Committee on the Rights of the Child

Eighty-second session

9 - 27 September 2019

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the report submitted by Panama under article 8 (1) of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (10,700 words maximum), if possible before 15 May 2019. The Committee may take up any aspects of the children’s rights set out in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State party.

1.Please provide information on any cases in which the provisions of the Optional Protocol have been invoked directly before the courts.

2.In the light of the information provided in the State party’s report (CRC/C/OPAC/PAN/1, para. 20), please indicate what mechanism is used to ensure coordination between the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Social Development and the relevant authorities. Please also provide information on the role and mandate of the National Secretariat for Children, Adolescents and Family in coordinating the implementation of the Optional Protocol.

3.In the light of the information provided in the State party’s report (CRC/C/OPAC/PAN/1, para. 40), please provide updated, detailed information on what other measures have been taken or are planned to disseminate the provisions of the Optional Protocol. Please also provide information on the impact of awareness-raising activities in the Darién region on the principles and provisions of the Optional Protocol, inter alia.

4.In the light of the information in the Secretary-General’s third report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict in Colombia (S/2016/837), in which it is alleged that indigenous authorities have reported on the cross-border recruitment of children and adolescents by non-State armed groups, please indicate whether the State party has plans to expand its activities in the border region of Darién and to implement programmes to prevent violations of the Optional Protocol.

5.Please provide data on the presence of non-State armed groups in the territory and, if appropriate, on measures to prevent the recruitment of children and adolescents under the age of 18. In view of the criminalization of the recruitment of minors as a crime against humanity, please provide information on the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions under this provision since its adoption.

6.Please provide information on the statute of limitations for the prosecution of the offences listed in article 448 of the Criminal Code.

7.Please clarify whether articles 18 and 21 of the Criminal Code establish extraterritorial jurisdiction for offences committed under the Optional Protocol. Please provide information on existing international agreements for cooperation with other States in relation to the extradition of persons accused of having committed offences under the Optional Protocol.

8.Please provide information on the methods used to identify children and adolescents who are vulnerable to practices contrary to the Optional Protocol, in particular among refugees, asylum-seeking children and adolescents and indigenous children and adolescents. Please also provide information on existing remedies and reparations available to child and adolescent victims of recruitment.

9.Please provide information on training activities, in addition to those relating to trafficking in persons, including legal, psychological or other training for those working with victims of offences prohibited under the Optional Protocol.

10.Please provide information on measures taken to ensure that unaccompanied foreign children and adolescents who may have been involved in armed conflict are treated in accordance with paragraphs 54 to 60 of general comment No. 6 (2005) on the treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin, as well as on other measures to guarantee the right of child soldiers to benefit from special protection and assistance measures.

11.Please provide information on measures taken to strengthen international cooperation in relation to the implementation of the Optional Protocol, in particular on the prevention and investigation of any activity contrary to the Optional Protocol, and cooperation with international courts.