Committee on the Rights of the Child

Sixty-sixth session

26 May–13 June 2014

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the combined fourth and fifth periodic reports of Jordan

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information, if possible before 1 March 2014.

The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights contained in the Convention during the dialogue with the State party.

Part I

In this section, the State party is requested to submit its responses to the following questions (30 pages maximum).

Please provide a brief update on the process of elaboration of the Children’s Rights Bill and the reasons for considerable delays in its finalization and adoption.

With reference to all national strategies listed in the State party report, please provide brief information on the capacity of the National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA) to coordinate between all child-related strategies listed in the State party report and whether the NCFA has assessed their impact on the implementation of the Convention.

Please explain how the provisions of the Penal Code allowing perpetrators of crimes committed in the name of so-called “honour” to benefit from mitigating circumstances are compatible with the State party’s obligation under articles 6, 19 and 24, paragraph 3 of the Convention. Please also provide detailed information on girls who have been and are still involuntarily placed in “protective custody” to prevent them from becoming victims of these crimes and the follow-up given to the 2007 Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in this respect (A/HRC/4/33/Add.3 paragraph 39).

Please provide additional information on the measures taken to address the persistence of gender stereotypes and attitudes which impede the full enjoyment of all human rights by girls. Please also comment on information received by the Committee that a large majority of Jordanian families consider girls as a burden, and indicate the measures taken to challenge the common perception, including among girls, that violence against them is acceptable.

With reference to paragraph 104 of the State party’s report, please indicate whether the State party intends to cease categorizing certain children as “victims of lascivious conduct” or “illegitimate children”. Please also indicate whether the State party has assessed the impact of criminalizing sexual relations outside of wedlock on children born as a result of these relations.

With reference to paragraph 15 of the State party’s report, please indicate measures taken to outlaw child marriages. Please also comment on reports that marriage of underage girls from the SyrianArabRepublichave been on the rise in the State party and explain the measures taken to prevent girls from the SyrianArabRepublicto be forcibly married.

Please provide information on children reportedly charged in November 2012 with “subverting the system of government” and “participating in unlawful gatherings”, and referred to the State Security Court, in particular the sentences they received.

Please indicate whether the State party has assessed the consequences of the inability for Jordanian mothers to transmit their nationality on the enjoyment by their children of their rights, in particular their rights to access free health and education services.

Please provide precise information onthe number of Palestinian families including children who had their Jordanian nationality withdrawn during the reporting period, and indicate how many Palestinian children have become stateless as a result and have been deprived of their right to free primary and secondary education.

With reference to the results of the Jordan Population and Family Health survey conducted in 2012, which revealed the high level of domestic violence against children in the State party, please briefly describe the main outcome and gaps of the National Strategic Plan on Family Protection and the Prevention of Violence referred to in paragraph 99 of the State party report. Please also clarify whether Act. No.6 of 2008 on protection from domestic violence criminalizes domestic violence.

Please inform the Committee on the measures taken to prevent and protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation and whether the State party has taken any steps to repeal article 308 of the Criminal Code, which exempts rapists from punishment if they marry their victims, and to ensure that its legislation fully protect both girls and boys against sexual abuse and exploitation.

Please provide information on the investigations conducted into cases of violence against children in institutions, including children living in disability centres. Please also indicate the measures taken to expand the implementation of the State party foster care programme and to establish a monitoring programme of care institutions including unannounced visits.

Please indicate the measures taken to effectively include children with disabilities in regular schools and in particular provide information on the budget allocated for the development of inclusive education and on the support currently provided to children with disabilities in regular schools and to their teachers.

With reference to paragraph 21 of the State party’s report, please indicate how the State party assesses the consequences of stringent financial policies aimed at reducing the national budget deficit on the situation of children living in poverty. Please also explain the reasons why children, who constitute 57 per cent of the poor, remain insufficiently covered by the National Aid Fund. Please also briefly describe the child-related objectives of the Poverty Reduction Strategy 2013–2020.

Please indicate if families with children from Palestine, Iraq and the SyrianArabRepublichave been prevented from entering Jordan over the reporting period and if so, on what grounds. Please also comment on information that some children from the SyrianArabRepublicwere detained by the Jordanian police and subjected to violence. Please also provide detailed information on the living conditions of refugee children from the SyrianArabRepublicin the State party, in particular those living in Za’atari camp and on the measures taken to ensure their right to education.

Please provide precise information on the legal proceedings engaged over the reporting period against persons who economically exploited children and on the penalties they received. Please also inform the Committee of the measures in place to prevent economic exploitation of children, including refugee children from the SyrianArabRepublicliving in the State party. Please also indicate what mechanisms and programmes are in place for the psycho-social reintegration of children subjected to labour.

Please provide precise information on the progress made to create specialized juvenile courts in the State party and to adopt the Juveniles Bill. Please clarify how the Juveniles Bill promotes restorative justice and alternatives to detention and guarantee the rights of children to free legal assistance. Please also indicate what programmes are in place to change the general negative perception of children in conflict with the law within the justice system.

Part II

In this section the Committee invites the State party to briefly (three pages maximum) update the information presented in its report with regard to:

(a)New bills or laws, and their respective regulations;

(b)New institutions (and their mandates) or institutional reforms;

(c)Recently introduced policies, programmes and action plans and their scope and financing; and

(d)Recent ratifications of human rights instruments.

Part III

Data, statistics and other information, if available

Please provide consolidated budget information for the last three years on budget lines regarding children and social sectors, by indicating the percentage of each budget line in terms of the total national budget and gross national product and geographic allocation.

Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex, socioeconomic background, ethnic origin and geographical location covering the last three years on:

(a)The total number of allegations of abuse and violence against children including all forms of corporal punishment, with additional information on the type of assistance given to child victims and the follow-up provided, including prosecution of the perpetrators and the sentences handed down; and

(b)The number of investigations of cases of sexual violence and rape, and the outcome of trials, including information on the penalties to perpetrators, and redress and compensation offered to the victims.

Please specify, for the last three years, the number of children with disabilities disaggregated by age, sex, type of disability, ethnic origin and geographical location:

(a)Living with their families;

(b)In institutions;

(c)Attending regular schools; and

(d)Attending special schools.

Please provide disaggregated data by age, sex and nationality on the number of refugee and asylum-seeking children who were returned to their country of origin over the last three years.

Please provide data, disaggregated by age, sex, ethnic origin, socioeconomic situation and geographical location, for the last three years on children deprived of their liberty, including those in pretrial detention, specifying the reasons for their arrest and detention, offences for which they have been convicted, their sentences and place of detention, and the number of children who have benefited from alternatives to deprivation of liberty.

Please provide the Committee with an update of any data in the report which may have been outdated by more recent data collected or other new developments.

In addition, the State party may list areas affecting children that it considers to be of priority with regard to the implementation of the Convention.