Committee on the Rights of the Child
Seventy-ninth session
17 September-5 October 2018
Item 4 of the provisional agenda
C onsideration of reports of States parties
List of issues in relation to the report submitted by Saudi Arabia under article 12 (1) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 15 June 2018. The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights set out in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State party.
1.With reference to paragraph 17 of the State party’s report (CRC/C/OPSC/SAU/1), please update the Committee on the system of data collection for the purpose of implementation of the Optional Protocol, including as applied by the General Authority for Statistics established by Council of Ministers Decision No. 11 in October 2015.
2.Please provide updated statistical data on reported acts of sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, disaggregated by sex, age, nationality, socioeconomic background and urban or rural residence, for the past three years, on the number of:
(a)Cases involving nationals of the State party for acts of child sexual exploitation in travel and tourism committed abroad, and involving residents in the State party, with additional information on the type of action taken as a result, such as the prosecution and punishment of perpetrators;
(b)Children trafficked from or through Saudi Arabia and children trafficked within the country for the purpose of sale, prostitution, engagement in forced labour, organ transfer or pornography as defined in article 3 (1) of the Optional Protocol;
(c)Children offered, delivered or accepted by whatever means for the purpose of prostitution, engagement in forced labour, organ transfer, pornography or marriage;
(d)Cases where child pornography has been produced, distributed, disseminated, imported, exported, offered, sold or possessed for the above-mentioned purposes, within the State party, including photographs, videos and Internet sites;
(e)Child victims who have been provided assistance with reintegration or have received compensation.
3.Please provide information on whether the national plans and strategies for the promotion and protection of children’s rights described in paragraphs 45–49 of the State party’s report include measures specifically aimed at making children aware of the harmful consequences of practices covered by the Optional Protocol, and on assistance intended to prevent children from falling victim to them.
4.With reference to paragraph 44 of the report, please provide information on the resources specifically allocated for and spent on the implementation of the Optional Protocol.
5.Please provide further details on preventive measures that have been taken to protect children in particularly vulnerable situations — such as girls who are victims of domestic violence, children in street situations, migrant, refugee and stateless children, and children living in institutions — from offences under the Optional Protocol.
6.With reference to paragraph 41 of the Committee’s concluding observations under the Convention (CRC/C/SAU/CO/3-4), please update the Committee on the release from detention of children in street situations, many of whom are victims of trafficking and are subjected to forced labour by criminal gangs, and on the discontinuation of the practice of arbitrarily arresting and deporting them.
7.Please provide information on initiatives taken by the State party to prevent child sexual exploitation in travel and tourism and on measures that the State party has taken to disseminate to travel agents and tour operators the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, developed by the World Tourism Organization.
8.With reference to paragraphs 67 and 76–80 of the report, in which the State party refers to criminal offences defined in various acts, please provide information on whether acts and activities relating to (a) the transfer of organs of a child for profit; and (b) the engagement of a child in forced labour; have been explicitly defined and criminalized.
9.Please indicate whether the current legislation prohibits all acts and activities related to the sale of children covered in article 2 (a) and article 3 (1) (a) (i) a. and (b) and (c) of the Optional Protocol, in particular whether article 9 of the Child Protection Act specifically prohibits the use, procuring or offering of children for the purposes of prostitution, the production of pornography or in pornographic performances, or begging unrelated to the offence of trafficking.
10.With reference to paragraphs 104–112 of the report, please clarify the measures taken to develop holistic and victim-centred methods of identifying children, such as unaccompanied children entering the State party, who are, or who are at risk of becoming, victims of child trafficking, sale, prostitution or pornography. In particular, please provide detailed information on the steps taken to ensure a “best interests determination” for unaccompanied children in all decisions throughout immigration-related procedures.
11.With reference to paragraph 42 of the Committee’s concluding observations (CRC/C/SAU/CO/3-4), please update the Committee on measures taken to ensure effective enforcement of the prohibition on the use of trafficked children as camel jockeys.