Committee on the Rights of the Child Fifty-eighth session

19 September – 7 October 2011

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict

List of issues concerning additional and updated information related to the initial report of Greece (CRC/C/OPAC/GRC/1)

The State party is requested to submit additional, updated information in writing, and not exceeding 15 pages, if possible before 2 August 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 information on the exact penal provisions relating to the crime of recruitment or use in hostilities of a person who is under the age of 18.

2.Please provide information on budget allocations to implementation of the Optional Protocol.

3.Please provide more information on the role played by the Greek National Commission for Human Rights, founded by Law 2667/1998, in monitoring the implementation of the Optional Protocol.

4.Please provide information on the number of complaints from, or on behalf, of children on violations of the Optional Protocol, filed by the Department of Children’s Rights of the Office of the Ombudsman, as well as information on investigation of these complaints, prosecution of the perpetrators and provision of compensation to victims.

5.Please provide data, disaggregated by sex, age, and country of origin, covering the years 2008, 2009 and 2010, on the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children coming to Greece from areas affected by armed conflict. In this respect, please provide information on physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration programmes for asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children in Greece who may have been involved in or affected by conflicts abroad.

6.Please provide information on education and training on human rights, in particular on children’s rights, provided to the Greek police and military. Please indicate whether military codes of conduct and rules of engagement take into account the Optional Protocol.

7.Please provide information on the existence of military schools in the State party. If so, please inform the Committee of the training provided on the provisions of the Optional Protocol for teachers at military schools. Please inform the Committee whether children in military schools have access to complaints mechanisms and whether an independent entity oversees the curricula and administration of such schools.

8.Please provide information with respect to dissemination to the general public of information related to the issues covered by the Optional Protocol.

9.Please inform the Committee whether national legislation prohibits the sale of arms when the final destination is a country where children are known to be, or may potentially be, recruited or used in hostilities.