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 sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
List of issues concerning additional and updated information related to the consideration of the initial report of Thailand (CRC/C/OPSC/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 statistical data (disaggregated by sex, age, nationality and urban and rural residence) for 2008, 2009, 2010, on the number of:
(a)Reports of sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, with additional information on the type of action taken as a result, including the prosecution and punishment of perpetrators;
(b)Children trafficked into and out of Thailand and children trafficked within the country for the purpose of sale, prostitution, engagement in forced labour, debt bondage, illegal adoptions, organ transfer or pornography as defined in article 3, paragraph 1, of the Optional Protocol;
(c)Children offered, delivered, or accepted by whatever means for the purpose of prostitution, engagement in forced labour, debt bondage, illegal adoptions, organ transfer, pornography or marriage;
(d)Child victims who have been given assistance with reintegration or been paid compensation.
2.Please provide information on progress made in the establishment of a data collection system by the National Sub-Committee to CombatTrafficking in Children and Women and on whether there is a database on cases of sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
3.Please inform the Committee on steps taken regarding the implementation of the National Plan of Action on the Prevention and Suppression ofTrafficking in Children and Women (2005-2010) as it relates to combating offences under the Optional Protocol. Please also provide information on the outcome of the evaluation of the projects under the plan, which was scheduledto be conducted in 2008 (CRC/C/OPSC/THA/1, para. 126). Please provide information on whether there are plans to develop a new plan of action for the next period.
4.Please indicatewhat measures have been taken to combat child prostitution and to address the reported cases of corruption among law-enforcement officials and involvement of police officers in the child sex trade, especially at the local level.
5.Please provide information on recent preventive measures adopted by the State party to protect groups of children particularly at risk of becoming victims of offences under the Optional Protocol, namely, childrenof displaced and stateless persons, refugees and asylum-seekers, and children who belong to minority and indigenous groups, such as girls of hill tribes.
6.In connection to the above issue, please clarify whether mechanisms have been developed to identify and detect children who are, or who are at risk of becoming,victims of sale, prostitution and pornography. In this respect, what measures or strategies exist to address the demand for thesale of children, child prostitution and child pornography?
7.Please inform the Committee whether,in addition tothe Computer Crime Control Act of 2007 and the Publishing Registration Act of 2007, which can be used as a basis for regulating child pornography, there is any domestic legislation thatexplicitly mentions and prohibits child pornography.
8.Please provide the Committee with the number and nature of the websites and webpages shut downby the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology for the purposes of preventing child pornography.
9.Please clarify whether legal persons, including corporations, can be held liable for acts or omissions relating to the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
10.Please provide information as to whether the State party can establish extraterritorial jurisdiction for offences under the Optional Protocol. Please also inform the Committee as to whether the Optional Protocol can be used as a legal basis for the extradition of an alleged offender without the condition of the existence of a bilateral treaty.
11.Please clarify whether domestic legislation of the State party provides for the seizure and confiscation of goods used to commit or facilitate all offences under the Optional Protocol, as well asthe proceeds derived from such offences.
12.Please provide information on the steps taken to provide victims of offences under the Optional Protocol with appropriate remedies, including compensation.