Date: October 2009

Committee on the Rights of the Child concludes 52nd session

The Committee on the Rights of the Child has published its concluding observations on states examined at the 52^nd session, 14 September – 2 October.

After examining implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Bolivia, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines and Qatar, the Committee made strong recommendations to states parties for comprehensive law reform to prohibit all corporal punishment of children.

To Bolivia, Mozambique and the Philippines, the Committee drew attention to the insufficient progress since its previous recommendations concerning corporal punishment. Law reform is currently under way in the Philippines and the Committee urged the speedy adoption of the Anti-Corporal Punishment Bill, which would achieve prohibition in all settings. The Committee expressed concern that in Mozambique and Bolivia, recently enacted laws do not prohibit all corporal punishment of children and urged the governments of these states to enact explicit prohibition in all settings. The Committee paid particular attention to the dual legal system of positive law and indigenous customary law in Bolivia, stressing that corporal punishment should be prohibited under both systems.

Noting the commitment of Pakistan to prohibition, the Committee recommended repeal of the legal defence for the use of corporal punishment (section 89 of the Penal Code) and enactment of prohibition as a matter of urgency. With regard to Qatar, the Committee noted that measures are being taken to address the problem of corporal punishment and urged the state party to take into account the Committee’s General Comment No. 8 while drafting new legislation.

The Committee’s recommendations relating to corporal punishment are available here and are included in the individual state reports for Bolivia, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines and Qatar.

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