Committee on the Rights of the Child
Fifty-sixth session
17 January–4 February 2011
Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
List of issues related to the consideration of the initial report of Mexico (CRC/C/OPSC/MEX/1)
The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights contained in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State party.
The State party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible before 2 August 2010, not exceeding 15 pages.
1.Please provide statistical data (disaggregated by sex, age, ethnic group and status) for 2007–2009 on the following:
(a)Reports of the sale of children (disaggregated by sale for purposes of sexual exploitation, transfer of organs of the child for profit, and engagement of the child in forced labour), child prostitution, child pornography and child sex tourism with additional information on the type of follow-up provided on the outcome of the cases, including the prosecution and sanctioning of perpetrators;
(b)The number of child victims provided with recovery assistance or compensation, in accordance with the provisions of article 9, paragraphs 3 and 4, of the Optional Protocol; and
(c)The number of intercountry adoptions conducted through the central adoption authority, as well as through other means, since the last periodic review by the Committee in 2006, and on the number of domestic adoptions, including private adoptions.
In the absence of such information, please explain the plans to improve relevant investigation and statistical information systems, in particular those relating to children who are particularly vulnerable to the practices covered by the Optional Protocol.
2.Please inform the Committee whether the National Action Plan to Prevent, Monitor and Eradicate the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children embraces all areas of the Optional Protocol. Please indicate whether there have been efforts to evaluate progress in the implementation of the Plan to date and to identify the obstacles. Likewise, please provide the Committee with updated information on concrete measures to implement the National Programme to Prevent and Punish Trafficking in Persons.
3.Please provide additional information on the governmental departments or bodies primarily responsible for implementing the Optional Protocol and on the mechanism(s) that have been established or are used to ensure coordination between them and the relevant state and local authorities, as well as with civil society, including the business sector, the media and academia.
4.Please indicate whether the National Human Rights Commission and the state human rights commissions or other independent monitoring mechanisms in the area of children’s rights are accessible and are authorized to receive complaints regarding violations of the Optional Protocol directly from children, or on their behalf, and what action is taken on those complaints.
5.Please provide additional information on the methods used to identify children who are particularly vulnerable to the practices covered by the Optional Protocol, such as street children, girls, immigrant children, children living in remote areas and those living in poverty.
6.Please clarify whether the Federal Criminal Code criminalizes all aspects of child prostitution, in line with articles 2 (b) and 3 (1) (b) of the Optional Protocol, and the sale of children, in line with articles 2 (a) and 3 (1) (a) of the Optional Protocol. Please also indicate whether national criminal legislation prohibits improperly inducing consent, as an intermediary, for the adoption of a child in violation of applicable international legal instruments on adoption (article 3 (1) (a) (ii) of the Optional Protocol).
7.Please inform the Committee whether there have been any criminal investigations initiated in relation to irregular adoptions and which sanctions have been imposed, if applicable.
8.Please provide information regarding allegations of corruption of public officials relating to child prostitution and trafficking in persons. In that connection, please provide data on the type of follow-up given to those allegations, including information on investigations and prosecutions.
9.Kindly provide information on rules regarding deportation and repatriation of children who may have been trafficked to Mexico for the purpose of sale, within the meaning of article 2 (a) of the Optional Protocol, or of child prostitution. Please also provide statistical data covering the years 2007–2009 on child victims of trafficking deported or repatriated from Mexico, disaggregated as explained above, and the country of destination.