Committee on the Rights of the Child

Sixty-eighth session

12–30 January 2015

Item 4 of the provisional agenda

Consideration of reports of States parties

List of issues in relation to the report submitted by Cambodia under article 12, paragraph 1, of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography

The State party is requested to submit in writing additional, updated information (15 pages maximum), if possible before 15 October 2014.

The Committee may take up any aspects of the children’s rights set out in the Optional Protocol during the dialogue with the State party.

1.Please provide statistical data, disaggregated by sex, age, urban orrural residence, national origin and socioeconomic background, from 2011 onwards, on:

(a)Reports of the sale of children, disaggregated by sale for the purposes of sexual exploitation, transfer of organs for profit, forced labour, child prostitution, child pornography and child sex tourism, together with information on the action taken in response to the reports, in particular prosecutions brought and penalties imposed;

(b)The number of children offered, delivered or accepted by whatever means for the purposes of prostitution, engagement in forced labour, illegal adoption, organ transfer or pornography, and information on the action taken in response, in particular on prosecutions brought and penalties imposed;

(c)The number of child victims who have been given assistance with reintegration or compensation.

2.In view of the information provided in paragraph 13 of the report (CRC/C/OPSC/KHM/1), please clarify whether the State party envisages establishing a comprehensive databasecovering all areas of the Optional Protocol to systematically collect, analyse and evaluate disaggregated data and other information on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography, and on the implementation of the Optional Protocol in the capital and at the provincial levels.

3.Please provide information on the measures taken by the State party to harmonize all its legislation, including the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of 2008, and bring it into full conformity with the Optional Protocol. Please clarify whether the sale of children,in particular for the purpose of illegal adoption and for engagement in forced labour,is defined and prohibited under the national legislation in accordance with articles 2 (a) and 3, paragraph 1 (a), of the Optional Protocol.

4.Please provide information on the new National Plan of Action against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children mentioned in paragraph 70 (a)of the State party’s report, its adoption and the practical steps taken to implement it.Please also describe the outcome of any evaluation of the previous national plan of action.Please provide information on the measures taken to implement the Policy and Minimum Standards on the Protection of the Rights of Victims of Trafficking.

5.Please provide updated information onthe steps taken by the State party to prevent the offences covered by the Optional Protocol and to address their root causes, in particular poverty, the lack of access to education, and domestic violence.

6.Please indicate what steps have been taken to ensure free birth registration for all children.

7.In the light of the rapid growth in the number of “orphanages” and the phenomenon of “orphanage tourism” in the State party, please provide detailed information on the measures taken to prevent, and protect children from, sexual and other forms of exploitation in tourism. Please also elaborate on the measures taken to prosecute offenders from foreign countries who have set up children’s orphanages and charities in the State party and sexually abuse children in such institutions.

8.Please indicatewhether there is an independent mechanism, accessible by children, to receive and investigate complaints from or on behalf of children regarding violations of any of therights covered bythe Optional Protocol. If so, please provide information on the number of such complaints received and their outcomes.

9.In the light of the information that many labour agents forge identity documents to recruit children, especially girls, as migrant domestic workers, and offer cash and food incentives to families to persuade them to send their children abroad, a practice that could amount to the sale of children, please describethe measures taken by the State party to adopt a comprehensive law to strengthen the oversight of recruitment agencies, prevent the recruitment of children and prosecute labour agents responsible for such abuses.

10.Please provide further information on measures taken to combat the sexual exploitation of children, including children working and living in street situations and those working in nightclubs, Karaoke parlours and “beer gardens”, and to ensure that the investigation and prosecution of such cases are expedited. Please also indicate what further steps have been taken to combat child pornography and sex tourism and to prosecute offenderseffectively.

11.Please explain the measures taken to combat child pornography on the Internet and the availability of such materials for sale in various markets or for downloading and viewing on mobile phones atInternet shops. Please indicate whether the State party requires Internet service providers and telephone service providers to report the detection on their networks of pornographic sites involving children and to provide information to law enforcement officials about persons who distribute child pornography and related content.

12.In the light of the small number of prosecutions and convictions of traffickers in the State party, please explain the steps taken by the State party to implement the Committee’s previous recommendations that itintensify its efforts to prosecute and convict offenders.

13.Please inform the Committee whether the State party can establish and exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction over all offences under the Optional Protocol.

14.Please also provide information on the number of requests for extradition for any of the offences referred to in the Optional Protocol that have been granted since the entry into force of the Optional Protocol in the State party, disaggregated by the nature of the offences. Please also indicate whether the State party has requested the extradition of any person accused of any of the offences referred to in the Optional Protocol.

15.Please indicate what measures have been taken to increase the number of trained social workers and to improve the related infrastructure at the local level.

16.Please inform the Committee about the measures taken to develop holistic and victim-centred methods to identify child victims of sale, child prostitution and child pornography. Please also elaborate on the measures taken to protect the rights and interests, including the right to privacy, of child victims and witnesses of crimes under the Optional Protocol at all stages of criminal proceedings.

17.Please provide information on the measures taken by the State party to expand specialized care, family and community-based rehabilitation and social reintegrationprogrammes for child victims of sale, child prostitution and pornography. Please also provide further information on the human, financial and technical resources allocated to the implementation of such programmes and onthe extent to which such services exist at the district and municipal levels.