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Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, Due for Submission in October 2008

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Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, Due for Submission in October 2008 United Nations CRC/C/SR.1567 Convention on the Distr.: General 6 October 2010 Rights of the Child Original: English Committee on the Rights of the Child Fifty-fifth session Summary record of the 1567th (Chamber A) meeting Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Thursday, 23 September 2010, at 10 a.m. Chairperson: Ms. Lee Contents Consideration of reports of States parties (continued) Third and fourth periodic reports of Sri Lanka This record is subject to correction. Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages. They should be set forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of the record. They should be sent within one week of the date of this document to the Editing Unit, room E.4108, Palais des Nations, Geneva. Any corrections to the records of the public meetings of the Committee at this session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum, to be issued shortly after the end of the session. GE.10-45304 (E) 280910 061010 CRC/C/SR.1567 The meeting was called to order at 10.05 a.m. Consideration of reports of States parties (continued) Third and fourth periodic reports of Sri Lanka (CRC/C/LKA/3-4; CRC/C/LKA/Q/3-4 and Add.1; HRI/CORE/LKA/2008) 1. At the invitation of the Chairperson, the members of the delegation of Sri Lanka took places at the Committee table. 2. Ms. Wijemanne (Sri Lanka), introducing her country’s third and fourth periodic reports, said that the end of the conflict in Sri Lanka that had lasted nearly three decades had created opportunities for improving the well-being of all children in the country. Even during the period of the conflict, the policies and programmes of successive Governments had continued to respect the best interests of the child in terms of their survival, development and protection. Such policies had resulted in a steady decline in under-five mortality and the attainment of near-universal school enrolment without gender discrimination. The provision of free health care and education, including free textbooks and uniforms, had continued, even in areas affected by conflict. Measures had also been introduced for protecting children from abuse and exploitation, in particular, the elimination of the worst forms of child labour. 3. She recalled that 70 to 80 per cent of the former combat forces of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had been forcibly recruited as children, including both boys and girls. Following a process of rehabilitation modelled on international rules and standards, all child combatants had now been reunited with their families and had resumed normal lives, including schooling and vocational training. The Government had received no reports of forcible recruitment since May 2009. 4. Sri Lanka had cooperated closely with the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1612 (2005). The Working Group had welcomed the Government’s zero-tolerance policy regarding the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, the measures taken for their rehabilitation and reintegration, and the assurances given to the Special Envoy of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict (SRSG) and to the Working Group that children who had formally been associated with armed groups would be considered victims and would not be prosecuted. Similar assurances had also been given by the Attorney General of Sri Lanka during the interactive dialogue with the Secretary-General that had been held during the fifteenth session of the Human Rights Council. The Attorney General had stated that in post-conflict Sri Lanka, there were no situations of child recruitment for the purpose of combat in any part of the country, and that, while the Government was fully committed to continuing its dialogue with the office of the Special Representative, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and all other United Nations agencies concerned with the care and protection of children, the Government of Sri Lanka was of the view that children in armed conflict no longer constituted an issue of concern. Child soldiers had been rehabilitated and would be given all the care and protection that the Government could provide. 5. Following its emergence from a protracted armed conflict, Sri Lanka had shifted its priorities concerning children, which currently focused on providing uniform services to all children throughout the country. In addition, it was committed to further reducing under- nutrition and providing its young people with more life skills. Special children’s courts were being established and the juvenile justice system was in the process of being improved. Priority was also being given to ensuring the protection of children from abuse and exploitation. 2 GE.10-45304 CRC/C/SR.1567 6. The Government recognized that gaps in its system of protection for children were attributable not only to shortcomings in State institutions but also to poverty and ignorance. Problems affecting children of single-parent families were currently being addressed, as were the needs of women widowed as a result of the conflict. Early childhood development programmes were to be further strengthened and expanded to rural areas. Emphasis had been placed on returning to normality in the areas affected by the conflict, as it was essential to the empowerment of children and young people in those areas that they should find reconciliation and sustainable peace. 7. Sri Lanka recognized the need to improve compliance with the rules and standards embodied in the Convention and its Optional Protocols, and continued to work towards greater harmonization of its domestic law with those instruments. Although the relationship between treaty law and customary law in Sri Lanka was complex, in view of the diversity of cultural and religious practices that had existed for generations, the Government was continuing to advocate for change in accordance with the best interests of the child. 8. The Government recognized the need to continue working with relevant United Nations agencies and interested members of the international community in upholding children’s rights. In addition, it welcomed the participation of civil society organizations. The relationship between State authorities, civil society organizations and communities must be mutually reinforcing and in keeping with the best interests of children. Moreover, the services provided to children must be sustainable. 9. Children’s rights required progressive interpretation through judgements and case law, which had to be based on international principles and the cultural values of each country. The Government warmly appreciated and solicited the cooperation of the international community in further advancing children’s rights in Sri Lanka. The collective aim should be to improve not only the conditions of the current generation of children but also those of future generations, who had the opportunity to grow up with dignity in a peaceful Sri Lanka. 10. Ms. Aidoo (Country Rapporteur) said that Sri Lanka had, for decades, been regarded in South Asia, the Commonwealth and the general international community as a leader in the promotion of social and human development. Its remarkable achievements in the areas of widespread high standards of education, health and social services had been sustained through a policy of fully subsidized health and education for all citizens, and social welfare assistance to households. Sri Lanka was on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals and had also undertaken significant legislative reforms to enhance the rights of children. 11. However, the country was not free from major challenges that threatened or undermined the progressive fulfilment of all the rights covered by the Convention. The two most critical challenges had been the protracted civil war in the northern and eastern regions of the country that had ended in May 2009 and the catastrophic tsunami of December 2004. The combined impact of those two events had affected children dramatically. The conflict had had a direct impact on the right to life, survival and development of children and had resulted in the killing and maiming of hundreds of thousands of children. Moreover, an estimated 600,000 children were still reported missing and hundreds had been displaced from their homes. 12. Another important factor affecting children’s rights was the vast programme of migration for foreign employment. According to the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment, 1,642,455 Sri Lankans, some 62 per cent of them women, had been working abroad as contract workers in 2007. Most of the women concerned had left behind children, half of whom were under 6 years old. The immediate and long-term impact of migration — especially that of women — on the rights, well-being and development of children needed GE.10-45304 3 CRC/C/SR.1567 to be studied fully by the State party in order to find effective strategies to assist children. As indicated in the periodic report, poor school attendance, child abuse and inadequate access to social services had been observed for a majority of families in poor and remote parts of the country with high levels of migration. Persistent socio-economic and geographic disparities across the country were reflected in indicators for child nutrition and maternal health in poor communities in the tea-estate sector and in the conflict-stricken area of the Northern and Eastern provinces. 13. With regard to the preparation of the report, she asked for additional information
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