COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD STARTS CONSIDERATION OF INITIAL REPORT OF OMAN

CRC
28th session
27 September 2001
Morning


The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning started its consideration of an initial report from Oman on how that country was implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The report is Oman's first submission under its international obligations to a United Nations treaty body.

Introducing her country's report, Thuwaiba Ahmed Al-Barwani, Under-Secretary for Social Affairs of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour and Vocational Training of Oman, stated that her country's commitment to children had been translated into a firm and sustainable allocation of financial resources to the social sector. She said the country's motto had always been "investing in children is investing in the sustainable development of the nation".

Mrs. Al-Barwani said that along the lines of the provisions of the Convention and other related United Nations standards, Oman's legislative authorities were in the final stages of passing a new juvenile law. She said that according to the new law, specialized juvenile courts would be established with judges who were sensitized on juvenile issues. The draft juvenile law would provide for some alternatives to depriving young offenders from their liberty as well as special detention conditions for them, when detention was inevitable, she added.

Committee Experts raised a number of questions on the general measures of the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child; definition of the child; general principles; rights and freedoms; and the family and alternate child care.

The Omani delegation is also composed of Mohammed Oman Aideed, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Oman to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Aida Salim Al-Hajri, Director in the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour and Vocational Training; Sultan Yareb Al-Busaidi, Director of Medical Services at the Royal Oman Police; Yasmeen Ahmed Jaffar, Director of the Family and Society Health Department of the Ministry of Health; Samira Mohamed Moosa, Director, Centre of Educational Research at the College of Education, Sultan Qaboos University; Souad Mohamed Al-Lamki, Legal Counsellor, Ministry of Legal Affairs; Issa Mohammed Shahdad, Director of the Department of Organizations and Relations, Ministry of Education; Khaled Mohammed Marhoun Al-Azri, Director of the Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Justice; and Idris Al-Khanjari, First Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Oman to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Oman is among the 191 States parties to the Convention and as such it must provide the Committee with periodic reports explaining how it was implementing the provisions of the treaty.

The Committee will finalize its consideration of the report of Oman when it reconvenes at 3 p.m. this afternoon.


Summary of Oman's Report

The report of Oman is contained in document CRC/C/78/Add.1 and it gives account of the measures undertaken by the Government with the aim of implementing the provisions of the Convention on an article-by-article basis. The report says that since the adoption of the Convention in 1996 by the Sultanate, the laws and policies have been directed towards convergence with the provisions of the treaty. Among the laws, the implementation of the personal status law addressed family matters including marriage, parental responsibility for children, rules governing divorce, the consequences of divorce for inheritance, and transfer of rights to general heirs and family members. The law with in line with the principles of the Islamic Sharia requiring that families satisfy their children's legitimate rights for a decent and progressive life.

The report notes that the minimum age of marriage in the Sultanate is fixed at 18 years and it is also the majority age for both sexes. The Omani personal law defines a child in a manner consistent with the Convention and does not discriminate between males or females in any matter, including marriage. The employment of underage children is virtually non-existent in the country. The review of the current labour law is likely to incorporate additional measures protecting children by raising the minimum age of employment, which is now 13 years, to a minimum of 16 years. The current law prohibits employment of children less than 16 years on night shifts, or in heavy or dangerous work. It is anticipated that additional reform will strengthen this law by guaranteeing similar protection to children less than 18 years in accordance with ILO Convention No. 138.

The age of beginning primary education is 6 years and the age of completion is 12 years, the report says. Criminal responsibility begins at the age of nine years, but a minor between 9 and 13 years of age may not be deprived of his freedom and may only be kept in a penitentiary designated by the judge up to his eighteenth birthday. Persons having reached 13 years of age but who are less than 15 who commit a crime punishable by death or life imprisonment shall be punished by imprisonment for 3-5 years, and for 1-3 years for other crimes. No sentence of death or life imprisonment shall be pronounced on a person who has not reached 18 years.

The Sultanate ranks high among nations in regard to the reduction of child and infant mortality, the report notes. During the period 1980 and 1991, according to United Nations statistics, the Sultanate achieved an annual reduction of 10 per cent in the under-5 mortality rate, causing the country to be ranked number one among Middle Eastern and African States and number two worldwide, after Colombia.


Presentation of Report

THUWAIBA AHMED AL-BARWANI, Under-Secretary for Social Affairs of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour and Vocational Training of Oman, stated that her country's commitment to children had been translated into a firm and sustainable allocation of financial resources to the social sector through the Ministries of Health, Education, and Social Affairs, Labour and Vocational Training. The country's motto had always been "investing in children is investing in the sustainable development of the nation".

Mrs. Al-Barwani continued to state that as a result of improving health services all over the country, a number of major preventable child killing diseases were being eliminated or had been eradicated. For instance, no cases of polio had been reported since 1993. The Extended Programme of Immunization had been able to sustain an annual coverage of 98 per cent. The programme had been expanded to cover 10 antigens instead of the basic 6.

Along the lines of the provisions of the Convention and other related United Nations standards, Oman's legislative authorities were in the final stages of passing a new juvenile law, Mrs. Al-Barwani said. According to the new law, specialized juvenile courts would be established with judges who were sensitized on juvenile issues. The draft juvenile law would provide for some alternatives to depriving young offenders from their liberty as well as special detention conditions for them, when detention was inevitable.

Further, Mrs. Al-Barwani said that on the front of child abuse and neglect, the Government of Oman had just introduced a new system for reporting cases of child abuse and neglect through medical facilities. Doctors working in emergency departments of hospitals had began to identify some of the less obvious physical and sexual abuse cases and referred them to the concerned legal, social and medical authorities.

A national committee had been formed and efforts were under way to develop a national strategy and a standard system for service delivery and monitoring of disability, Mrs. Al-Barwani continued to say. The Government realized that as the chances of survival for children increased due to better health care, more children were surviving with disabilities. More resources were being allocated to serve those children with disabilities.

In conclusion, Mrs. Al-Barwani said that given the strict enforcement of labour legislation in the modern industrial sector, it was safe to conclude that there was no child labour in that sector. However, there was very difficult for known technical reasons to determine the magnitude of child labour within the traditional agricultural sector or in domestic work. An ongoing review of the current labour law was likely to incorporate additional measures to protect children by raising the minimum age of employment from the current age of 13 years to a minimum of 16 years.


Discussion

Following the presentation of the report, a number of questions were raised by Committee Experts under the first cluster on the general measures of implementation of the provisions of the Convention; and definition of the children. The Committee members asked specific questions on the reservations entered to on citizenship of children born in Oman of unknown parents; the practice of adoption; about the status of the National Committee for Child Care; the dissemination of the Convention; and child abuse.

Responding to the questions, the members of the Omani delegation said that the National Committee for Child Care was a body that had existed since 1985. Following Oman's ratification of the Convention in 1996, a law was issued to reconstitute the Committee and modify its mandate in accordance with the State obligations under the Convention. The Committee was entrusted with national policy, programming, monitoring, and documentation issues. The National Implementation and Follow-up Committee was a temporary body created by the Ministry of Health which took the initiative of following up on the Convention between the time Oman ratified the Convention in 1996 and the time when a decree was issued to reconstitute the National Committee for Child Care.

Asked how the initial report and the Convention were disseminated, the delegation said that the mass media, pamphlets and seminars were instrumental in their dissemination. The Convention was translated into Arabic and was made known to the public through a number of ministerial departments. The delegation also intended to disseminate information on the reaction of the Committee once the concluding observations were issued on the initial report.

On matters of child abuse, there was no legislation in the country to deal with abuses, the delegation said; however, an inter-sectoral committee was taking care of the situation with the participation of medical doctors, social workers, specialists in children's rights, the police and the Ministry of Education. Courts could intervene when the case was brought to their attention by prosecuting bodies. Child abuse by teachers could be examined by members of the Ministry of Education and letters of reprimand could be addressed to the teacher who perpetrated the abuse on the child. In the event the abuse was significant, the case could be sent to the courts.

Asked about the reservations entered to by Oman on nationality and adoption, the delegation said that according to the Islamic laws of Sharia, certain forms of adoption were not allowed. The reservation made by Oman on adoption would continue to be maintained due to the Islamic law. Only the Islamic "kafala", which protected the interest of the child, was practised as a substitute to adoption. A reservation was entered to all the provisions of the Convention that did not accord with Islamic law or the legislation in force in the Sultanate and, in particular, to the provisions relating to adoption.

Juvenile offenders were imprisoned separately from adults and they were placed in a different prison system where they pursued their studies, the delegation. Teachers were assigned to juvenile prisoners to enable them to continue with their studies and they could complete their school with the same standard as others whose liberty was not deprived. In addition, they were provided with recreational facilities.

Co-education was maintained in remote areas where it was impossible to build separate schools for girls and boys, the delegation said. Although that measure was contrary to the existing traditional practice, the Government had no choice but to extend co-educational schools in the mountainous regions which were accessible only by helicopters.

The Government of Oman did not directly contribute to the financing of pre-school care and education institutions, the delegation said. However, its role covered management oversight, technical guidance in the form of developing curricula and training teaching staff. The pre-school care and education institutions were fully financed by the private sector for-profit and non-profit purposes. The Omani Women Associations operated a large number of pre-school care and education institutions for non-profit purposes.

Committee members continued raising questions on the second cluster concerning general principles; rights and freedoms; and the family and alternative child care.

An Expert said that Omani children were restricted from attending foreign community schools in the country; however, they were sent abroad to pursue their studies in educational institutions which were not "Islamic". The delegation was asked to elaborate on this situation.

Another Expert asked about the status of children born out of wedlock and the measures taken by the Government to recognize the rights of the child in the event that the father declined to register his name. A question was also raised if the Government withdrew its support to families in need before their situation was strengthened.

In response to questions raised, the members of the delegation said that there was a law which regulated civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In addition, the Government encouraged the activities of the NGOs in the country.

In the case of divorce, the Omani law on child custody preferred the parent who was capable of raising the child and providing protection, the delegation said. However, it was up to the court to decide on the custody issue. Practice had shown that the mother was the preferred parent in matters of custody.

Abortion was prohibited in the Sultanate, the delegation said, adding that any born child was a welcome event to the society whatever the status of the child.

The Omani law granted the Omani nationality to any child born in the Sultanate to unknown parents or to an Omani mother from an unknown father, the delegation said. Such children were entitled to names and nationality without any reference to their social circumstances and they enjoyed full civil and political rights on equal footing with all other Omani children. However, if the child was born to an Omani mother and a known non-Omani father and if the child was born in Oman to an unknown father and a known non-Omani mother, Omani nationality was not granted.




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