poverty line, since the protection of the interests in this category of society was envisaged within the framework of the Programme on Economic Growth and Elimination of Poverty. Results of monitoring activities by the Government have shown that problems connected with health care, malnutrition, education etc. of children also still remained unresolved. The Child Rights Centre that dealt with the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as other international conventions and treaties on children, and the Organic Law on the Public Defender of Georgia, was re-established under the auspices of the Public Defender. However, protection of children's rights still lacked unification and compliance.
Among others, the report also points out measures of the Government regarding non-discrimination, torture, deinstitutionalization and childcare. Several measures have been implemented in 2005 concerning the child healthcare system. With regard to education, a Law on General Education had been adopted in 2005 and Government programmes been implemented for creating different kinds of schools. Georgia has acceded to International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182 (on prohibition of the worst forms of child labour) in May 2002, and the new Labour Code entered into force in July 2006. Trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors have been criminalized in the Criminal Code of Georgia. Furthermore, Georgia has acceded to the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict and to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography in June 2002 and June 2005, respectively.
Presentation of the Report
ARCHIL GAGNIDZE, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, said that Georgia was committed to its obligations concerning the rights of the child. He thanked the Committee for its understanding concerning the postponement of the third report from January 2008 to the current session, which had been necessary due to the existing tense political situation within the country.
Summarizing the latest practical experience concerning developments for education and welfare of children in Georgia, Mr. Gagnidze said that Georgia shared the international understanding that civic education played a key role in raising civic-minded citizens and had included civic education as a subject in the national curriculum. Despite recent economic growth, about 11 per cent of students still lived below the poverty line, so that up to 2.5 million Georgian Lari had been allocated to buy school books for 57,699 students in 2007. The Government also paid particular attention to the integration of ethnic minority children as well as internally displaced children from conflict regions such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Government prioritized inclusive education in order to promote equal access to education. In 2004, the Government had launched a Child Welfare Reform, aiming to construct a new family-based childcare system for the reinforcement of the child’s right on family. More than 3,600 children had been deinstitutionalized and rescued from abandonment. A Child Welfare Reform Action Plan, 2008-2011, had also been elaborated, to tackle poverty as a factor hampering families from providing care for children, and to combat child abuse and the use of large-scale institutions. Also worth mentioning were recent legislative developments, such as the adoption of Laws on Foster Care, on Adoption and on Social Assistance.
TAMAR TOMASHVILI, Legal Consultant of the Permanent Mission of Georgia to the United Nations Office and Other International Organizations in Geneva, said that the juvenile justice system in Georgia was undergoing significant reforms aimed at establishing an administration of juvenile justice in compliance with the Convention. Georgia had understood, inter alia, that key priority should be given to the promotion of alternative measures to detention of minors – with deprivation of liberty used only as a measure of last resort – as well as developing and implementating other measures to properly deal with children in conflict with the law. The new system was tailored to the specific needs of children in conflict with the law and focused on rehabilitation and reinsertion of juveniles through different programmes, such as psycho-social rehabilitation, therapy, professional skills and sports activities. A new Anti-Torture Action Plan had also introduced improvements for juvenile offenders, such as an improved probation system and alternatives to imprisonment. The decision for the launch of that plan was expected for next week.
Questions by Experts
DAINIUS PURAS, Committee Expert serving as rapporteur for the report of Georgia, observed that numerous achievements had been made in Georgia, including measures to combat corruption and build up a democratic change. The unprecedented societal change in Georgia presented a challenging context. However, while huge progress had been made in Georgia, and the commitment of the Government to democratic development was acknowledged, that was no excuse to not make the rights of the child a priority on the Government's agenda.
Economic growth should be translated into modern development of the protection of the rights of the child. There seemed to be a lack of trust between civil society and political leaders. Both sides had good intentions to build up modern society, but, paradoxically, those efforts were not always supported by national policies and measures. To reach those goals civil society had to be taken on board by national authorities as equal partners to build a healthy and child-friendly environment, Mr. Puras stressed.
Mr. Puras asked the delegation to clarify the level of implementation and which institutional bodies were responsible for the implementation process and the status and financial means of the different National Action Plans since 2003 and which measures were included for the protection of children in the new Anti-Torture Plan.
NEVENA VUCKOVIC-SAHOVIC, Committee Expert serving as co-rapporteur for the report of Georgia, was concerned about children of internally displaced persons and migrant groups. She said there was improvement in this sphere, but still a lack of integration of those children. The Government had focused mainly on the return of those children; however, this was not the right decision. What kind of future was given for those children within Georgia? Moreover, the Government of Georgia was apparently not capable of assessing the situation in some provinces, so who would do this necessary assessment?
With regard to discrimination, Ms. Vuckovic-Sahovic said that there was mention of some programmes in the report, however, she was still concerned about the status of Roma, for which no data had been given. Lastly, she asked how the new definition of torture – which was not expressly applicable to children – would protect children from mistreatment and how the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility to 12 in the juvenile justice system was justified by the government.
Among issues raised by other experts were questions related to the Committee's suggestion that Georgia adopt a more comprehensive, general law on children's rights, in place of the existing situation in which children's rights were diffused in many different laws; children's participation in legal procedures, in particular family law procedures; the status of victims of trafficking and their participation in legal proceedings; the relationship between the large non-governmental organization (NGO) community in Georgia and the government authorities; the role of the Ministry of Education and Science in the protection of the child; special difficulties experienced when raising awareness concerning vulnerable groups; the dissemination of the Convention; the status of the girl child; birth registration of children; plans to review the existing refugee legislation; and the application of the Convention by courts in Georgia.
Response by the Delegation
Responding to questions by Experts, the delegation stressed the important role the NGO community was playing in the discussions and creation of action plans and papers concerning the rights of the child. NGOs were the main advisers to the government in this sphere. NGOs and international organizations were always involved in inter-agency-committees, such as the inter-agency commission on torture and the inter-agency-commission on the fight against trafficking. With regard to trafficking, shelters were often run by NGOs, and a lot of legal aid was done by NGOs for the victims of trafficking.
Regarding birth registration, there were registration offices established in various regions. There had been good progress in this area due to a range of projects and programmes, such as a monitoring project in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The delegation stressed that all children in schools and in childcare institutions were already registered.
Good and close cooperation had been established between the Government and the Committee on the Prevention of Torture of the Council of Europe, representatives of which had often visited the detention centres in Georgia without any problems. Perhaps the only problem with the implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture was its application in conflict regions. While it had not been able to implement all Conventions and Protocols, Georgia was trying to comply with all its obligations. There were internal units for the monitoring of the human rights situation in detention centres within the Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of the Interior. In addition, medical examination was compulsory before the transfer of a detainee to the Ministry of Justice for legal proceedings, and there were prosecution services to follow up on human rights violations, the delegation said.
With regard to criminal proceedings against juveniles, the delegation said that juveniles from the age of 14 faced limited criminal responsibility and could be put into detention centres. There was a clear separation of investigation rights and duties between the police and the prosecution, and the Ombudsman had the right to inquire into criminal investigations. Even NGOs could file such inquiries. Moreover, the right of the Ombudsman to visit and monitor detention centres could not be interfered with by the State.
Concerning the dissemination of the Convention, different trainings for teachers, childcare workers and judges on the rights of the child, as well as several awareness-raising programmes, were in place, the delegation affirmed.
As an instrument of international law, the Convention took precedence over domestic law. The delegation stressed that all laws in Georgia regarding detention had been amended according to the recommendations of the Committee.
Further Questions by Experts
Mr. Puras, the rapporteur, asked how the healthcare system, which had collapsed after the revolution, took into account maternal and child healthcare issues. He also asked if Georgia had a child mental healthcare system.
Ms. Vuckovic-Sahovic, the co-rapporteur, asked to what extent the Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children had been used by the Government or informed its policies? Also, what was the Government's position on the issue of corporal punishment, which was not forbidden within the family?
A number of Experts asked about measures regarding the low numbers of pre-school enrolment and early childhood development. An Expert asked the delegation to explain the perception that child labour supported the development of the child and how the Government was addressing the issue of child labour in general. Other worries raised by Experts included the phenomenon of social orphans, or children placed in institutions because their parents did not have the means to care for them, and whether children were sufficiently protected from sexual exploitation and sex tourism under the laws.
Response by the Delegation
Regarding education issues, the delegation said that new schools had been built and renovated, with a result that there were now 2,000 public schools in Georgia. Education of teachers was the main problem of the education system. To address that, 100 pilot teacher training centres had been established three years ago. Moreover, a new national curriculum would include teachers’ certification and more money would be allocated for further teacher training. Education was free in general, and violations were aggressively investigated. There were also minority language programmes run by the State.
With regard to adolescent pregnancy and abortion, the delegation said that sex education was not included in the educational curriculum in Georgia as it was a very touchy issue.
The Government had started to develop strategies on inclusive and special education on the basis of recent best practice examples. Concerning participation, freedom of expression and assembly, a nationwide programme had been established, a crucial part of which was to develop a code of conduct for teachers, students and administration, in which the students were actively involved. Georgia also piloted a parent’s education programme to help parents educate their children.
Concerning internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees, the delegation said that children of IDPs and refugees had an equal right to education. Georgia had adopted a national strategy for IDPs envisaging a "doable" approach for their return.
With regard to children's civil and criminal rights, when a child was questioned as a victim of a crime, Georgia had detailed laws on the procedure for undertaking such an interview, including guarantees for victims' rights. As for the right for a child to be heard in civil matters, the situation was simple and clearly set out by the civil code. A child was qualified to participate in adoption and divorce related issues if it was more than 10 years of age and asked for its opinion to be heard, which should be taken into consideration in the best interest of the child.
The delegation noted that Georgia had also taken a different attitude regarding victims of trafficking, in particular regarding non-cooperative victims, who were meant to benefit from the protection rights granted under the relevant law.
As for IDPs, the Government had developed a strategy for reintegration and prompt return of all IDPs from Abkhazia to their homes in security and dignity. The right for return included the new generation. Indeed, a recent draft resolution of the UN General Assembly regarding IDPs and refugees had been initiated by Georgia. However, the situation in the Gali region was complicated and deteriorating, with no return being organized. Children living in the Gali region were sometimes punished for speaking the Georgian language. There was only one human rights officer in the Gali region, who had no chance to change the situation.
Here, Experts asked if the Government was interested to get a human rights report for those areas. The Committee could ask the High Commissioner of Human Rights to could send a team to the area to assess the implementation of the Convention. However, the Committee stressed that it would be important to elaborate who was the interlocutor in these regions, as separatists were not subject to international law. The Observation Mission of the UN in Georgia could maybe be addressed in this regard. The delegation said that it would be greatly helpful if it could receive such a report.
With regard to South Ossetia, the delegation said the situation was quite different, even just in terms of geography. There was a current economic rehabilitation programme which included schools in the Georgian and separatist controlled areas. The government participated in this programme, also through financial contributions.
Regarding progress of the Welfare Action Plans on Children, the delegation stressed that only 2,600 children were in public care in Georgia and that financial support, reintegration, deinstitutionalization and training had been implemented. The number of local adoptions had increased, and even though Georgian families did not like adopting children with disabilities or diseases, the number of adoptions of these children had also increased. Social work teams provided shelter, training, and education for mothers as a preventative measure against child abandonment. Free day-care centres and small group homes had also been established, as well as emergency funds, to help families bring up their children, and foster care homes were looking after children that could not be cared for by their families.
Concerning health care, the delegation said that Georgia was in a transitional period with a health care reform being launched. Some 700,000 people were currently insured by private companies as part of a new programme. Maternal and childcare was a priority, and several Government authorities were addressing the need to achieve the Millennium Goals on that issue. A new law about psychiatric care had been adopted, including a chapter specifically on children. Many NGOs were also working on these issues and general practitioners were trained on basic mental psychiatric services.
Concerning early childhood development, medical staff was trained in this regard, the delegation said. Infant and maternal mortality was high due to regions especially in the southern part of Georgia was high as people preferred to give birth at home, and not go to maternity institutions. This was based on issues of religion, which also lead to the hiding of children from immunization. The government, including the first lady in person, was trying to increase parents’ education and raise awareness towards different issues of reproductive health and abortion. Sex education was not included in the curricula, but it was under discussion that it be put under the umbrella of reproductive health.
The delegation stressed the unreliability of the statistics in the report, which stated that the rate of abortion had been doubled in recent years, which had been based on earlier data, and said that new health statistics would show lower numbers today. Results of survey done by NGOs of a programme on raising awareness on reproductive health could be provided to show the effects of the programme. Children had the right to go to the doctor and make decisions about their health, including abortion, in cooperation with the doctor from the age of 16 onwards.
Concerning poverty, the delegation said that in the past 5 years 300,000 people had received cash benefits, and 700,000 people received insurance from the government. This was not a very good result, but it was difficult to give specific measures to vulnerable groups, in particular children, who had not been receiving direct cash support but had benefited as part of the households which had received such support. The delegation stressed that the government was continuing to combat poverty. As 60,000 students still fell below the poverty level, by presidential decree those children were provided with financial means to by buy books. In addition, sports good, laboratory equipment and library books were provided by the government to schools. In addition, a new Action Plan on Child Welfare aimed at the establishment of a more modern welfare system, and addressed gaps in areas of poverty and abuse.
With regard to street children, the Government was assessing the situation in major cities and had studied their behavioral patterns and background, the delegation said. The results of the study were expected in July, and were meant to be followed by measures and policies to address the identified problems, which were all related to poverty.
While noting that 45 per cent of children had been said to be working as child labourers, the delegation said the latest studies had shown that that was not a problem in Georgia. The question of child labour was a question of definition. About 20 per cent of children worked in domestic services and households.
There were reservations on the legislation regarding the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility to the age of 12, and there were no budgetary allocations from the government for that amendment, which would mean that the provision would not come into force on 1 July 2008. There was strict legislation against juveniles being imprisoned together with adults, so that there were no cases of such imprisonment in Georgia. The delegation also stressed that the imprisonment of juveniles of 12-14 years of age could only be used as last resort in cases involving grave crimes. With regard to the zero tolerance policy, that had been a success in the country, and its application would be extended for example to custodial measures and anti-torture measures. The delegation pointed out that in 2007, recorded crimes had been reduced by 12 per cent and organized serious crime by 55 per cent. The Government was aiming for a specific juvenile justice system, including specific training of judges. The figures of juveniles in jail were not disastrous, and the rate of non-custodial measures had increased.
Preliminary Concluding Observations
In their preliminary observations, DAINIUS PURAS and NEVENA VUCKOVIC-SAHOVIC, Committee Experts serving as co-rapporteurs for the report of Georgia, said that it had been a very constructive dialogue, focusing on most sensitive issues such as juvenile justice system. If more resources would be used, and mutual trust and cooperation strengthened, Georgia could be a real success story, which was mainly based on the political will and the financial means. They expressed the Committee's solidarity for the Georgian people in these difficult times and thanked the delegation for its work.
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