Committee on the Rights of the Child

Eighty-second session

9–27 September 2019

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

C onsideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the report submitted by Georgia 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 all aspects of children’s rights set out in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State party.

1.Please indicate the impact of the National Human Rights Strategy for 2014–2020 and the National Human Rights Action Plan for 2016–2017 or any replacement thereof on issues related to the Optional Protocol.

2.Please provide information on the measures taken to disseminate the provisions of the Optional Protocol to the public at large and children in particular, and on whether training on the Optional Protocol has been provided for professionals working for or with children, especially for members of the armed forces, police officers, border control officers, lawyers, judges, and medical and social workers.

3.Please provide information on the collection and analysis of disaggregated data concerning all aspects of the Optional Protocol.

4.Please provide data, disaggregated by age, sex and socioeconomic background, on the number of children in the Legal Entity of Public Law (LEPL) Cadets’ Military Lyceum, whether they are given any weapons training, and whether there are independent complaints mechanisms available. Please provide information about the Lyceum’s school curriculum and whether the pupils receive human rights education, and indicate what measures are in place to guarantee the right of the child to be heard, including during the admission process and throughout the schooling.

5.Please provide information on measures taken by the State party to revise the Criminal Code in order to explicitly criminalize the recruitment of children under 18 years of age and their use in hostilities by non-State armed groups, in accordance with article 4 of the Optional Protocol.

6.Please provide information on any programmes and policies aimed at children to prevent their radicalization by extremist groups, including through access to information, education and communication. Please provide information on measures to address root causes of children’s recruitment and participation in armed conflicts.

7.Please provide information on:

(a)The number of children who were reportedly recruited in the Pankisi Gorge area and who travelled to the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as the number of children who have returned to the State party and the number of children who have been included in the reintegration programmes;

(b)The number of children who have been arrested and detained for their alleged connection with terrorist groups.

8.Please indicate what measures have been taken to establish a mechanism for the early identification of children entering the State party who may have been involved in armed conflict abroad, and what measures have been taken to provide them with appropriate assistance, including through rehabilitation and reintegration programmes.

9.Please provide detailed information on the rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for all children affected by armed conflict, giving particular attention to their protection from reprisals, as well as measures to promote their physical and psychological well-being and rehabilitation and their social reintegration.

10.Please inform the Committee whether the State party establishes and exercises extraterritorial jurisdiction in respect of all crimes under the Optional Protocol.