Committee on the Rights of the Child considers report of Israel on the sale of children and child prostitution

Committee on the Rights of the Child

28 May 2015
 
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today considered the initial report of Israel on its implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Introducing the report, Eviator Manor, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said Israel was fully committed to its implementation of the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and while much remained to be done in order to eradicate the worldwide phenomenon of trafficking in children, child prostitution and child pornography, Israel considered its efforts to be successful.  For the last three years Israel had not encountered any cases of the sale of children and no cases of child sex tourism. 

Presenting the report, Hila Tene-Gilad, Director, Human Rights and Relations with International Organizations Directorate, Office of the Deputy Attorney General, said Israel had acceded to the Optional Protocol with a firm commitment to protect children from the heinous crimes listed under it.  Israel took a multi-layered approach towards implementation of the Protocol which included legislation, prosecution, institutional changes, education, staff training and public activities aimed at tackling the root causes of crimes against children.  Legislative amendments included the criminalization of the possession of child pornography by streaming as well as downloading onto a computer, and a new law to tackle the problem of minors distributing sexual images of other minors through social networks.  Institutional developments included the establishment of a Police Cyber Crime Division and several prosecutions in the courts.  Efforts to prevent trafficking of children included a new immigration procedure for the entry of unaccompanied minors into Israel.

During the discussion Committee Experts commended Israel for the good progress it had made, especially in the strengthening of legislation and the provision of training programmes.  They asked about measures to protect vulnerable children from sexual exploitation such as child sex tourism and prostitution, efforts to prevent and prosecute child pornography, and about cross-border surrogacy and adoption procedures.  The delegation was also asked about Israel’s extra-territorial jurisdiction and extradition processes, birth registration and efforts to prevent trafficking in persons. 

In concluding remarks Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Committee Member acting as Rapporteur for the report, thanked the delegation for the open and candid conversation and said Israel had made visible progress in implementing the Optional Protocol, particularly in terms of legislation and capacity and institution building.  He hoped the implementation of the Optional Protocol would help address the challenges faced by children who were Israeli citizens but also non-Israeli children over which Israel had effective control. 

Ambassador Manor, in concluding remarks, thanked the Committee for its valuable feedback during the substantive dialogue which would bear constructive and fruitful results.  He said that Israel placed great importance on respect for children’s rights and had achieved significant progress in law and in practice. 

The delegation of Israel included representatives of the Human Rights and Relations with International Organizations Directorate within the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, Anti-Trafficking Unit within the Ministry of Justice, Directorate of services for adults and young adults at risk within the Ministry of Social Services, the National Juvenile Delinquency Department within the Investigation and Intelligence Division, and the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The Committee will next convene in public at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 3 June at the Palais Wilson to meet with States, before closing the session at 3 p.m. on Friday, 5 June after which it will publish its concluding recommendations.  Information and documentation for the Committee’s sixty-ninth session can be found here.
 
Report

The initial report of Israel under the Optional Protocol on the sale on children, child prostitution and child pornography can be read here: (CRC/C/OPSC/ISR/1). 

Presentation of the Report

EVIATOR MANOR, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Office at Geneva, introducing the report, said Israel acknowledged the important goals of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and was fully committed to its implementation.  There were several Governmental authorities in Israel which were responsible for the required activities under the Protocol, including the National Anti-Trafficking Unit coordinating efforts to prevent the sale of children, the Police Cyber Division and the State Attorney’s Office leading the struggle against child pornography.  The Ministry of Public Security, Society and Crime Prevention together with other ministries led the efforts against child prostitution.  Ambassador Manor said the report was the product of extensive internal efforts of all Government agencies and comments submitted by non-governmental organizations. 

While much remained to be done in order to eradicate the worldwide phenomenon of trafficking in children, child prostitution and child pornography, Israel considered its efforts to be successful.  For the last three years Israel had not encountered any cases of sale of children and no cases of child sex tourism.  Cases regarding exploitation of children, child prostitution and child pornography were handled with great consideration for the best interests of the child, out of respect for human dignity, the right to personal autonomy over the minor’s body and the right to privacy.  The Government had developed several plans of action concerning the prevention of child prostitution and the sale of children which would be presented today, concluded Ambassador Manor. 

HILA TENE-GILAD, Director, Human Rights and Relations with International Organizations Directorate, Office of the Deputy Attorney General, presenting the report, said Israel attached great importance to the protection of children and had acceded to the Optional Protocol with a firm commitment to protect children from the heinous crimes listed under it.  Israel took a multi-layered approach towards the implementation of the Protocol which included legislation, prosecution, institutional changes, education, staff training and public activities aimed at tackling the root causes of crimes against children.  Israel would continue its efforts in future to eradicate the phenomenon of the sale of children, child pornography and child prostitution in order to foster a safe environment in which children could grow and thrive. 

In the legislative arena Israel had amended its laws in order to properly confront the changing patterns of the crimes that were listed under the Protocol.  Two important amendments included one to the Penal Law in 2014 to criminalize not only the possession, by downloading, of an obscene publication that included the image of a minor, but also accessing, through streaming, such material.  That innovative amendment allowed law enforcement officers to tackle the problem of offenders who possessed pornographic materials without saving a copy on their computer.  As a complement to that amendment the Deputy State Attorney issued guidelines on handling the prosecution of that offence, including on how to handle cyber-paedophilia cases.  A second amendment was made in 2014 to the Sexual Harassment Law criminalizing another form of sexual harassment by providing that the publication of a photograph, film or recording of a person was against their consent.  The crime was punishable by five years’ imprisonment and aimed to tackle the phenomenon of minors distributing sexual images of other minors through social networks, sometimes involving attempts for extortion. 

A number of institutional changes had also been made such as the establishment of a Police Cyber Crime Division which included 60 investigators specializing in investigating online offences including cyber sex crimes among minors, with the ability of identifying the victims and their location.  In the field of prostitution the courts took a firm stance against child-related crimes, evidenced by a number of prosecutions, such as the Bitton Case, the Sandrin Case and the Ness Case, details of which Ms. Tene-Gilad described.  Israel also focused on eradicating the root causes of crimes against children through education and raising public awareness, and 70 per cent of schools in Israel dedicated a full week to teaching children on the prevention of sexual violence and guidelines on the safe use of the internet.  As part of measures to prevent trafficking of children the Population and Immigration Authority recently launched new procedures for the entry of unaccompanied minors into Israel, including both Israeli and foreign citizens.   

Questions by the Country Rapporteur
 
BENYAM DAWIT MEZMUR, Committee Member acting as Rapporteur for the report of Israel, thanked the delegation for providing not only a detailed report but also a comprehensive response to the list of issues.  He commended Israel for its many legislative developments to assist its implementation of the Optional Protocol, highlighting, in particular amendments to the Penal Law and new guidelines issued by the Deputy Attorney General.  Mr. Mezmur said the Committee recognized the complex political and social situation in the State party and how that may create difficulties in the full implementation of the Convention. 

Mr. Mezmur asked how the absence of an independent national human rights institution in Israel affected the implementation of the Optional Protocol, and on a related note, how were the various stakeholders involved in the enforcement of the provisions of the protocol coordinated?  The State party had provided a large amount of disaggregated data which was appreciated.  The Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons Law of 2006 did not include an offence of “sale of children” although Israel said it had had no cases of “sale of children”. 

The Rapporteur also asked about the status of the Optional Protocol in domestic law and about the reasoning for setting the statute of limitation at five to ten years.  The Penal Code carried double penalties for crimes which involved a victim aged less than 14 years, and for 14 to 18 years if the perpetrator was responsible for the child at the time of the abuse; how did that penalty affect the implementation of the Protocol?  The Rapporteur asked for details of training, capacity building and awareness-raising about the Optional Protocol.  He also enquired about support for victims, their recovery and rehabilitation. 
 
JOSEPH CLARENCE NELSON, Committee Member acting as Rapporteur for the report of Israel, thanked the delegation for the extensive statistics provided in their replies to the list of issues.  He asked about the prosecution of crimes contained within the Protocol, about whether any cases of forced labour of children had been brought to the courts and about a reference to mediation in one particular case.  He also asked what other measures were being taken to attack the problem of child pornography in addition to the work of the Police Cyber Division. 

Israel was commended for holding many training programmes on the issues contained within the Optional Protocol by an Expert who requested more information on prevention programmes in schools and awareness-raising on the Protocol among the general public, the tourism industry and of course children themselves.  She also asked whether the Optional Protocol had been translated into the languages used in Israel. 

Concerning child sex tourism an Expert noted the State party’s assertion that there had been no cases of child sex tourism both inside Israel or by Israeli tourists abroad and that no Israeli national had been prosecuted or convicted under the extra-territorial provisions for traveling to other countries to engage in child sex tourism.  Israel had adopted the World Tourism Organization’s Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, she noted, and asked how it was enacted.  She also asked how particularly vulnerable children were protected from the risk of sex tourism, especially Bedouin, Palestinian and Arab Israeli children.

Birth registration was raised by an Expert who asked about challenges in issuing birth certificates, why a birth certificate was essential for a child to access State health care, and what happened in a situation of unregistered migrant children.  Did the Government’s birth certificate confiscation provisions open the doors to a black market in counterfeit birth certificates which could lead to children being stateless, he wondered, asking how it could be established a child involved in prostitution was a minor if he or she did not have a birth certificate. 

An Expert said she understood that the State party had paid serious attention to issues surrounding surrogacy and adoption, in particular since the horrifying case a few years ago when an Israeli man with a record of child abuse got a four-year-old child from India through a surrogacy arrangement.  She asked about cross-border surrogacy and adoption arrangements and procedures for people bringing children into Israel.  Were Israeli citizens able to adopt children from countries that were not party to the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption?

The report stated that Israel would prosecute the crimes listed in the Optional Protocol under extra-territorial jurisdiction provided that the offence was also listed as a crime in the relevant country, also known as ‘double criminality’.  The crimes under the Optional Protocol were very serious, said the Expert, but there were several countries in which they had not been criminalized.  In that case would Israel consider removing the ‘double-criminality’ provision to ensure perpetrators did not escape justice?  Would Israel consider including the offences under the Protocol in future bilateral extradition treaties?

Response by the Delegation

There were no cases of trafficking in children in Israel today, confirmed a delegate, thanks to intense efforts over the last 15 years in joint-collaborative initiatives run by many organizations which were detailed in the report.  In general, most victims of trafficking over the last 15 years were found to be adults, in particular women who had been exploited for the purposes of prostitution.  Should cases of trafficking in children be detected in Israel the authorities were confident that they had the expertise and infrastructure to deal with it at all levels, from prevention to prosecution to protection and rehabilitation. 

Israel had very comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation, said a delegate, providing the Committee with a paper analysing the various laws and policies.  The trafficking of children – or indeed adults - was clearly prohibited in the Penal Law with the term “a transaction of a person” whether for the purposes of exploitation, prostitution, removal of laws or other.  The sanction for the trafficking of a child was 20 years imprisonment.  Offences such as holding a person under conditions of slavery or forced labour were criminalized as separate offences in the Criminal Law. 

To tackle sex tourism, namely in the form of prostitution in hotel rooms sometimes involving trafficked women, the Government had launched a number of initiatives, many of which targeted the hotel industry and specifically hotel personnel.  For example, hotel personnel, from chamber maids to bellboys, were trained on how to report any minor who they witnessed engaged in prostitution.  Although hotels were part of the private sector the Government believed they played an important role in the rehabilitation of victims, such as by providing jobs to women who wished to leave prostitution.  As there were very few brothels in existence these days and prostitution mostly took place in hotels, particularly in spa areas, the hotel industry had an important role to play in tackling prostitution.  Although the Government was not aware of any phenomenon of Israelis traveling abroad to buy sex in other countries it had held awareness-raising campaigns targeting people traveling overseas about the dangers of sex tourism and the exploitation of children.  A full-day conference for hotel workers on those issues was planned to be convened in Eilat, the main tourism city of Israel.   Campaigns to tackle sex tourism were also directed at young people, students, members of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) and other groups.

Trafficking in persons was a dynamic phenomenon and although there had been a dramatic decrease in cases, from thousands of women being trafficked a decade ago to almost none today, the cases seen today took a very different form, said a delegate.  Traffickers were very creative, and cases often did not involve violence or threat, and victims’ autonomy or freedom of movement was not necessarily denied.  Non-governmental organizations in Israel were a vital part of the fight on trafficking and without them the Government could not have achieved so much, so it prioritized its continuing work with them.  In recognition of these changes Israel was drafting a new national anti-trafficking plan and had reached out to civil society organizations on the ground to hear their views on how the new plan should look and what the focus should be.

Surrogacy itself was not a form of trafficking and was regulated by law in Israel, which provided a lot of protections to the surrogate woman.  Surrogacy taking place outside in countries that had no regulation was problematic and carried the potential for exploitation. For surrogacy to be considered a form of trafficking the person had to be considered as ‘an object’ in law.  The Government took the matter very seriously and carried out a lot of awareness-raising and training on the risks for exploitation. 

The treatment of juveniles in the justice system was described by a delegate who spoke about the focus on prevention, supervision and rehabilitation of juveniles in conflict with the law, as punishment alone would not solve the problems.  There were three categories of juveniles: the normative, who attended school and lived at home, juveniles with socio-economic problems, and those who had committed a crime, he added.  Israel had extensive protection systems for child victims, said a delegate, describing the network of Government-run Child Protection Centres where they would be seen by a specially trained social worker and undergo all necessary procedures linked to an investigation under one roof recognizing their vulnerability and special status as witnesses. 

Speaking about measures to prevent crimes against children on the Internet the delegate said every year there was a National Internet Day which was a yearly pinnacle of educational and awareness-raising campaigns.  A delegate from the Police Cyber Crime Unit spoke about their procedures to investigate and prosecute child pornography on the Internet and identify and arrest adult perpetrators. 

There was sometimes a mediation process regarding plea bargaining, but it was not optional in lieu of the criminal procedure in Israel in a sexual abuse case which was considered a very serious type of offence which had to be addressed by a court of law. 

Israel had a very developed system for inter-country adoption and did allow inter-country adoption with countries not party to the Hague Convention so long as their national legislation was in line with the requirements of the Convention.  Neither the Adoption Agency nor surrogacy bodies permitted applicants who had a criminal record of sexual abuse or violence.

Israel had a very long statute of limitations for offences against children in recognition that children may not report offences for a very long time after they happened, particularly if the offender was a family member and they did not realize that they had actually been abused.  It was decided that if ten years had elapsed since the offence then the case would require the approval of the Attorney General.  The delegate gave the example of a recent case of an Israeli citizen living in the United States, where the statute of limitations was five years, who reported being abused as a child by her father 18 years previously, and whose case the Court of Appeal in Israel decided to take up. 

The Optional Protocol had been translated into Hebrew and Arabic, which were both national languages of Israel, and was also available in English.  It was available not only on the website but also as a printed booklet, and was distributed to children and schools by the Ministry of Education.  Israel did not have a separate human rights commission but had a lot of separate commissions, such as for persons with disabilities, and general coordinators on many issues such as on trafficking in persons. 

The Protocol could serve as a basis for extradition but that had not been necessary as all the offences under it were so serious they carried a sanction of more than one year imprisonment and so were extraditable offences anyway.  The delegate spoke about recent cases involving people in Georgia, Russia and Ukraine and how the Israel authorities travelled to the countries and closely cooperated with the authorities there to bring about prosecutions.  The delegate said the issue of double criminality was similar to that of extradition as the offences were considered so serious double criminality was not required. 

On birth registration a delegate said the Government had been concerned about the abuse of birth certificates and was strengthening the registration of children, particularly to avoid statelessness and in the view of Israel being a State party to the United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 

Regrettably there was limited and unsatisfactory cooperation and coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on the situation of Palestinian children, said the Head of Delegation, who hoped that they would be resolved in the near future to enable them to address issues of concern regarding children.  The lack of cooperation in many ways stemmed from political decisions made not only on the Israeli side but also on the Palestinian side. 

The Government was aware of the need to explore the possibility of Bedouin children in relation to forced labour.  However it had had no reports of abuse, exploitation or forced labour of Bedouin children.  Labour Inspectors did sometimes see Bedouin children working but it was very difficult to get information from the children because often they were sent to work by their own relatives, and they never made formal complaints and were reluctant to provide information. 

Concluding Remarks

BENYAM DAWIT MEZMUR, Committee Member acting as Rapporteur for the report of Israel, thanked the delegation for the open and candid conversation and said Israel had made visible progress in implementing the Optional Protocol, particularly in terms of legislation and capacity and institution building, but he was glad that the delegation was aware of the few areas where there was room for improvement.  Israel’s actions to address sex tourism by focusing on the private sector were highly commendable.  The Committee had concerns about coordination, and emphasized that full implementation could only be achieved through cooperation and collaboration with certain stakeholders, including the Palestinian Authority and neighbouring countries, although it was aware of the challenges in that regard.  Mr. Mezmur said he hoped the implementation of the Optional Protocol would help address the challenges faced by children who were Israeli citizens but also non-Israeli children over which Israel had effective control. 

EVIATOR MANOR, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations Office at Geneva, thanked the Committee for the valuable feedback it had provided to the delegation of experts during the substantive dialogue which he was sure would bear constructive and fruitful results.  Israel placed great importance on respect for children’s rights and had achieved significant progress in law and in practice.  Israel reassured all present that all conclusions expressed by the Committee would be examined carefully and used to enhance Israel’s compliance with its commitments under the Optional Protocol. 
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