Committee on the Rights of the Child
Fifty-ninth session
16 January -3 February 2012
Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict
List of issues concerning additional and updated information related to the consideration of the initial report of Azerbaijan (CRC/C/OPAC/AZE/1)
The State Party is requested to submit in written form additional and updated information, if possible, before 1 October 2011, not exceeding 15 pages.
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 clarify whether there have been any steps taken to establish a coordinating body for implementation of the Optional Protocol in the State party.
2With reference to paragraph 8 of the State party’s report on the activities of the Child Rights Centre and paragraph 9 on publication of the Optional Protocol on the website of the Ministry of Justice, please provide additional information on the measures taken by the State party to disseminate and raise awareness of the Optional Protocol among the general public, in particular children.
3.Please provide information on the integration of the Optional Protocol in training curricula of military and law-enforcement personnel, including in high military schools and military lyceums. Please specify any efforts taken to raise awareness and educate military involved in recruitment of conscripts as well as judges, prosecutors, immigration officials and social workers on the Optional Protocol.
4.Please provide information on high military schools and military lyceums providing military training, including the number of students enrolled, the proportions of academic and military training in the curricula, and the number of students below the age of 18 enrolled for 2008, 2009 and 2010, respectively. Please clarify whether children below the age of 18 are trained on use of firearms.
5.Please clarify to the Committee whether cadets enrolled in high military schools and military lyceums under the age of 18 are subject to military discipline and punishment, have access to independent complaints in addition to the complaints mechanism mentioned in paragraph 26 and investigation mechanisms; and whether they are classified as members of the armed forces and can be called into active service in the event of an outbreak of hostilities.
6.With reference to article 116 of the Criminal Code which prohibits recruitment of minors in armed forces, please clarify how “minors” are defined in domestic legislation. Please specify whether there have been any convictions under article 116 of the Criminal Code. If so, please provide details of those cases.
7.Please provide information whether there is an extraterritorial jurisdiction for crimes covered under the Optional Protocol and if so, under which specific legislation. Please also inform whether the Optional Protocol can be invoked to request extradition for crimes under the Optional Protocol.
8.Please provide information on procedures to identify at the earliest stage refugee, asylum-seeking or migrant children who may have been or who are at risk of being recruited and/or used in hostilities. What rehabilitation services are available to those children? Please also provide data, disaggregated by age, gender and nationality, on the number of refugee and asylum-seeking children who were returned to their country of origin during 2008, 2009 and 2010.
9.Please indicate whether national legislation prohibits the trade and export of arms, including small arms and light weapons, as well as military assistance to countries where children are involved in armed conflict.