COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD EXAMINES REPORT OF HAITI

CRC
32nd session
27 January 2003



The Committee on the Rights of the Child reviewed today an initial report of Haiti, questioning a Government delegation among other things on the situation and treatment of child domestic workers ("restavek"), the use of corporal punishment, and absence of a national plan of action for children.
The report was introduced by Charles Etzer, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Haiti to the United Nations Office at Geneva, who said the country had undergone profound political and economic changes over the last decade, but despite its difficulties it had been able to take a series of measures to aid children.
Mr. Etzer explained that a group of Government officials scheduled to arrive from the country's capital to present the report had not been able to come, and added that because the Haitian Parliament was currently not operational, draft bills submitted by the Government, including one to establish a code of child rights, were still pending.
Responding to questions put by Committee members, Mr. Etzer and several Geneva-based colleagues said among other things that steps were being taken to reduce discrimination against girls, to combat a high rate of teenage pregnancy, and to protect children from sexual exploitation to which they were sometimes vulnerable because of the country's widespread poverty.
The Committee will release its concluding observations on the initial report of Haiti towards the end of its three-week session, which concludes on Friday, 31 January.
Other members of the Haitian delegation were Eucher Luc Joseph, Minister-Counsellor, and Moetsi Michelle Duchatellier, Counsellor, of the Permanent Mission of Haiti to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
As one of 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Haiti must present periodic reports to the Committee on the status of the country's children.
When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. Tuesday, it will take up a second periodic report of Iceland (document CRC/C/83/Add.5).

Initial Report of Haiti
The report (CRC/C/51/Add.7) describes some of the measures taken by the State party to promote and protect the rights of the child. It says the accession of Haiti to the Convention has not sufficed to ensure the implementation of the Convention -- that application has suffered from political developments characterized by instability on the one hand and attempts at administrative reform on the other.
The report notes that in 1995, Haiti was just emerging from a lengthy crisis caused by the military coup d'etat of 1991. The political turbulence has never enabled successive governments to integrate all the provisions of the Convention systematically into State strategy. In the traditional activities of the State in the social domain, concerned with the welfare of all, especially the Haitian child, the application of the Convention has always been watered down, the report contends. However, the advances recorded since the ratification of the Convention illustrate and strengthen the position of Haiti. The country is now closely involved in building the destiny of its children.
There is a widespread desire to bring the issue of the rights of the child to the forefront, naturally with the support of the Convention, the report states, and better results can be expected in the years to come.

Introduction of Report
CHARLES ETZER, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Haiti to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said a delegation that was scheduled to arrive from the capital to present the report and answer questions could not make it for various reasons. Haiti had ratified the Convention in 1994.
Haiti had undergone profound changes, both politically and economically, over the last decade, Mr. Etzer said. Despite those changes and the problems encountered, the Government had undertaken a series of measures in favour of the rights of the child. Although there was no specific legal definition of the child, any person who was not 18 years of age was considered a minor. The civil code had fixed the minimum age for employment at 15, and the age of the criminal responsibility at 16. However, children aged between 13 and 16 who committed crimes and serious offences were taken before the Juvenile Court. Only minors who had reached the age of 16 at the times of there offences were taken before the Juvenile Assize Court.
Mr. Etzer said a draft bill on the rights of the child had been submitted to the country's Parliament several years ago, and the Government was still looking forward to its adoption. Various ministries had been responsible for the promotion and protection of the rights of the child. An inter-ministerial commission had also been created in 1997 to coordinate the implementation of the provisions of the Convention and to aid in the defence of the child.
Mr. Etzer said the needs of Haitian children were far from being fully satisfied due to a lack of resources. Child mortality was high, at 105.7 per thousand. The Government had taken measures to improve the situation in cooperation with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Discussion
Committee Experts raised numerous questions under the main subjects of the general measures of the implementation of the Convention; and the legal definition of the child. The questions focused on such issues as the absence of a national plan of action for children; the role of the inter-ministerial commission for the defence of the child; corporal punishment; the status of children born out of wedlock; training of children on their rights; domestic service by children; illiteracy; protection against HIV/AIDS; the role of the child protection office, or the Ombudsman; registration of births; and the participation of Haiti in international and regional cooperation.
Responding, the delegation said among other things that negotiations were under way between the Government and the opposition on how to hold early elections which might allow proper functioning of Parliament. Because of the current Parliamentary impasse, several drafts bills were still pending.
The Government had not yet succeeded in freeing funds frozen by donor countries, particularly by the European Union, the delegation said. Some of those funds might have been used for helping Haitian children.
The law on the establishment of the child Ombudsman had been entered into force four years ago, and the Office was already functioning, the delegation said. So far one case of child abuse had been dealt with by the Ombudsman.
The child was venerated by Haitian society and parents did everything in caring for their children, the delegation said. The problem caused by domestic service -- "Restavek" -- had its roots in economic difficulties. In some cases children working as domestics were badly treated when they misbehaved. They could be beaten and subjected to other forms of violence. The situation was more serious for children working in poor families.
The delegation said Haitian legislation referred the child as a "minor". The Civil Code defined a minor as a person of either sex who had not yet reached the age of 18, which was the age of civil and political majority and matrimonial capability. A girl who became pregnant before reaching the age of majority might marry the baby's father provided her parents consented and the "President of the Republic authorized the marriage".
Corporal punishment or the exploitation of children in any other way was prohibited by Haitian law, the delegation said. Children could enter domestic service at the age of 12, although the official minimum age for employment was 15. Poverty was forcing parents to send their children into service with other families. The Government believed that domestic service should be regulated by law and that children involved in such activities should be protected.
Children in distressed situations had access to a hotline, the delegation said. Some non-governmental organizations and teachers helped children to use such telephone lines. There were no statistical data on the number of children who used the hotline.
The last national budget had been adopted exceptionally by the Executive because of the non-functioning of the country's legislative body, the delegation said.
Committee Experts went on to raise further questions on the main issues of general principles of the Convention; civil rights and freedoms; and family environment and alternative care. The questions focused, among other things, on the issuance of falsified birth certificates; zero-tolerance measures and police brutality against children; abortion; protection of children from accidents and suicide; imprisonment of pregnant mothers; abandoned children; the empowerment of women; international adoption; and separation of children from their parents for various reasons.
Transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to a child had been reduced thanks to measures implemented by the State, the delegation said. The rate of HIV/AIDS infection in general was high compared with other countries of the region.
Children born of Haitian parents living in the Dominican Republic were not considered Dominicans, the delegation said. As long as the Haitian parents remained in the Dominican Republic, the children, even if born in that country, were Haitians. In addition to their refusal to register the birth of a Haitian child in the Dominican Republic, the Dominican authorities denied the acquisition of Dominican citizenship to those who were born there. There was a strong discriminatory attitude manifested by the Dominican authorities in that regard. For a number years, negotiations had been going on between the two Governments to resolve the problem but no concrete steps had been taken by the Dominican authorities.
Children could be spanked in the family although corporal punishment had been banned in the schools for the last 30 years, the delegation said. If an act of punishment within the family amounted to an act of violence, then special measures could be taken by the authorities and the child could be placed in a foster family.
There were only a few cases of police ill-treatment of children, the delegation said. There was no systematic brutality committed by the police. Administrative and juridical measures could be taken against police officers who abused their authority. In recent years some five hundred policemen who had committed serious offences had been fired from their posts.
Women were marginalized, and discrimination against them was prevalent in the country, the delegation said. Since the second half of the 1990s, the number of girls going to school had significantly decreased. The situation needed to be changed.
Abortion was prohibited by law in Haiti but its practice was tolerated by the authorities, the delegation said. Assistance was provided to women who desired abortions.
The country's high rate of illiteracy had prompted the Government to use radio to disseminate information on the provisions of the Convention, the delegation said.
Haiti had not ratified the 1993 Hague Convention on inter-country adoption, the delegation said. Adoption processes followed Haitian domestic law.
Non-payment of alimony by a father could lead to his detention on the simple claim of a mother, the delegation said. Although payment was hard to ensure because poverty and unemployment were widespread, the law could be enforced any time a case was brought before the authorities.
Committee Experts went on to raise a series of questions under the main subjects of basic health and welfare; education, leisure and cultural activities; and special protection measures. They asked, among other things, about the implementation of a health policy; the practice of breastfeeding; sexual education for children; teenage pregnancy; water supply; stereotypes in the educational system that discriminated against girls; sexual aggression against girl students in schools; prostitution and sex tourism; the high child mortality rate; exclusion of disabled children from society; trafficking of children to the Dominican Republic; street children; and the juvenile justice system.
Responding, the delegation said among other things that the impact of breastfeeding in Haiti was limited but attempts were being made to encourage the practice.
There was no full account of taken children's views in cases of divorce, the delegation said. Many efforts needed to be made in that field both on the legislative and social levels.
Teenage pregnancy was a big problem in Haitian society, the delegation said. There had been, however, some recent improvement and schools were encouraging young women to continue their studies.
Poverty was the main reason for the widespread of commercial sexual exploitation of children, making more women vulnerable, the delegation said. Sex tourism was not as pronounced as in other countries of the region because of the reduction in tourism due to prevailing political conditions.
The country's national plan of action for children had not been implemented because of a lack of resources and a blockage of funds by donors, the delegation said.
It was regrettable that some parents, particularly in rural areas, preferred to send boys to school rather than girls, the delegation said. In urban areas, the number of girls going to school had increased and their number would increase with the evolution of the society's attitude towards women.
The private sector played an important role in the promotion of education in the country, the delegation said. Public school was free of charge while private schools were commercial. The Government had been expanding school facilities throughout the country but it could not cope with the growing number of students. Many schools coped with a shift system, which reduced the number of study hours.
A representative of UNICEF told the Committee that Haitian children under 10 years of age had been vaccinated against polio and measles -- a success in a country whose infrastructure was not well-established.

Preliminary Concluding Remarks
AWA N'DEYE OUEDRAOGO, the Committee Expert who served as country rapporteur for the report of Haiti, thanked the members of the delegation for their efforts to answer the Committee's questions in the absence of experts from the capital. The economic, political and financial problems of the country were so enormous that many of the programmes envisaged for children were not yet implemented. It was hoped that things would change after legislative elections which could allow the country's Parliament to function.
Ms. Ouedraogo said among other things that it was necessary to establish priorities in the face of the country's financial problem -- the best use should be made of the few resources available to the Government. The drafting of the country's child code should fully reflect the provisions of the Convention; the situation of stateless children of Haitian origin in the Dominican Republic should be resolved; and the condition of domestic helpers -- "Restavek" -- should be improved through legal measures protecting their rights.



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