Committee on the Rights of the Child
Fifty-ninth session
16 January–3 February 2012
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict
List of issues concerning additional and updated information related to the consideration of the initial report of Thailand (CRC/C/OPAC/THA/1)
The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (15 pages maximum), if possible before 21 November 2011.
The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights contained in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State Party.
1.Please provide information on procedures in place for the coordination of and cooperation on issues under the Optional Protocol among the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, as well as with other relevant State entities.
2.With reference to the Penal Code and Child Protection Act of 2003, which prohibit some aspects of involving children in armed conflict, please provide information about any other domestic legislation that explicitly criminalizes the recruitment of children under 18.
3.In the light of the information that Chor Ror Bor (a group of village defence militia), which is under the control of the Ministry of Interior, is informally recruiting children as young as 9 years of age, please inform the Committee as to what measures have been taken to prohibit the informal association of children withChor Ror Bor and to ensure effective oversight and accountability for such groups.
4.Please provide information on the scale and nature of children’s involvement in non-State armed groups in the South.
5.Please clarify what type of military training is provided in pre-undergraduate military schools where children can be admitted from 12 years of age. Please also inform the Committee whether any measures have been taken to prevent the participation of children under the age of 18 in military training courses involving weapons handling in undergraduate schools, where children can be admitted from 16 years of age.
6.Please indicate whether students enrolled in military schools under the age of 18: (a) are subject to military discipline and punishment; (b) have access to independent complaints and investigation mechanisms; and (c) are classified as members of the armed forces and can be called into active service in the event of an outbreak of hostilities.
7.Please provide information on whether administrative detention under the Martial Law and the Emergency Decree is applicable for individuals under the age of 18 and, if so, on what legal safeguards are provided to such children upon detention.
8.Please provide information on whether the Optional Protocol can be invoked to request extradition for crimes under the Optional Protocol.
9.Please provide information on procedures in place to identify at the earliest stage refugee and asylum-seeking children or children in migrant situations who may have been or who are at risk of being recruited and/or used in hostilities. Please also provide data, disaggregated by age, gender and nationality, on the number of refugee and asylum-seeking children who were returned to their country of origin during 2009, 2010 and 2011.
10.Please indicate whether national legislation prohibits the trade and export of arms, including small arms and light weapons, as well as military assistance to countries where children are involved in armed conflict.