COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
Twenty-ninth session
Pre-sessional Working Group
15–19 October 2001
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the initial report
of Bahrain (CRC/C/11/Add.24)
PART I
Under this section the State party is requested to submit in writing additional and updated information, if possible, before 3 December 2001:
A. Data and statistics, if available, for 1998, 1999 and 2000
1. Please provide demographic data of the under-18 population, disaggregated by sex, ethnic, national (including bidoon) and religious background.
2. Please provide specific disaggregated data on national budgetary allocation and spending for social needs, as percentages of total State expenditures. In particular, how much was spent on:
(a) education (including allocations for primary and secondary education, salaries, preservation of school buildings, etc.);
(b) health (including allocations for primary health care, vaccinations, adolescent health care and other health care services for children);
(c) child protection (for example institutional or foster care);
(d) juvenile crime prevention and rehabilitation; and
(e) other social services.
3. For children deprived of a family environment and separated from parents, please provide information, disaggregated by sex and age, on the number of:
4. Please specify the enrolment and completion rates, disaggregated by sex, age, and according to type of school (i.e. public and private) in percentages in:
(a) kindergarten;
(b) elementary;
(c) intermediate;
(d) secondary;
(e) vocational; and
(f) religious schools.
5. Please specify the number of children with disabilities, disaggregated by sex and age:
6. Please specify the number of children (disaggregated by sex, age, type of crime, type of sanction):
(a) who allegedly committed a crime which was reported to the police;
(b) who were sentenced by courts to sanctions, and the nature of the sanctions imposed (e.g. fines, imprisonment, community service, other);
(c) number of suspended sentences;
(d) where the sanction is deprivation of liberty, please further specify the period of imprisonment; and
(e) percentage of recidivism cases.
B. General measures of implementation
1. The State party report indicates that the National Committee on Childhood is the lead body with respect to implementation of the Convention. The Committee also notes that the Consultative Council's Human Rights Committee also plays a significant role in implementation.
(i) With respect to the implementation of the Convention, please indicate what role each of these institutions plays in:
(a) intersectoral coordination and cooperation at and between central and local levels of government;
(b) monitoring at central and local levels of government;
(c) receiving and addressing complaints of violations of child rights; and
(d) the collection and analysis of disaggregated data, in order to design policies and programmes affecting all persons under 18 years.
(ii) Please specify their operating resources, including budget and human resources.
(iii) If any overlap or duplication exists in their functions, what is done to remedy this?
(iv) Please provide details, if any, of a comprehensive plan of action to implement the Convention.
2. With reference to the persons under 18 referred to in the reports, including the decisions and opinions of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (e.g. E/CN.4/1997/Add.1, E/CN.4/1998/44/Add.1); and the reports of the Special Rapporteur on Torture (e.g. E/CN.4/1997/7/Add.1, E/CN.4/1999/61, E/CN.4/2000/9, E/CN.4/2001/66), please provide information on steps taken to: investigate the allegations contained therein; prosecute perpetrators; and provide adequate redress and rehabilitation to the victims.
3. In light of article 15 of the Convention, and other international standards on the freedom of association, please describe what efforts have been made to facilitate the involvement of civil society throughout all stages in the implementation of the Convention.
4. Please explain the measures taken and their effectiveness with respect to the State party's public awareness campaigns of the Convention, particularly for professionals working for and with children (e.g. of Government officials, community-based organizations, religious leaders, the mass media), and the public-at-large, including children themselves.
5. Please describe any ongoing human rights training and education activities for professionals, especially those working for and with children.
Please provide the Committee with copies of the text of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in all official languages of the State party as well as in other languages or dialects spoken, when available. If possible, please submit these texts in electronic form.
Under this section, the State party is to briefly (three pages maximum) up-date the information provided in its report with regard to new:
- bills or enacted legislation;
- institutions;
- implemented policies; and
- implemented programmes and projects, and their scope.
The following is a preliminary list of major issues that the Committee intends to take-up during the dialogue with the State party. THEY DO NOT REQUIRE WRITTEN RESPONSES. This list is not exhaustive, and other issues may be raised in the course of the dialogue.
The dialogue with the State party might include issues such as:
1. Article 1 of the Convention and the definition of the child under Bahraini legislation.
2. The protection of the rights contained in the Convention by the Sharia and Civil courts.
3. Implementation of the general principles of the Convention, such as non-discrimination (art. 2), the best interests of the child (art. 3), and the rights of the child to express his/her views and have them taken into consideration (art. 12).
4. Measures taken to eliminate discrimination of women and girls (e.g. in nationality legislation and in personal status matters, including, marriage, divorce, inheritance, maintenance, and child custody upon separation), as well as discrimination of children born out of wedlock.
5. Measures taken to respect and ensure all the rights in the Convention to each child within the jurisdiction in light of the significant proportion of children of non-Bahraini nationality, as well as stateless children (i.e. bidoon).
6. Implementation of civil rights and freedoms (arts. 13-17) contained in the Convention.
7. Legal provisions to protect children from being ill-treated, mechanisms for children to file complaints and have them addressed, and preventive measures including awareness campaigns on its negative consequences.
8. Adequate access to services of disabled children, public awareness campaigns to combat negative attitudes, support for families and steps for inclusion in regular schools.
9. Measures to ensure that adolescents have access to and are provided with information relating to physical and mental development, including education on reproductive health, STDs and HIV/AIDS prevention, as well as child-sensitive counselling and rehabilitation services.
10. Low pre-school enrolment, restrictions on females from enrolling in certain programmes in secondary and post-secondary education, and the inclusion of human rights education in the school curricula.
11. The involvement of children in camel racing.
12. Applicability of the Juveniles Act to all persons under 18, including the provisions on detention; and the conformity of legislation and practice in the area of juvenile justice with international standards.