COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
Twenty-fourth session
Pre-sessional Working Group
31 January-4 February 2000
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 Suriname (CRC/C/28/Add.11)
GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION
(Articles 4, 42 and 44, paragraph 6 of the Convention)
1. Please indicate the exact status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in relation to the Constitution and other domestic law. With reference to paragraph 11 of the report, please indicate whether the draft bills, intended to ensure greater conformity with the Convention, have been adopted by the National Assembly. Please also provide information on any additional measures taken and/or envisaged to bring legislation and practice into line with the principles and provisions of the Convention.
2. Please provide additional information regarding the mandate and activities of the President's Steering Committee and indicate whether it is intended to replace the National Commission on the Rights of the Child. Please also provide additional information, including statistical data on the level of resources (financial, human and technical) allocated to ensure the effective functioning of the President's Steering Committee. In this context, please provide an update on the status of the National Plan of Action which was to be drawn up by the National Commission on the Rights of the Child. Please also provide additional information on the measures taken and/or envisaged to ensure that the principles and provisions of the Convention are disseminated at all levels of society, including through the training of professionals working with and for children and the incorporation of human rights and child rights education into the school curricula.
3. Please provide information on the National Institution for Human Rights or any other human rights mechanism mandated to receive and investigate complaints from children concerning violations of their rights. Additionally, please outline the procedure for the submission and investigation of complaints from children regarding violations of their rights and indicate whether there have been any cases involving such violations.
4. In light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide additional information, including statistical data, on the measures taken to implement economic, social and cultural rights to "the maximum extent of [...] available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international cooperation" for the rights of children, especially children living in the interior. Additionally, please specify the percentage of the national budget allocated to children's programmes.
5. Please indicate what measures have been taken to develop indicators and collect disaggregated data on the status of children, especially those belonging to vulnerable groups including children living and/or working on the streets; child victims of physical and sexual abuse; child victims of drug abuse; teenage mothers; children in conflict with the law; child victims of commercial sexual exploitation; children with disabilities; and children belonging to Amerindian and Maroon communities. Further, please describe the extent to which these indicators and data are currently used in the formulation of policies and programmes for the effective implementation of the Convention.
DEFINITION OF THE CHILD
(Article 1 of the Convention)
6. Please provide information on the legal minimum ages for legal and medical counselling, sexual consent, and consumption of alcohol. Additionally, please also indicate whether measures have been taken or are envisaged to increase the legal minimum age for the marriage of girls (15 years) to the equivalent of boys (18 years). In this context, please also indicate whether an amendment to the Asian marriage Act is envisaged to increase the legal minimum ages for the marriage of both boys (15 years) and girls (13 years) and to further ensure non-discrimination against girls in this regard. Further, please indicate whether the State party envisages increasing the legal age for criminal responsibility. Please indicate whether measures have been taken or are envisaged to increase the number of years for compulsory education to provide greater access to children between the ages of 12 and 14 years who are beyond the legal age for compulsory education (12 years), but have not yet met the minimum age for employment (14 years).
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
(Articles 2, 3, 6 and 12 of the Convention)
7. In light of article 2 of the Convention and with reference to paragraph 21 of the report, please provide information about the policies and programmes undertaken and/or envisaged to ensure non-discrimination against children, particularly children born out of wedlock.
8. Please provide additional information on specific measures taken and/or envisaged to ensure that the principles of the best interests of the child (art. 3) and respect for the views of the child (article 12) are reflected in legislation as well as actions taken by social welfare institutions, courts of law and administrative authorities. Please also provide some examples of implementation of these principles by courts and/or administrative bodies.
CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
(Articles 7, 8, 13-17 and 37 (a) of the Convention)
9. Please provide information on the use of corporal punishment in families, schools, care and other institutions. Additionally, please indicate whether there is an intention to prohibit by law all forms of corporal punishment. Further, please also indicate what measures have been taken to prevent police brutality and/or unlawful use of force by the police or military forces, particularly as regards children living and/or working on the streets and children in conflict with the law. Please also provide information on the procedures and mechanisms established to address alleged cases of police brutality and to facilitate the rehabilitation of child victims in this regard.
FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE
(Articles 5, 18 (1) and (2), 9, 10, 11, 19, 20, 21, 25, 27 (4), and 39)
10. Please indicate what measures have been taken to establish a code of standards for children's homes and alternative care institutions in Suriname which addresses issues such as size, occupancy rates, sanitation, medical care, nutrition and activities, including and where necessary educational activities. In this regard, please indicate what measures have been taken to increase the level of resources (financial and human) allocated to alternative care. With reference to information provided in paragraph 69 of the report, please describe the current situation of girls deprived of a family environment, particularly in light of the closure of the only alternative care facility for girls. In this context, please also highlight the measures envisaged to guarantee the protection and care of girls in this regard. Additionally, please indicate whether legal and administrative procedures have been established to guarantee the periodic review of the placement of children in alternative care, including those in foster care and in the intercountry adoption programme, in light of article 25 of the Convention. Please also provide information on the practice of informal/traditional adoptions.
11. Please provide information on the strategies developed to prevent child abuse, including sexual abuse within the family, and on the mechanisms established to assist both victims and perpetrators of such abuse. Further, please provide additional information on the mandate and activities of the Foundation for Human Development and the Foundation for Help to Victims, particularly as regards their support, including social and psychological assistance, to child victims of abuse. Please also highlight the challenges faced by these agencies in carrying out their mandates. Additionally, please describe the measures taken and/or envisaged to reopen the Crisis Centre for Sexually Abused Children.
BASIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
(Article 6, paragraphs 2, 23, 24, 26, and 18, paragraph 3, and 27, paragraphs 1-3)
12. Please provide an update, including relevant statistical data on the situation of the health, survival and development of children in Suriname. In particular, please describe the current situation with respect to malnutrition, infant and child mortality, vaccination coverage, and the occurrence of malaria and outline any measures taken and/or envisaged to improve the health of children (especially those living in the interior) and guarantee their right to access adequate health services.
13. Please describe the measures taken and/or foreseen, to guarantee and protect the rights of children with disabilities. Further, please provide additional information, including statistical data, on children with disabilities including their access to education and vocational training and highlight any recent initiatives taken to increase and improve facilities for their rehabilitation. In this connection, please describe the measures taken and/or envisaged to increase the level of resources allocated for programmes for children with disabilities and to address the inadequacies identified in paragraph 96 of the report. Additionally, please also describe the activities undertaken to facilitate an increase in public awareness regarding persons with disabilities.
14. Please provide additional information, including statistical data, on adolescent health, including sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), HIV/AIDS, early pregnancy, early and arranged marriages, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, suicide and mental health concerns. Please identify the policies and programmes implemented and/or foreseen to educate adolescents and promote public awareness about adolescent health, including reproductive health concerns, and to provide support, treatment and/or care for adolescents faced with these concerns. In this context, please provide specific information on the introduction of the CARICOM Health and Family Life Programme (HFLP) within the educational system.
EDUCATION, LEISURE AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
(Articles 28, 29 and 31 of the Convention)
15. Please provide additional information and disaggregated statistical data, on the general status of education, including student teacher ratio, enrolment, truancy, repetition and dropout rates as well as the level of financial resources allocated in this regard. Further, please outline the measures taken to ensure equal opportunities and access at all levels of the system, for children residing in all regions of the country, especially the interior. Additionally, please provide information on the methods of teaching; the availability of classrooms and facilities; as well as the availability of qualified teachers, relevant learning materials and other resources. Please also indicate what measures have been taken or are envisaged to facilitate the inclusion of Sranan Tongo and/or other local languages into the school curricula, particularly in light of the high rate of repetition at the lower primary levels, referred to in paragraph 130 of the report. Finally, with reference to information provided in paragraph 135 of the report, please provide additional information on the programme for teenage mothers to complete their education and indicate whether efforts have been made to expand the programme to include all regions of the country.
SPECIAL PROTECTION MEASURES
(Articles 22, 30 and 32-40 of the Convention)
16. In light of articles 37, 40 and 39 of the Convention, concerning the rights of children alleged as, accused of, or recognized as having infringed the penal law, please provide additional information on:
(a) the use of arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child as a measure of last resort and for the shortest period of time;
(b) the possibility to have prompt access to legal or other appropriate assistance, as well as for challenging the legality of the deprivation of liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority, and of having a prompt decision thereon;
(c) the measures taken to ensure that legal proceedings are conducted in a language which is understood by the child or that interpreters are provided by the State to facilitate the process in this regard;
(d) the measures taken to protect the privacy of children in conflict with the law;
(e) the measures taken to ensure contact between the child and his/her family;
(f) how the conditions of children in detention are monitored;
(g) the establishment of an independent complaints mechanism to address issues of ill-treatment and violation of the rights of children in conflict with the law;
(h) the accessibility of education, health and social services;
(i) services for the recovery and rehabilitation of children alleged as, accused of or recognized as having infringed the penal law and their effectiveness;
(j) the measures taken and/or foreseen to ensure that juvenile justice is available and accessible to all children.
17. Please provide additional information on the sexual abuse and exploitation of children, child prostitution, child pornography and sale and trafficking of children for commercial sexual exploitation. Additionally, please highlight the measures taken and/or foreseen to prevent and combat these concerns.
18. In light of the high and increasing number of school dropouts as well as the increasing number of children living and/or working on the streets, please provide additional information, including statistical data, on the situation of child labour and economic exploitation and outline the measures taken and/or envisaged to address this growing concern. Additionally, please indicate whether the State party envisages becoming a party to ILO Conventions No. 138 concerning the minimum age for admission to employment and No. 182 concerning the worst forms of child labour.
19. Please provide additional information on the legal and other measures taken and/or envisaged to guarantee the protection of children against drug abuse as well as the use of children in the production and/or trafficking of illicit drugs. In light of article 39, please also outline the programmes implemented or envisaged to facilitate the social and psychological rehabilitation of child victims of drug abuse.
20. Please provide additional information, including statistical data, on the situation of children belonging to indigenous groups and highlight the measures taken and/or envisaged to facilitate their adequate access to education, health and other social services; to promote the preservation of their language, religion and culture; and to ensure the full realization of their rights as guaranteed under the Convention.