Committee on the Rights of the Child

Fifty-fifth session

13 September - 1 October 2010

Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

List of issues concerning additional and updated information related to the combined third and fourth periodic reports of Sri Lanka (CRC/C//LKA/3-4)

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

T he State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible before 2 August 2010, not exceeding 30 pages.

Part I

1.Please provide updated information on the drafting of a comprehensive Children’s and Young Persons Law covering all the rights of children under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Please also provide updated information on the steps taken to reform the Children and Young Persons Ordinance (CYPO) of 1939 and ensure that it will also cover children between 16 and 18 years of age.

2.Please inform the Committee of the status, authority and human, technical and financial resources allocated to the Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Empowerment to enable it to carry out its role of coordinating the implementation of the Convention at the central, provincial and local levels. Please indicate the measures taken to rationalize the mandates and work of the various child protection bodies (National Monitoring Committee, National Child Protection Authority and Department of Probation and Child Care Services) and to ensure their effective coordination and cooperation.

3.Please indicate the measures taken to ensure that the National Human Rights Commission complies with the Paris Principles, in particular with regard to its independence from political influence. Please provide additional information on whether the Commission has a special unit for children and is easily accessible to children, especially those in vulnerable situations, in all parts of the State party, to register complaints and seek redress for violations of their rights.

4.Please inform the Committee on measures taken to develop and sustain free and transparent cooperation with civil society, including NGOs, as effective partners at all stages of the implementation of the Convention. Please also comment on information that the capacity of non-governmental organizations to monitor situations of concern has been considerably restricted and that they have been increasingly targeted for reporting human rights violations.

5.Please provide updated information on the measures taken to address the existing disparities between ethnic groups and regions of the State party resulting in the unequal enjoyment by children of the rights enshrined in the Convention. In particular, please indicate the specific measures taken to address disparities in child nutrition, the rights of children in the plantation sector and the care and protection of children in conflict-affected areas.

6.Please indicate whether the State party has taken any steps to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the physical, psychological and social impact that large-scale female labour migration has on children. Does the State party have a strategy to prevent children from being separated from their mothers, and to provide safety net programmes and long-term support to children of migrant parents?

7.Please provide information on the concrete measures taken to decrease the high number of children institutionalized in the State party, to create alternatives to institutionalization and intensify family tracing and reunification programmes. What steps have been taken to criminalize the running of institutions without a licence and to monitor the living conditions of institutionalized children?

8.Please provide updated information on the measures taken by the State party to develop inclusive education for children with disabilities, in particular girls with disabilities and children with some type of disability, such as autism, attention deficit syndrome, and speech, hearing and vision impairments who are reported to be excluded from any educational opportunities and other services.

9.Please provide additional information on the personal law reform and on concrete measures taken to combat early and forced marriages of girls in Muslim and other communities.

10.Please provide updated information on amendments to the Domestic Servants Ordinance of 1871 and other relevant legislation to restrict employment of children under 18 years of age as domestic workers and to prohibit any form of economic exploitation.

11.Please indicate whether amendments have been made to legislation on child sexual abuse and exploitation to provide equal protection to all girls and boys under 18 years of age and to effectively combat child pornography offences. Please provide information on the shelters and trained professionals available throughout the State party to meet the recovery and rehabilitation needs of child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation.

12.Please provide information on the training provided to the police to tackle sex tourism. Please also indicate the reasons why the programme for monitoring child pornography on the Internet and child sex-tourism related crimes, known as CyberWatch ,was discontinued.

13.Please indicate whether investigations have been conducted into the allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse of girls committed by more than 100 Sri Lankan peacekeepers in Haiti in 2007. Please also provide information on education and training on human rights, in particular on children’s rights, provided to Sri Lankan armed forces serving at home and in United Nations peacekeeping operations.

14.Please indicate the reasons why humanitarian agencies still have restricted access to internally displaced children who remain in camps and are in need of vital assistance. Please indicate the measures taken to protect children from rape and other forms of sexual violence in camps and to investigate allegations of the sexual abuse of girls in Internally Displaced Persons camps.

Part II

Under this section the State party is invited to briefly (three pages maximum) update the information provided 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;

(d)Recent ratifications of human rights instruments.

Part III

Data, statistics and other information, if available:

1.Please provide data, if available, for the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 on:

(a)Institutionalized children who have been reintegrated into their families;

(b)The number of children with disabilities (data should be disaggregated by age, sex, types of disabilities and ethnic background) and on the percentage of children with disabilities attending regular education;

(c)Protection orders granted against perpetrators of domestic violence, in accordance with the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act;

(d)Children placed on remand for conducting child prostitution, and on the persons identified, arrested and prosecuted for the commercial sexual exploitation of children, together with the sanctions imposed;

(e)Cases of child trafficking brought before courts and on the sentences imposed;

(f)Prosecutions and convictions for child labour exploitation and on the sentences imposed.

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