COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILDREN CONCLUDES CONSIDERATION OF REPORT OF CAMEROON

CRC
28th session
4 October 2001
Afternoon





Expert Encourages Government to Increase Efforts
in Implementing Rights-Oriented Actions



The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon concluded its review of an initial report from Cameroon on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

A Committee Expert, in a preliminary remark, said that with the improving economic situation in Cameroon, children should benefit through a higher allocation of financial resources for the implementation of their rights. Although the State had an arsenal of judicial and legislative measures, the problem was their implementation because of a lack of financial resources and technical know-how.

The Expert said that the Government should continue with its efforts in implementing rights-oriented measures; further measures should be taken towards child violence and trafficking in children; and efforts should be made in other areas relating to the rights of the child.

Earlier this afternoon, in response to queries put by Committee Experts, the members of the Cameroonian delegation said that the northern part of the country was affected by the practice of female genital mutilation which was perpetuated in the name of religion and tradition. The Government was continuing to discourage its use, though it was not explicitly prohibited by law.

Final, written concluding observations and recommendations on the initial report of Cameroon will be released by the Committee towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 12 October.

As one of the 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Cameroon is obligated to provide the Committee with periodic reports on how it was giving effect to the provisions of the treaty. A 10-member Cameroonian delegation was on hand throughout the day to present the report and to answer questions raised by the 10-member Committee.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Friday, 5 October, it will take up the initial report of the Gambia.


Response of Cameroon

Responding to questions raised by Committee Experts this morning, the members of the Cameroonian delegation said that the security operation "le commandement opérationnel" had been created to deal with the infiltration of criminals into Cameroon from neighbouring States. Its main purpose was to weed out the criminals from the society and protect the population from their acts. In the course of the operation, nine young persons had allegedly disappeared while in the custody of military officers. After a preliminary inquiry, eight officers were arrested and an indictment was expected to follow. The security operation had now been suspended.

The structural adjustments required by the international financial institutions had created stringent economic measures in Cameroon and had resulted in social changes, the delegation said.

The Government of Cameroon had been taking care of the welfare of Pygmies and the nomadic people of the Bororos in the fields of education, health care and social aspects, the delegation said. It had taken a series of measures to satisfy their needs and to educate their children. In addition, three non-governmental organizations were pursuing activities in favour of those marginalized population groups.

There was no systematic mechanism through which the recommendations of the child parliament and the municipal child council were implemented, the delegation said. However, they were encouraged to meet on a regular basis and to engage in activities regarding the implementation of the rights of the child. They also disseminated information on the provisions of the Convention in newspapers.

Concerning violence against children, the delegation said that in cooperation with UNICEF, a data collection campaign had been carried out in three out of ten provinces on the issue of violence. A strategy was being designed to change the attitude of the society concerning violence against children.

With regard to the practice of female genital mutilation, the delegation said that the northern part of the country was mainly infected by this phenomenon which was perpetuated in the name of religion and tradition. The Government continued to discourage this practise, though it was not explicitly prohibited by law.

Asked about the causes of the high rate of mortality among children under five years in the southern part of the country, the delegation said that it was not a matter of discrimination but a result of the lack of inadaptability of the health care strategy for the region. However, the Government was increasing efforts in the immunization campaign in order to raise the health level of the region.

On the issue of inter-country adoption, the delegation said that there had been a problem in the past few years because of the lack of follow-up concerning the adopted children. Once the children were adopted by foreigners, it had been difficult to trace their whereabouts. The Government had the feeling that inter-country adoptions were a disguise for child trafficking. For that reason, new procedures for child adoption were being contemplated by the Government.

Special birth registration centres had been established in almost all regions of the country, the delegation said. However, some parents did not see the advantage of declaring the birth of a child. In addition, most children were born outside maternity hospitals and their existence remained unknown to the authorities, particularly in the rural areas. At present, in cooperation with UNICEF, birth registration had been intensified through hospitals and schools.

The child was considered of the "highest value" for the parents, the delegation said. In some tribes, men looked for more than one woman to have more children; however, awareness of the rights of the child was still low among many tribes.

Concerning the act of torture, the delegation said that Cameroon was a State party to the Convention against Torture, and it protected its citizens from such acts. In many instances, public authorities were made aware of the phenomenon; perpetrators were brought to justice when they committed acts of torture; and the penalty increased if the victim was a child. With regard to child abuse and neglect by parents, the Government had taken measures to separate children from "unworthy" parents and to put them in public institutions.

There was no specific statistical data on disabled children who were integrated in public schools, the delegation said. However, a document was to be drawn up.

The Committee Experts continued to raise questions within the context of issues related to basic health and welfare; education, leisure and cultural activities; and special measures. Questions were asked, among other things, about the absence of juvenile courts; the rise in the rate of persons infected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic; the high number of illegal adoptions; the presence in the country's prisons of children as young as 12 years; the adoption of a code for substitution of mother milk; pregnancy among adolescents and sexual education; the situation of abortions; illegal sale of medicines; the problem of birth registration of children born to refugees and stateless persons; and the high rate of dropouts before reaching fifth grade, which was 50 per cent.

Responding to the questions, the delegation said that it was unfortunate that reports had been mentioned by certain Experts alleging trafficking in Cameroonian girls. UNICEF had found these reports to be groundless. The Government had always endeavoured to protect its citizens from any acts that were detrimental to their survival.

Concerning long periods of preventive detention, the delegation said that the Ministry of Interior had been circulating a series of orders so that preventive detention was shortened, particularly for light offences. In addition, measures were taken to release minors and not to keep them under the preventive regime.

The ongoing reform of the administration of justice had also affected the penitential conditions in which minor offenders were kept separately from adults, the delegation said.

The high rate of dropouts was attributed to the ignorance of parents on the role of education for their children. They kept children in the house to use as labourers, the delegation said. In addition to the negative cultural attitudes towards education, the lack of nutrition and educational materials discouraged children from continuing their schooling.


Preliminary Remark

In a preliminary remark, a Committee Experts said that the dialogue with the Cameroonian delegation had been fruitful. The Government should be commended for its efforts to help refugees under its territories.

The Expert said that with the improving economic situation, children should benefit through a higher allocation of financial resources for the implementation of their rights. Although the State had an arsenal of judicial and legislative measures, the problem concerned their implementation due to the lack of financial resources and technical know-how. The Government should continue with its efforts in implementing rights-oriented measures. Further measures should be taken towards the problem of violence against children and trafficking in children. The Government had made efforts in the past and much efforts were expected from it in other areas relating to the rights of the child.




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