Committee on the Rights of the Child

Fifty eighth session

19 September – 7 October 2011

Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

List of issues concerning additional and updated information related to the second and third combined periodic reports of Greece (CRC/C/GRC/Q/2-3)

The State party is requested to submit additional, updated information in writing, if possible before 2 August 2011.

The Committee may take up all aspects of children’s rights contained in the Convention during the dialogue with the State party.

Part I

In this section, the State party is requested to submit its responses to the following questions (30 pages maximum).

1.Please provide details of progress made by the State party to strengthen the National Committee in its intersectional coordinating role, in particular, regarding its exact mandate, structure (membership) and budget, as well as the specific activities undertaken by this body.

2.Please provide information on the role of the National Observatory for the Rights of Children and explain why it has not been operational since its establishment in 2001.

the child - responsibility of States (2007).

4.Please provide concrete statistical data on the effects of the financial crisis on poverty and of budget cuts affecting protection of children. Please elaborate on the measures taken to redress or mitigate the effects of the financial crisis on children, women and poor families, taken since 2010.

5.Please provide information on steps taken to establish a centralized system, covering all aspects of the Convention, for the collection and analysis of data on children, especially with regard to child abuse and neglect, children with disabilities and other children in need of special protection, including Roma, migrants, asylum-seekers and unaccompanied children.

6.Please provide information on legislative measures taken by the State party to harmonize and amend legal provisions which still set the age of majority at 17 years, in particular, articles 150 and 155 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and articles 347 and 469 of the Criminal Code, as well as any other article which is not in conformity with the Convention.

7.Please comment on the information that sharia law continues to prevail over other domestic law in family and inheritance issues for the Muslims of Thrace and discriminates between boys and girls in inheritance matters and excludes their best interests when deciding which parent will become their guardian in case of divorce.

8.Please provide information on measures taken to protect the rights of Roma children, children belonging to the Muslim minority, children from groups identifying themselves as belonging to the Macedonian minority, children with disabilities, and any other group in need of special protection to ensure that they are not discriminated.

9.Please provide information on measures taken by the State party which provide for children to be heard in all settings, inter alia, homes, schools, childcare institutions, and in judicial and administrative proceedings.

10.Please provide information on measures taken by the State party to ensure the registration of Macedonian names and the proper transliteration of Turkish names in official documents. Please indicate the measures taken to ensure that Roma children are effectively registered at birth and do not become stateless.

11.Please explain whether there is a system and procedures in place to ensure the periodic review of placements of children in alternative care, including in foster care and adoption.

12.Please provide information on measures taken to address problems facing migrant and asylum seeking children regarding risks of sale, trafficking, sexual and economic exploitation and illegal adoption, in particular, explain measures taken to address cases of trafficking in 2010–2011 of Romanian and Bulgarian children, especially Roma.

13.Please provide information on measures taken to implement inclusive education for children with disabilities, including specific information on the provisions of human, technical and material resources and support.

14.Please provide information on measures taken to investigate the case of the killing of a 15-year-old boy, Alexis Gregoropoulos, in December 2008 by a police officer in Athens, to prosecute and punish the perpetrator. Please provide information on measures taken to investigate the arbitrary arrests, excessive use of force and ill-treatment by police related to the peaceful demonstration on the first anniversary of this event.

15.Please provide information on the investigation of the case of 500 children who had gone missing from the Aghia Varvara institution between 1998 and 2002.

Part II

In this section, the Committee invites the State party to briefly (three pages maximum) update the information provided in its report with regard to:

(a)New bills or laws, and their respective regulations;

(b)New institutions (and their mandates) or institutional reforms;

(c)Recently introduced policies, programmes and action plans and their scope and financing;

(d)Recent ratifications of human rights instruments.

Part III

Data, statistics and other information, if available

1.Please provide statistical data, disaggregated by sex, age, ethnic origin, urban and rural areas and socio-economic status andits trend analysis covering the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 on the following (in percentage of the relevant age group):

(a)Percentage of children in preschool education;

(b)Percentage of children completing primary and secondary education;

(c)Percentage of children in non-formal education programmes and training;

(d)Teacher/child ratio and the number of children per class.

2.Please provide data for the reporting period, disaggregatedby sex, age, ethnic origin, urban and rural areas and socio-economic status, on the number of persons under the age of 18 involved in child labour, including both the formal and informal sectors.

3.Please provide data on the budgetary cuts undertaken as part of austerity measures, in particular, in the health, education, social welfare sectors, affecting children directly.

4.With reference to child abuse, please provide data, disaggregated by sex, age, ethnic origin, urban and rural areas and types of violations reported, for the reporting period on reported cases of child abuse, including sexual abuse, the number and percentage of cases which have resulted in either a court decision or other types of follow-up, and the number and proportion of victims who have received counselling and assistance for recovery.

5.Please specify the number of children with disabilities, up to the age of 18, disaggregated by age, sex and urban/rural area covering the years 2008, 2009 and 2010:

(a)Living with their families;

(b)Living in institutions;

(c)Placed in foster care;

(d)Attending regular schools;

(e)Attending special schools; and

(f)Not attending school.

6.In addition, the State party may list areas affecting children that it considers to be of priority with regard to the implementation of the Convention.