COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILDFifty-first session25 May-12 June 2009

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD

List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the second periodic report of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (CRC/C/MRT/2)

PART I

Under this section the State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible by 6 April 2009 .

1.Please provide a brief description, including examples, of cooperation between the State party and civil society in the area of the rights of the child.

2.Please indicate whether the State party intends to withdraw its general reservation to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (“the Convention”).

3.Please indicate whether the State party has plans for an overall reform of its domestic legislation and to what extent the State party has sought to reconcile the dualist legal system (civil and sharia law) and aspects of customary law that are incompatible with the Convention.

4.Please state which government entity is responsible for coordinating implementation of the Convention and indicate the amount of resources allocated to it.

5.In the light of the concerns expressed by the Committee in its preceding concluding observations (CRC/C/15/Add.159, para. 11), please provide additional information on the National Council for Children, especially on its mandate and composition and the resources at its disposal.

6.With reference to paragraph 20 of the State party’s report, please inform the Committee about the mandate of the National Human Rights Commission and the resources allocated to it, and indicate whether it has a unit dealing specifically with children.

7.Please provide information on the rate of birth registration in the State party and on the trend over the past five years.

8.Please describe how the criminalization of slavery has been implemented in practice and indicate what measures have been taken by the State party to counter slavery. Please indicate also whether rehabilitation and social reintegration measures exist on behalf of victims of slavery.

9.Please provide additional information on measures taken to promote the reproductive health of adolescents.

10.Please inform the Committee about the criminalization of female genital mutilation (FGM) and steps taken by the State party to combat harmful traditional practices such as FGM, early marriage and force-feeding.

11.Please provide additional and updated information on the repatriation programmes for refugees run by the National Agency to Assist and Integrate Refugees (ANAIR) and indicate to what extent they take the rights of refugee children into account, especially in the areas of education and health.

12.Please inform the Committee about the State party’s policy regarding the detention of immigrant and refugee minors attempting to transit through Mauritania and about the applicable legal framework and judicial oversight.

13.Please inform the Committee about the number of children working and/or living in the street, including talibé children (who beg in exchange for religious instruction), and the measures taken to protect them and to give them access to education and health care.

14.Please inform the Committee about efforts to document and counteract child labour and indicate whether the State party is collaborating with the International Labour Organization. Please state whether domestic legislation defines the worst forms of child labour. Please inform the Committee about measures taken to prevent domestic work by girls in conditions akin to slavery.

15.Please inform the Committee about preventive action taken against the sale and trafficking of children (within the country’s borders and beyond).

16.Please inform the Committee of preventive action taken against the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. Please indicate in particular the extent to which the sharia is applied to cases of rape and sexual abuse of girls.

17.Please indicate the age system:

(a)Applicable in matters of juvenile justice: state in particular whether children in the 7 to 15 age group can be deprived of their liberty, whether children in the 15 to 18 age group may be held fully criminally responsible, and whether child detainees in the 15 to 18 age group are segregated from adults;

(b)Applicable to recruitment to the armed forces: indicate the minimum age and whether enrolment is voluntary or compulsory;

(c)Applicable to admission to employment: indicate the minimum age and the applicable legislation.

18.Please indicate which issues concerning children are held by the State party to have priority and to require urgent attention from the perspective of implementation of the Convention.

PART II

Under this section, the State party is invited/requested to update briefly (three pages maximum) the information provided in its report with regard to:

New bills or enacted legislation

New institutions

Newly implemented policies

Newly implemented activities, programmes and projects and their scope

PART III

Data and statistics, if available

1.In the light of article 4 of the Convention, please provide data for 2007 and 2008 on budget appropriations (in absolute terms and as a percentage of the national budget or gross domestic product) for the application of the Convention throughout the country in the areas of education and health.

2.With regard to children deprived of a family environment and separated from their parents, please provide, for 2005, 2006 and 2007, disaggregated data (by sex, age group and urban or rural area) concerning the number of children:

(a)Separated from their parents;

(b)Placed in institutions (indicate the number of institutions in the country);

(c)Placed in foster families or placed through kafalah;

(d)Adopted within the country or abroad.

3.Please provide additional information on rates of HIV/AIDS infection among children and the budgetary resources allocated by the State party for HIV/AIDS prevention over the past five years, and indicate whether children are entitled to free antiviral treatment.

PART IV

The following is a preliminary list of major issues (which does not contain issues already covered in Part I) that the Committee may take up durin g the dialogue with the State p arty. They do not require written answers . This list is not exhaustive as other issues may be raise d in the course of the dialogue .

1.Legislation (civil law and sharia) and customary law;

2.Coordination;

3.Allocation of resources;

4.Independent oversight mechanism;

5.Non-discrimination;

6.Birth registration;

7.Family environment (support/assistance provided by the State to parents);

8.Children deprived of their family environment;

9.Violence against children, including corporal punishment;

10.Children with disabilities (integration into society, accessibility of installations);

11.Health (including access to health services, financial accessibility of health care, harmful traditional practices, including female genital mutilation, adolescent health and mental health);

12.Education (including the existence of qualified teachers and adequate facilities, access of young girls to education, and geographical disparities in access to education);

13.Refugee children;

14.Children living in the street;

15.Economic exploitation, including child labour;

16.Protection of talibé children;

17.Sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, protection and non-criminalization of girl victims;

18.Child slavery (within and beyond national frontiers);

19.The administration of justice for minors (age of criminal responsibility, alternatives to detention, living conditions in detention centres for minors and restructuring of the justice system for minors).

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