COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD EXAMINES REPORT OF YEMEN ON SALE OF CHILDREN, CHILD PROSTITUTION AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

The Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning reviewed the initial report of Yemen on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Introducing the report, Nafisa Hamoud Hamoud Algaefi, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood of Yemen, said that Yemen had introduced a number of measures to combat child abuse, prostitution and pornography. Among measures that had been put in place or were in the process of being introduced was a database to promote the situation of deprived children and the introduction of further social welfare measures. Yemen would also continue its efforts to strengthen judicial reform and improve laws on young persons by raising the age of criminal responsibility and make provisions for alternative penalties. They would also try to improve the monitoring and documentation of cases, as well as rehabilitating and reintegrating victims.

Turning to trafficking in children, Ms. Algaefi said that a national plan against child trafficking was being drawn up in Yemen. Among the steps they intended to take was to strengthen the role of civil society in this area, to develop legal procedures to deal with child traffickers and to step up awareness and information programmes. In fact, Yemen had already started several awareness-raising campaigns through publications and had organized symposiums with civil society and made expansive use of the media. There had also been a concerted effort to raise the legal age for marriage for girls in Yemen.

Kamel Filali, the Committee Expert serving as co-Rapporteur for the report of Yemen, in preliminary concluding observations, said that ratifying and submitting the report was in itself progress. It was clear that there was genuine political will to recognize and improve children’s rights and ensure children’s protection in Yemen. However, the next time Yemen came before the Committee, he wanted to hear of more progress on the harmonization of Yemeni legislation with the Protocol, the definition of children, the training of personnel, the definition of crimes set out in the Protocol and jurisdiction for such crimes, including extraterritorial jurisdiction, and measures for the rehabilitation of victims of crimes under the Protocol.

During the course of the meeting, other Experts made comments and raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, the place of the Protocol in the Yemeni legal order; when the planned major revision of existing laws would be completed; whether Yemen was going to create an Ombudsman for children who could receive complaints with regard to violations of the Protocol; and whether Yemen had enough qualified doctors to deal with sexually abused children.

The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Yemen towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on 2 October.

The delegation of Yemen also included Ibrahim Al-Adoof, Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations Office at Geneva, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.

As one of the States parties to the Optional Protocol, Yemen is obliged to report to the Committee on its efforts to comply with the provisions of the Protocol. The delegation was on hand to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee Experts.

When the Committee next reconvenes in public, at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, 2 October, it will make public its concluding observations on the reports considered over the past three weeks, before officially closing its fifty-second session.

Report of Yemen

The initial report of Yemen under the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSC/YEM/1) states that the international treaties and optional protocols which the Republic of Yemen has ratified have the force of law in Yemen and that most of the offences listed in the Optional Protocol are covered by the applicable laws and legislation in Yemen. With regard to the sale of children, such offences are very rare. No such offence had ever been referred to, or tried in, a Yemeni court. However, Yemeni law does make provisions for the punishment and prevention of this offence and the prosecution of those who commit it. Under articles 249 and 250 of the Code, the offence of child abduction carried a penalty of up to seven years’ imprisonment and if the abduction is accompanied or followed by physical assault, bodily harm or torture, the penalty would be up to 10 years’ imprisonment. This would be without prejudice to the right under the sharia to claim retribution (qisas), blood money (diyah) and an indemnity for certain wounds (arsh). If the abduction was accompanied or followed by murder, prohibited sexual assault or sodomy, the penalty would be death, and any accessory to the crime is liable to the same penalty.

On the matter of the sexual exploitation of children, the report says that Yemeni legislation prescribed harsh penalties for subjecting children to any form of sexual exploitation. A term of up to seven years’ imprisonment would be imposed on anyone who, through enticement, encouragement or any form of assistance, compels a male or female under the age of 18 to engage in acts of indecency, debauchery or prostitution. The penalty would be up to 10 years’ imprisonment if the author of the offence is an ascendant or brother of the victim or a person responsible for the victim’s upbringing or supervision and that the penalty would be a term of up to 12 years’ imprisonment if the author of the offence used any form of coercion, intimidation or deception. A term of up to seven years’ imprisonment would be imposed on anyone who takes a child under the age of 18 across the national borders for the purpose of the sexual exploitation or the facilitation or the instigation of the sexual exploitation of the child. The penalty shall be a term of up to 10 years’ imprisonment if the perpetrator is an ascendant or a brother of the child or a person responsible for his or her upbringing or supervision.

Presentation of Report

NAFISA HAMOUD HAMOUD ALGAEFI, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood of Yemen, began by noting that the international treaties and optional protocols had the force of law in Yemen.

The Supreme Council, of which she was the Secretary-General, had, together with representatives of government and non-government organizations, created different committees to fight child abuse, as well as a national network on violence against children and a national committee against child smuggling, Ms. Algaefi said. Their work had gathered a lot of information and sent their report through official channels to the Committee. However, there had been some delays and they were still experiencing some coordinating problems with government and non-governmental organizations as well as a lack of financial and human resources.

Ms. Algaefi said that among the measures that had been put in place or in the process of being introduced were the creation of a database to promote the situation of deprived children and the introduction of further social welfare measures. Yemen would continue its efforts to strengthen judicial reform and improve laws on young persons by raising the age of criminal responsibility and make provisions for alternative penalties. They would also try to improve the monitoring and documentation of cases as well as rehabilitating and reintegrating victims.

Turning to trafficking in children, Ms. Algaefi said that, in cooperation with Saudi Arabia and the United Nations Children’s Fund bureaux in Yemen and the Gulf States, Yemen had improved its efforts to combat child trafficking and, to that effect, a national plan against child trafficking was being drawn up in Yemen. Among the steps they intended to take was to strengthen the role of civil society in this area, to develop legal procedures to deal with child traffickers and to step up awareness and information programmes in both countries. In fact, Yemen had already started several awareness-raising campaigns through publications –working closely with Mosques, they had published a guide for Imams on trafficking issues – as well as organizing symposiums with civil society and expansive use of the media.

Finally, with regard to early marriages, there had been a concerted effort to raise the legal age for marriage for girls in Yemen, Ms. Algaefi concluded.

Questions by Experts

HADEEL AL-ASMAR, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Yemen, thanked the Yemeni delegation for having sent the report answering most of their questions, but observed that the report did not fulfil all the requirements of the Committee. However, it was noted that that Yemen had been suffering from both armed conflict and natural disasters and Yemen was to be congratulated for the apparent freedom of press and movement in the country.

Ms. Al-Asmar noted that several negative phenomena had been uncovered among which were the sale of children across the borders of Yemen with Saudi Arabia and Oman. The estimated number of children sold to intermediaries amounted to nearly 200 per month, and those children were often trafficked to work illegally in prostitution, the sale of firecrackers and bad and uncontrolled conditions in general. In addition, the children often ended up in jail where they could be subjected to violence and sexual abuse. It was also a matter of concern that the well known fact that many small girls were often sold in a sex tourism industry to Saudi Arabian men for marriage and in that context the Committee felt the lack of figures on those issues was disappointing.

With regard to civil society involvement in the Yemeni authorities’ fight against the abuse of children, Ms. Al-Asmar wanted to know how long they had been involved in the process and asked for more clarification about that involvement – i.e. who were these organizations or individuals and at what level were they involved. She also wanted more figures and details concerning the number of boys and girls affected by sale, trafficking and prostitution in Yemen.

Finally, the Rapporteur wanted to know if the authorities had directed any initiatives towards the tribal leaders, as it seemed they sometimes both knew and even encouraged sexual tourism.

Other Experts then raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, whether Yemeni nationals who had committed or assisted in the abuse or trafficking of children could be extradited abroad, and what the actual status of Protocol and the Convention on the Rights of the Child was in the Yemeni legal order. Did it supersede domestic law in cases of conflict, for example?

Some Experts mentioned that the delegation had informed the Committee that they were in the process of large revisions of existing laws and that there were delays in the adoption of those revisions. In that context, when was it expected that those amendments or new laws would be adopted? Also, would there be independent institutions for human rights soon in the country? It was also asked if Yemen was going to create an Ombudsman for children who could receive complaints with regards to sale, sexual exploitation and pornography involving children.

Experts also asked if Yemen had enough qualified doctors to deal with sexual abuse of children and what laws, policies or other measures it had to ensure there was no discrimination between girls and boys. Finally, which was the overriding chief body in charge of coordinating the committees and networks that had been set up?

Response by the Delegation

Responding to these questions and others, the delegation said that, with regard to the question on which organization was responsible for the overall coordination of the various governmental, non-governmental and international organizations and committees, that was the Supreme Council for Motherhood.

Delays in revision and adoptions of new laws had been caused by the cancellation of elections, which had meant that Parliament had not functioned fully, as well as the problems that had arisen in the south of Yemen.

With regard to civil society participation, the delegation said that civil society had taken part fully throughout the process of collecting and analysing data and information which formed parts of the report presented today.

Regarding cooperation with Saudi Arabia, a Memorandum of Understanding was on the table with Saudi Arabia and that, with the help of UNICEF, that process would speed up. The delegation had no official statistical data regarding early marriage or child trafficking, but they were carrying out a project with UNICEF that would provide a more detailed and analytical study on these issues. Yemen had taken several steps to raise awareness, in line with the Sharia and in coordination with the Health Ministry, with regard to early marriages to explain the dangers of early marriages, and early pregnancies.

There was also little or no existing data concerning the question of sex tourism, the delegation said, but Yemeni society was aware of the negative impacts of that phenomenon.

Concerning the abuse and exploitation of children, it was true that they needed to improve their health services and train doctors in all the health centres so that they could identify and report abuses to the Ministry of Health and Social affairs. Unfortunately, a project with UNICEF to train doctors and health representatives, especially in tribal areas, had had to be postponed because UNICEF had had to use so much of its resources on emergencies.

The reference made to the figure of 200 trafficked children per month was impossible to verify, as Yemen had no such statistics on the subject. The only data they could refer to were regarding the children which had been registered in their centres along the borders. Since 2005, 2,576 children had been registered, but the delegation could not say whether they were victims of trafficking. Within the Ministry of the Interior there were specialized services established to combat abused children and the trafficking of children. The Minister of the Interior also cooperated with their neighbouring countries and internationally and several arrests had been made

On the legal status of the Convention, the Convention was fully recognized in Yemeni law, the delegation said.

There was a new national plan against child sexual exploitation, and a technical committee had been established to work against child exploitation on the ground in tribal areas, identifying the exploitation of children and with specific laws providing for tribal leaders to file allegations where exploitation was suspected. Those measures had reduced the number of cases by 60 per cent.

The delegation said there were great efforts made by the judiciary and the Ministry of Justice to improve the framework for juvenile justice. There were juvenile courts and children were accompanied by social workers when brought before those courts.

Concerning marriage contracts emanating from sex tourism, those were not recognized by Yemen, as there were clear conditions as to how a Yemeni national could marry a foreigner. To do so, they would have to go through the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For the victims that had been identified, compensation was granted to them and experts, social workers and psychologists were being provided

Preliminary Concluding Observations

KAMEL FILALI, the Committee Expert serving as co-Rapporteur for the report of Yemen, in preliminary concluding observations, said that ratifying and submitting the report was in itself progress. It was clear that there was genuine political will to recognize and improve children’s rights and ensure children’s protection in Yemen.


It was a fact, which the Yemeni Government had itself recognized in the report, that Yemen had experienced problems through a lack of financial and human resources. But they had persisted in trying to improve. The dialogue had been frank and positive and the delegation had showed that Yemen wanted to do its best to implement the Convention.

However, Mr. Filali said that the next time Yemen came before the Committee he wanted to hear of more progress on the harmonization of Yemeni legislation with the Protocol, the definition of children, the training of personnel, the definition of crimes set out in the Protocol, jurisdiction for such crimes, including extraterritorial jurisdiction, and measures for the rehabilitation of victims.



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