Committee on the Rights of the Child

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the initial report of Armenia, adopted by the Committee at its pre-sessional working group for the sixty-second and sixty-third sessions (8–12 October 2012)

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (15 pages maximum), if possible before 1 February 2013.

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 indicate which body is responsible for coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the Optional Protocol as a whole, including issues of sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Furthermore, please specify its allocated budget for the implementation of the Optional Protocol.

2.Please provide information as to the relationship between the 2004–2015 National Plan of Action for the Protection of the Child and the 2010–2012 National Programme on the Fight against Trafficking.

3.Please provide information on the progress made to develop a centralized data collection system for cases of sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, with a view to ensuring a coordinated data collection system for agencies involved in child protection matters related to the Optional Protocol. Furthermore, please provide statistical data (disaggregated by sex, age, nationality, urban and rural residence and socioeconomic background) for the past three years on the number of:

(a)Reported acts of sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, as well as other forms of exploitation including child labour, with additional information on the type of action taken as a result, including the prosecution and punishment of perpetrators;

(b)Children offered, delivered, accepted by whatever means for the purpose of prostitution, engagement in forced labour, illegal adoptions, organ transfer, or pornography; and

(c)Child victims who have been givenassistance with reintegration or have received compensation.

4.Please indicate what activities have been conducted to raise awareness and disseminate the Optional Protocol among relevant professional groups working with and for children and the public at large, including among children.

5.Please indicate whether specialized training has been provided to persons who are likely to come into contact with victims of the offences covered in the Optional Protocol in the course of their professional duties, such as judges, prosecutors, members of the police force and social workers.

6.Apart from preventative measures undertaken in relation to child prostitution described in paragraph 37 of the State party report, please inform the Committee of the measures taken to protect children who are especially vulnerable to becoming victims of offences under the Optional Protocol, especially children living in poverty, unaccompanied children and children who have run way from care institutions. Please also indicate whether there is a mechanism in place in the State party to identify, detect and monitor children at risk of becoming victims of any of the offences under the Optional Protocol.

7.Please provide information as to whether steps have been taken to criminalize illegal adoption in the State party, including the fact of inducing parental consent. Please indicate whichstrategies have been elaborated to address corruption of officials in the context of intercountry adoption.

8.Please clarify whether the possession of child pornographic material, other than in a computer system, is criminalized in the State party.

9.Please provide information on whether there is extraterritorial jurisdiction for crimes covered under the Optional Protocol.

10.Please inform the Committee whether the Optional Protocol can be used as a legal basis for extradition of an alleged offender without the condition of the existence of a bilateral treaty.

11.Please clarify whether legal persons, including corporations, can be held liable for acts or omissions related to the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. 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 as the proceedings derived from such offences.

12.Please indicate whether the State party has taken measures to protect the rights and interests of child victims and witnesses of offences under the Optional Protocol. Please also indicate what measures are being taken to ensure that children who are victims of sale, prostitution and pornography do not face criminal or administrative sanctions but are treated as victims throughout the legal process.

13.Please provide updated and detailed information on measures taken by the State party to provide assistance to victims of all offences under the Optional Protocol, in addition to the measures taken to provide support to victims of violence and sexual exploitation. In particular, please indicate what measures have been taken to ensure the social reintegration, physical and psychological recovery and compensation to victims of the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.