Committee on the Rights of the Child

Sixty-ninth session

25 May–12 June 2015

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 Mexico

The State party is requested to submit additional, updated information in writing, if possible before 15 March 2015 (10,700 words maximum).

The Committee may take up any aspect of children’s rights set out 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.

1.In light of the bill to amend legislation on children, please provide information on the suggested method for implementing the National Comprehensive Protection System and on the participation of civil society, children and adolescents in the System.

2.Please indicate whether the Programme of Action 2002–2010: A Mexico Fit for Children has been evaluated and what the outcome was. Please also provide information on the approach that will be taken to the design of a comprehensive national policy on the rights of children and adolescents, along with an appropriate strategy and budget.

3.Please provide information on measures taken to combat persistent discrimination against girls, gender stereotyping and patriarchal attitudes that impede the full realization of girls’ rights. In particular, please indicate what initiatives have been undertaken to promote equality between girls and boys in schools, alternative-care settings and the home.

4.Please provide disaggregated information on the number of children, adolescents, mothers and fathers who have been killed or have disappeared in the last three years, specifying which cases occurred in the context of organized criminal violence, on the number of prosecutions of suspected perpetrators and on the compensation awarded to victims.

5.Please indicate what steps have been taken to put an end to the prevailing impunity for sexual violence against children and adolescents, including when the suspected perpetrators are ecclesiastical or religious figures. Please expand on the information that has been supplied on the steps taken to prevent and report on cases of torture and degrading treatment of children and adolescents. Please also provide information on the steps taken to prohibit corporal punishment explicitly in all settings and in all states. Lastly, please explain what complaint mechanisms are available to allow child and adolescent victims of violence to file complaints with the authorities directly and confidentially.

6.In light of paragraph 123 of the State party report, please provide additional information on the concrete measures adopted to prevent the separation of children and adolescents from their parents as a consequence of poverty. Please also supply information on the regulation and coordination of the public and private bodies responsible for providing alternative care throughout the country and on the supervision of care centres. Please also provide information on action taken in response to cases of abuse of children and adolescents, including the disappearances and instances of inhuman treatment that have occurred in centres such as “Casitas del Sur” in Mexico City, “Mama Rosa” in Michoacán and “La Gran Familia” in Zamora. Lastly, please provide data on the prevalence of private adoptions in most states and on the measures that are to be adopted in order to prohibit them.

7.In light of paragraphs 162 to 172 of the State party report, please provide information on the results of efforts to uphold the rights of children and adolescents with disabilities. In particular, please supply information on progress made in the areas of inclusive education, health, recreation and culture, accessibility, the preparation of children and adolescents with disabilities to enter the labour market in the future and the steps taken to combat discrimination. Please devote particular attention to the progress made in indigenous and remote areas.

8.Please provide information on the steps taken to ensure that all children and adolescents, including those without identity documents, have access to adequate health services throughout the country, particularly in remote and indigenous areas. Please also indicate the initiatives undertaken to reduce child mortality, especially in children under 5 years of age in remote and indigenous regions. Please also supply additional information on the measures taken to combat chronic undernutrition, childhood obesity, anorexia, bulimia, drug use and maternal mortality. Lastly, please provide data on the steps taken to guarantee the right of children and adolescents to a healthy environment.

9.Given the growing number of teenage pregnancies, please provide information on the scope of the national model programme launched in 2013 for the prevention of child and adolescent pregnancy and for the provision of care to pregnant children and adolescents. Please also provide data on the measures taken to prevent adolescent deaths and health risks arising from the lack of access to safe abortion procedures in most states.

10.Please indicate what measures have been adopted to protect unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents from violence and abuse at the hands of criminal organizations during their transit through the State party. Please also provide information on the initiatives undertaken to protect children and adolescents from abuse and detention by State party authorities and to combat the prevailing impunity in this regard.

11.Please supply information on the progress achieved by the State party towards the formal establishment of a process to determine the best interests of the child in migration and asylum situations. Please also provide information on the steps taken to implement article 112 of the Migration Act, put an end to the practice of administrative detention of children and adolescents, and ensure that they are housed in alternative-care centres while their status is resolved.

12.Please provide additional information on measures taken to eradicate the serious problem of child labour in the country and to punish persons who use child labour. In particular, please refer to the results achieved by the Inter-ministerial Commission established in 2013.

13.Please indicate whether the Strategy for Prevention and Care for Street Children and Adolescents that is being implemented in eight states has been evaluated and what the outcome was.

14.Please provide information on the results obtained by the National Coordinating Office to Prevent, Address and Eliminate the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and through the implementation of action plans to prevent, address and eliminate sexual exploitation. Please also indicate what specific measures have been taken to protect indigenous and immigrant children and adolescents.

15.Bearing in mind that many children continue to be trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labour in the State party, which is a place of origin, transit and destination for victims, please provide information on the actual impact of the steps taken to prevent the practice and to protect and rehabilitate victims. Please include specific information on the impact of the measures adopted to protect immigrant child and adolescent victims.

16.Please supply information on initiatives undertaken to make greater use of non-custodial measures and to use custodial measures only as a last resort. Please explain how detention facilities for children and adolescents are supervised and what actual complaint mechanisms are available in the event of a violation of their rights. Please also provide information on the steps taken to harmonize legislation on the juvenile criminal justice system in all states in Mexico.

17.In light of the withdrawal of the State party’s interpretative declaration on article 4 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, please supply information on the measures taken to criminalize the recruitment of children and adolescents and their use in hostilities by non-State armed groups and to punish those who commit these offences appropriately. Please also provide information on the steps taken to prevent the recruitment of children and adolescents and their use in hostilities and to rehabilitate and compensate the victims of these practices.

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 enacted legislation and any accompanying regulations;

(b)New institutions, their mandates and funding;

(c)Newly adopted and implemented policies and programmes and their scope;

(d)Newly ratified human rights instruments.

Part III

Statistical and other information, if available

1.Please provide information on the funds allocated for children and adolescents in each line of the consolidated budget for the past four years. Furthermore, please indicate the percentage of each budget line in terms of the total national budget and the State party’s gross domestic product (GDP). If possible, please provide budgetary information disaggregated by age, sex, disability, ethnic origin, rural/urban population and geographical location.

2.Please provide information on the number of legal cases involving the mismanagement of funds set aside for children and adolescents that have been initiated and on the number of final convictions. Where possible, please identify the institution to which the perpetrator belonged in each case and indicate whether, as a consequence, that institution adopted measures to prevent such incidents in the future.

3.Please provide data for the past four years, disaggregated by age, sex, disability, socioeconomic status, ethnic origin, rural/urban population and geographical location, on the number of child and adolescent victims of abuse and violence, along with additional information on the type of violence and the type of assistance provided to child victims, the compensation received and any follow-up, including the prosecution of offenders and the judgements handed down. Where possible, please provide data on the perpetrators, specifying whether they were members of armed groups, members of the armed forces or the police, relatives, teachers or others.

4.Please provide data, disaggregated by age, sex, disability, socioeconomic status, ethnic origin, rural/urban population and geographical location, for the past four years, on:

(a)Infant mortality;

(b)Maternal mortality;

(c)Undernutrition;

(d)Children and adolescents infected or affected by HIV/AIDS (specify cases of mother-to-child transmission);

(e)Birth weight;

(f)Mental illnesses;

(g)Vaccination coverage;

(h)Child and adolescent pregnancies;

(i)Child and adolescent suicides;

(j)Number of children and adolescents using narcotic drugs;

(k)Actual availability of drinking water and sanitation facilities.

5.Please provide data for the past four years, disaggregated by age, sex, disability, socioeconomic status, ethnic origin, rural/urban population and geographical location, on the number of children and adolescents who have been or are:

(a)Abandoned;

(b)Separated from their parents;

(c)Living in institutions;

(d)Living with foster families;

(e)Adopted in Mexico or through intercountry adoption.

6.Please provide information for the past four years, disaggregated by age, sex, disability, socioeconomic status, ethnic origin, rural/urban population and geographical location, on the number of children and adolescents with disabilities who are:

(a)Living with their families;

(b)Living in institutions;

(c)Attending regular primary schools;

(d)Attending regular secondary schools;

(e)Attending special schools;

(f)Not attending school;

(g)Receiving treatment as a part of a special physical or mental health rehabilitation programme.

7.Please provide data for the past four years, disaggregated by age, sex, disability, socioeconomic status, ethnic origin, rural/urban population and geographical location, on:

(a)Enrolment and completion rates (in percentage terms) for each relevant age group in preschool establishments and primary and secondary schools;

(b)The number and percentage of dropouts and repetitions;

(c)The teacher-pupil ratio.

8.Please provide data for the past four years, disaggregated by age, sex, disability, socioeconomic status, ethnic origin, rural/urban population and geographical location, on the number of children and adolescents who are:

(a)Engaged in child labour (please provide information broken down by type of work, including hazardous work);

(b)Street children;

(c)Victims of trafficking in persons (please specify the purpose of the trafficking);

(d)Victims of sale (please specify the purpose of the sale);

(e)Victims of prostitution;

(f)Victims of child pornography.

9.Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex, disability, ethnic origin, rural/urban population, geographical location and type of offence, for the past four years, on the number of:

(a)Children and adolescents alleged to have committed an offence reported to the police;

(b)Adolescents sentenced and the type of penalty or sanction imposed, including the length of deprivation of liberty;

(c)Detention facilities for children and adolescents in conflict with the law, and their capacity;

(d)Adolescents and young adults held in such facilities and those held in adult detention facilities;

(e)Children in pretrial detention and the average length of such detention;

(f)Cases of abuse and ill-treatment of children and adolescents occurring during arrest and detention.

10.Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex, disability, socioeconomic status, ethnic origin, rural/urban population and geographical location on the number of family reunifications in countries of destination or origin in which Mexico has played a part, relative to the total number of unaccompanied immigrant children and adolescents.

11.Please provide the Committee with an update of data contained in the report that may now be out of date and replace them with more recent data or other new developments.

12.Moreover, the State party may be able to provide the Committee with a list of issues relating to children and adolescents that it considers are priorities for the implementation of the Convention.