COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD EXAMINES THE REPORT OF ERITREA
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today concluded its consideration of the fourth periodic report of Eritrea on its implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Introducing the report, Mehreteab Fessehaie, Director-General, Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare of Eritrea, said the progressive political orientation of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) had always fully respected the rights and interests of the child, even during the protracted struggle for independence. Despite a shortage of resources and the unjust sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council, Eritrea had made impressive progress towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals concerning children. A new codified body of legislation had entered into force on 15 May 2015, malaria had been reduced, polio and neo-natal tetanus had been eradicated and the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate had remarkably declined to less than one per cent. A great achievement was the establishment of the Child Wellbeing Committees in 43 of the 56 sub-regions of Eritrea, more children enrolled in schools and improvements in maternal health care.
During the discussion Committee Experts asked about the impact of the compulsory national and military service in Eritrea on children and what measures the Government was taking to improve the situation in order to prevent the mass exodus of their children fleeing the country. Experts asked about reports of a “shoot to kill’ policy of young people who were trying to cross the border and reports of the enforced recruitment of children into the army and the impact on family life of parents undergoing indefinite military service. The delegation was asked about maternal and child health care, education, support for children with disabilities and street children, and juvenile justice. Early marriage, female genital mutilation and birth registration were discussed. Discrimination towards children from ethnic and religious minorities, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children was also raised.
In concluding remarks, Kirsten Sandberg, Committee Member acting as Country Rapporteur for the report of Eritrea, thanked the delegation for a very good exchange and the information provided, in particular on the areas of health, education and children with disabilities. Eritrea asked for support from the international community but a basic requirement would be for the Government to show a cooperative attitude first, she said.
In concluding remarks, Mr. Fessehaie said the constructive dialogue had been a learning process for both sides. Eritrea had a “no war, no peace” situation and suffered from unjust sanctions and an overall shortage of resources but was committed to improving the situation of its children.
The delegation of Eritrea included representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health and the Permanent Mission of Eritrea to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
The next public meetings of the Committee will be at 3 p.m. today, when in Chamber A it commences its review of the combined third to fifth periodic report of Ghana CRC/C/GHA/3-5 and in Chamber B starts its review of the combined fourth and fifth periodic report of Honduras CRC/C/HND/4-5. The programme of work for the Committee’s sixty-ninth session can be found here.
Report
The fourth periodic report of Eritrea can be read here: CRC/C/ERI/4
Presentation of the Report
MEHRETEAB FESSEHAIE, Director-General, Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare of Eritrea, recalled that the Convention on the Rights of the Child was the first international convention ratified by Eritrea following its independence in 1993, signifying that the rights of the child were a top priority. The progressive political orientation of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) fully respected the rights and interests of the child, even during the protracted struggle for independence. The concept and principles of the best interest of the child were inherent in the customs and culture of the Eritrean people and expressed in popular sayings such as “our children are our future”. Despite a shortage of resources and the unjust sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council, Eritrea had made impressive progress towards the attainment of some of the Millennium Development Goals concerning children, said Mr. Fessehaie.
The fourth periodic report of Eritrea presented policy initiatives, child-friendly legislation, programmes implemented and special protection measures put in place to help children in difficult economic and social circumstances. It also provided details of progress made in promoting the rights of the child in various areas including justice, food security, education, health, youth and women. Mr. Fessehaie also informed the Committee that, as of last week, a new codified body of national legislation was ready for enactment. Achievements were backed up by the data and statistics in the report, for example the reduction of malaria by over 90 per cent, Eritrea’s declaration that it was free from polio and neo-natal tetanus and the remarkable decline of the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate to less than one per cent. A great achievement was the establishment of the Child Wellbeing Committees in 43 of the 56 sub-regions of Eritrea. Other achievements included an increase in the number of births assisted by health professionals, an expansion in school facilities and increased enrolment of students, and enhanced access to health facilities, in particular for communities in remote areas.
Eritrea’s community-based rehabilitation programme much better served the best interests of the child than institutional mechanisms, and the integration of orphans into their extended families had proven to be a cost-effective, sustainable and useful approach to the psychosocial healing of those children. Institutional facilities were only used as a last resort for the placement of children in difficult circumstances, added Mr. Fessehaie. In conclusion he said Eritrea had no greater agenda than the best interests of its children in the discharge of its responsibilities. The policies issued by various governmental entities on the rights and welfare of the Eritrean child attested to the endeavours of the Government to guarantee the development of the child to the maximum extent possible.
Presentation by the Country Rapporteurs
KIRSTEN SANDBERG, Rapporteur of the Committee and Country Rapporteur for the Report of Eritrea, said although Eritrea faced many challenges, she commended it for the remarkable progress it had made, in particular in meeting the health-related Millennium Development Goals on reducing child mortality and maternal mortality, and significant reductions in the diseases mentioned in the presentation.
Turning first to legislation Ms. Sandberg said the report stated that the Convention had been absorbed into the 1997 constitution of Eritrea but the constitution was still waiting to be formally adopted and implemented. Eritrea seemed to take a piecemeal approach to legislation, it had no Children’s Act, and the Committee was concerned that without a sound legal framework the implementation of the Convention would be fragmented. Just last week the Eritrean Ministry of Information reported that a new Civil Code, Civil Procedure Code and Penal Procedure Code had been adopted. The announcement stated that those new laws “took stock of traditional and customary laws whose evolution had been impeded by colonial rule”. Ms. Sandberg asked whether the new laws were in line with the Convention and what the customary laws would mean for children’s rights.
The very high number of children leaving Eritrea was an issue that could not be avoided, said Ms. Sandberg. Although the Government denied it the Committee received continuing reports of a so-called ‘shoot to kill’ policy at the borders and even specific reports of children who had been killed at the border. The Government said that did not happen, but if there was no way of reporting cases how would it know? The Committee would like to know what happened to children found trying to cross the border.
Very large numbers of children and young people who managed to flee Eritrea continued to make extremely dangerous journeys across Africa, many ending up as migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean. Eritreans made up the most numerous group of those migrants, which must be a great concern to the Eritrean authorities, said Ms. Sandberg. For children, such an experience would have ever-lasting consequences on their development. What measures was the Government of Eritrea taking to improve the situation in the country in order to prevent this exodus of their children? The young people would probably love to stay in their country if only they could see that they had a future there, she commented.
The Committee asked for comment on the many reports it had received of the intimidation and harassment of members of civil society and that the operations and activities of civil society organizations were limited. The delegation was also asked whether human rights education was included in the school curriculum.
Ms. Sandberg asked about efforts to eliminate discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender children and noted that the criminalization of same-sex consensual sexual acts was a form of formal discrimination. She noted that the Government said homosexuality and same-sex practices were unknown in Eritrea but said everybody knew that that there were lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons in every county – one could not close their eyes to the reality, said the Committee Rapporteur.
The County Rapporteur spoke about freedom of expression and said that Eritrea had been ranked as the worst country in the world for press freedom – one-hundred and eightieth out of the 180 countries assessed. Eritrea had no private media and the State-owned media was strongly censored. Therefore could the delegation explain how children’s rights to information and to freely express their views were upheld?
Despite a 30 year campaign to combat gender discrimination, girls still suffered from discrimination in Eritrea. Ms. Sandberg asked for concrete examples of such anti-discrimination campaigns and whether the Government would consider a different strategy. She also asked about reports that ethnic minorities and unrecognized religious groups such as Jehovah’s Witnesses faced discrimination in accessing social services.
Progress made in data collection was also commendable, but data was still not collected from all areas of the country, and of more concern was that the data collected was not published. Ms. Sandberg noted that the Statistical Data Bureau of Norway had pulled out of its project in Eritrea because of that refusal to publish data. She also asked about efforts to combat corruption. Ms. Sandberg warmly welcomed the new national policy for children and the comprehensive policy for persons with disabilities, said an Expert, asking about plans to put those policies into practice. She asked how the resources spent on children were tracked, whether budgets were based on an assessment of the needs of children, and about transparency in the budget process.
SUZANNE AHO ASSOUMA, Committee Member acting as Country Rapporteur for the report of Eritrea, asked whether the report had been drafted only by the Government or whether it had been put together by a multi-disciplinary team. She noted that the delegation consisted entirely of men.
Ms. Aho noted efforts to combat the practice of female genital mutilation, recalling that a 2002 enquiry found that 89 per cent of girls had been victims of the practice and that the most recent data, from 2009, showed that more than 60 per cent of girls underwent female genital mutilation, usually before their first birthday. People considered female genital mutilation to be necessary for social acceptance and it improved a girl’s marriageable prospects, said Ms. Aho, commenting that the practice seemed to be more prevalent in Christian communities although it was also widespread in Muslim communities, even though female genital mutilation was mentioned neither in the Bible nor the Koran. How was the law prohibiting female genital mutilation implemented and could the delegation comment on the ‘medicalization’ of the practice?
The Committee was concerned that birth registration was carried out in religious institutions, often with long delays and at a cost, and that a distinction was made between children born in or out of wedlock. Ms. Aho said the most recent data was from 2009 and showed that only 60 per cent of children aged five and under had been registered. She noted that birth registration could help prevent the recruitment of child soldiers because children’s ages could be verified at the point of recruitment into the military.
Eritrea did not expressly prohibit corporal punishment in law but instead referred to ‘lawful and reasonable chastisement’ which could be practiced in the home and by law enforcement officers. Did the State party consider prohibiting the corporal punishment of children and finding alternatives to hitting them?
Questions from the Experts
An Expert asked about independent monitoring in Eritrea and why the authorities refused to create an independent monitoring body, which was an obligation of States parties. He also asked how the Committee’s general comments (in particular numbers two, 12 and 14) have been implemented in national legislation, translated into local languages and made available for children.
The delegation was commended for attending the dialogue by an Expert who said their presence today showed Eritrea’s willingness to move forward and address its many challenges. He also asked about reports of the detention of people from minority religions and for confirmation as to whether a system of registration of people’s religion was used.
An Expert asked about sexual abuse of children, and in particular whether there were any statistics on cases within the family situation and whether any such cases had been prosecuted.
United Nations reports showed that Eritrea had one of the highest child marriage prevalence rates in the world, said an Expert. She noted that in Eritrean law a person was considered to be a minor prior to attaining the age of 18 years, and the former Civil Code stated that any marriage contract made between spouses younger than 18 years of age was null and void. However, it allowed for “exceptional circumstances” in which girls could marry from the age of 14 and boys from the age of 16. The Committee was concerned by reports it had that the practice of girls marrying at 14 years and even younger was a widespread reality. The report described awareness-raising programmes on the harmful consequences of early marriage, said an Expert, asking about the impact of such campaigns. She also asked whether a child who was married younger than 18 years was still considered a child or an adult.
Response from the Delegation
The constitution of Eritrea, which was supposed to be the supreme law of the land, had not yet been implemented since 1997 because of the continuing war and emergency situation, explained a delegate. Even today, Eritrea was in a “no war, no peace” situation with its neighbour which from time to time conducted incursions into Eritrea. That “no war, no peace” situation meant Eritrea did not know when it might be attacked next and therefore always had to be ready to defend its territory and sovereignty. A national coordinating committee had been appointed to carry out the constitutional reform, he noted, assuring the Committee that the new constitution would encompass all the rights and privileges of children.
The Government had just adopted the new Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure and Penal Codes and parts of the Convention, including on juvenile justice, had been incorporated into them. The new legislation guaranteed human rights. The Government of Eritrea had zero tolerance for corruption, whether by State officials or private actors, emphasized a delegate.
The Head of the Delegation said he challenged the Committee’s position on the collection and publication of data and statistics in the country. Although Eritrea was in need of capacity building in that area, the National Statistics Office was working hard with the United Nations Development Programme on the matter. It was untrue that statistics were not made public, he added, as the Ministry of Information published data twice annually, while the population and health survey was published every few years. If the Government had the capacity it would publish more data, he noted. He also noted that Government budgets were publicly available.
Human rights had been incorporated into the school curriculum, new text books had been published and children learned about the rights and duties of citizens as part of their civic education. A delegate said that “central human rights articles” as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child had been translated into six local Eritrean languages and been disseminated among the public by the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Social Welfare. The delegate noted that International Children’s Day was celebrated every year, in cooperation with the United Nations Children’s Fund and the 2015 theme was the prevention of early marriage.
Female genital mutilation was criminalized by law in 2007; it was prohibited in hospitals and communities and legal action was taken against any perpetrators. Eritrea was a traditional patriarchal society but despite that the National Union of Eritrean Women was working closely with the Police Force and the Ministry of Justice to change perceptions and raise awareness on the issue. The Union also worked to re-train and re-deploy former practioners of female genital mutilation so they could earn a living in a different way. The many sensitization campaigns had resulted in a large percentage of the population now being sensitive to how dangerous the practice was. On the cultural side, both Christians and Muslims were working hard to eliminate the cutting and it was incorrect to say more Christians than Muslims practiced it, added the delegate.
Discrimination against girls and women was deeply entrenched within the traditions and culture of the people, but since the first days of the liberation struggle Eritrea had been striving to ensure gender equality in society, starting with the education system. Today the phenomenon was dwindling.
Concerning discrimination against ethnic minorities, a delegate said Eritrea believed in unity and diversity, its people consisted of nine ethnic groups and the Government did not discriminate against any of them. In fact the policy of equitable provision of social services prioritized disadvantaged people such as ethnic minorities and people living in remote areas. The former colonial powers, in particular the Italians, brought in modern aspects and infrastructure to central areas of Eritrea and its capital city Asmara. Therefore the people living there were generally better educated, whereas communities living in the remote highland, lowland and border areas, who were often pastoralists and minority groups, lacked modern infrastructure such as health clinics and schools. Today the Government practiced affirmative action and had built new schools and clinics in the most disadvantaged regions.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons and practices did not exist in Eritrea and had never been practiced in Eritrean culture and society, said a delegate. Therefore the Government was not minded to launch any programme to tackle something that was not an issue in its society. Same-sex sexual practices were criminalized, he also confirmed. The delegate commented that Eritrea was a traditional society consisting of Christian and Muslims, and in both cultures the woman and the man’s role were settled. It would take many years to reach a level of conscientiousness that would allow lesbian or gay activities, even if they were the new fashion or way of doing things in other countries.
Birth registration in Eritrea was free, confirmed a delegate. However sometimes children were not registered until later on, when it came to issuing them with an identity card at the age of 18. Answering concerns that Eritreans may join the army before the age of 18, a delegate emphasized that as a matter of policy the Eritrean authorities, even during the long struggle for independence and the recent border war, had never resorted to using child soldiers. Any person over the age of 18 had to take part in national service but there were no child soldiers in Eritrea.
The use of corporal punishment, of beating children, was formally used for disciplinary purposes but today it was outdated and had been eradicated. The new Penal Code prohibited the beating of any person and contained punishments for the beating of children.
Questions by the Experts
KIRSTEN SANDBERG, Rapporteur of the Committee and Country Rapporteur for the report of Eritrea, asked a number of questions about education, noting that the rate of secondary school attendance was approximately 60 per cent. There was a large disparity between children from different backgrounds with only 31 per cent of children from low-income families attending school compared to 83 per cent of children from higher-income backgrounds. She asked about the hidden costs of schooling and reports that children at the primary level had to pay for their own uniforms and books. On the quality of education, the Committee had received reports that not only the young people were fleeing Eritrea but also the teachers and asked how many qualified and trained teachers there were.
After Grade 11 children were sent to “SAWA” which was a military training camp according to many reliable reports. There were several thousand children under the age of 18 in SAWA. The Government stated that SAWA had been a military training camp but was today an ordinary school – could the delegation provide information on that transition? Children often fled Eritrea and claimed asylum in other countries because of the fear of conscription and the fear of being sent to SAWA which they believed was a military training camp.
Military service in Eritrea was raised by several Experts, who noted that the Government stated it was only for 18 months but the Committee had reports that it was often for an indefinite period of time. That not only impacted upon family life but children believed they had a lack of educational prospects, and indeed so few prospects in general in Eritrea that they fled the country, leaving their families behind.
How did Eritrea’s military and national service policies coincide with the best interests of the child, asked an Expert? Girls often chose to marry early and drop out of school in order to avoid being sent to compulsory military or national service. There were also widespread reports of sexual violence against girls in the military. Would the Government consider changing its policy on national service for both boys and girls, given that to avoid it boys were fleeing the country and girls were marrying people they would never normally have considered, at a young age, having early pregnancies and missing out on their education?
Eritrea’s asylum and migration policy was enquired about in the context of reports that child migrants who were caught trying to flee the country were detained, tortured or even disappeared. An Expert asked whether young children being taken across the border by their mothers were imprisoned along with their mothers if caught.
On juvenile justice, an Expert asked why there was a legal differentiation between children aged nine to 15, and aged 15 to 18. He asked about the sentence in law of “simple imprisonment” for a period of between 10 days and three years and whether that sentence of “simple imprisonment” could be imposed upon a nine-year-old child.
SUZANNE AHO ASSOUMA, Committee Member acting as Country Rapporteur for the report of Eritrea, commended Eritrea for publishing its first sign-language dictionary. She noted that the report did not show the percentage of children with disabilities in the country, although it did mention that 25 per cent of women in Eritrea had a disability. What was the level of school enrolment of children with disabilities and what support was available to families who had a child with a severe disability. She noted that there was a programme that provided children with a disability with a donkey to help them attend school and asked whether it was subsidized.
As the Government had acknowledged, the infant mortality rate of children under five, including new-born babies, was still very high at 63 per 1,000 live births. The report stated that the Government was doing “everything in its power” to remedy that situation – could the delegation please elaborate, asked Ms. Aho.
Adolescent health care and reproductive health care for young people and adolescents, particularly in rural areas, was raised by Ms. Aho who asked whether condoms were available and about the prevalence rate of HIV AIDS among children. What programmes did the Government have to prevent mother-to-child transmission and to support the large number of HIV AIDS orphans?
Malnutrition was a serious problem in Eritrea with very high rates which in particular affected children aged six and below. What was being done to combat malnutrition and severe malnutrition? What were the staffing levels in hospitals and health clinics and what qualifications and trainings did the staff have? Ms. Aho asked what percentage of the national budget was allocated to healthcare. The delegation was asked about breastfeeding, access to water and sanitation, vaccination programmes, and children in street situations.
Response by the Delegation
Efforts to support children who were ‘in difficult circumstances’ included street children and were undertaken with a community-based approach and the emphasis on keeping children in the family, said a delegate. Civil society organizations such as the National Union of Eritrean Youth and the National Union of Eritrean Women were very active in supporting vulnerable children and sensitization campaigns were carried out in schools to teach children about the danger of drifting into living on the streets. A pilot project to reintegrate street children back into the education system had recently been launched, and so far 20 children had benefited.
In a follow-up question, an Expert asked how the emphasis on keeping children in a family situation was compatible with the compulsory national service which kept at least one adult in every family away from the home, only receiving annual leave for one or two days every year. That was not compatible with the right to a family life and often led to situations where one parent could not afford to raise a family and children ended up on the street.
In response, the Head of the Delegation said the Government of Eritrea did not want to extend national service. The objective of national service was not only for military service but to acquaint the youth of Eritrea, once they turned 17 years of age, with the flora and fauna of the country and the development needs of the country. The Committee must understand that Eritrea had been through many difficulties to win independence and to maintain its sovereignty. The children of the 1960s and 1970s who won independence and the children of the 1980s and 1990s who defended the mother land knew this well, and the fact was that a big chunk of Eritrea was still occupied. The entire United Nations system had simply turned a deaf ear. Eritrea only had a small army and therefore could only use its national service. It was unfortunate and the Government was gradually trying to minimize the national service requirements, although it would not make any radical change as it had to ensure the sovereignty of Eritrea could be defended. The Government provided subsidized food to the families of people in national service because their salaries may not be enough. If the husband was deployed in the front line then the rest of the family received food rations every three months, said the Head of the Delegation.
The link between national service and street children was far-fetched and illogical, said the delegate. The fact that the main breadwinner of the family was often deployed in the military did not cause street children – in many industrialized countries across the world the main breadwinner of a family was away with the army and that did not lead to children there going onto the streets.
Eritrea had paid a great cost for its independence, many human lives had been sacrificed, and its independence and sovereignty had to be preserved, said the Head of Delegation. That was why the national service proclamation, including military service, was created, although it was only for 18 months. Military service obligations had to be extended because a part of Eritrea was occupied. Young people were fleeing the country and it was very unfortunate. The first victim of that was Eritrea – Eritrean families. The issue was that the young people believed they would find heaven in Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia. The President of Eritrea had written to the Secretary-General of the United Nations requesting help with the situation. Regional meetings in Khartoum and Cairo on the matter had taken place. The international community had to understand that young people were not fleeing Eritrea just to avoid their national service. They were subject to organized criminal networks that sought to create a brain drain for Eritrea, which sought to steal human organs from Eritreans in the Sinai.
National service was a good form of training, it made you fit, added a delegate. It was not the threat to Eritrea that was indefinite, not the national service. The threat could come from anywhere, he said, even across the Atlantic.
In a follow-up question, an Expert appreciated the news that the Government was seeking to reduce the national service obligations for young people. The Committee had received many reports about “round-ups” known as giffa of young people from the streets of Eritrea to forcibly recruit underage children into the army. The Committee had also received reports of children being abducted and smuggled by the military with the assistance of Government officials. Did the Government know about these reports and did it do anything to hold the military accountable for them? The Expert also asked about the Matot summer labour camps for children.
The Matot summer programme was not a form of child labour and did not involve camps. Rather it was a mandatory programme of one-month duration for secondary school level children in which the children were sent to areas not far from their homes to carry out easy work compatible with their physical abilities. The work mainly consisted of planting trees and cleaning the environment. The children were not paid and it was not a form of labour, rather it was a learning opportunity and a way of preparing the children for their future responsibilities as workers and community members.
Education was completely free in Eritrea and family income was not the main determiner of whether children went to school. Although there were no tuition fees there were hidden costs in education, such as books, school bags and school uniforms, but schools were instructed to pay for those items for children from families that could not afford them to ensure no child was excluded.
It was difficult to give accurate numbers for school enrolment because Eritrea had not carried out a census and did not have exact data on the population, although Government surveys had showed the population had decreased, said a delegate. That decrease had the effect of raising the education enrolment indicators; therefore the primary level enrolment for the 2012 to 2013 academic year was 80 per cent. There were marked regional disparities, commented the delegate, for example in the Red Sea region of Eritrea primary-level enrolment was 48.5 per cent, and it was very low in the pastoral and semi-pastoral population groups. Efforts to increase the school enrolment of nomadic children had been successful.
The issue of teachers leaving the country was related to the issue of youngsters leaving the country; it was mainly for economic reasons. There was an acute shortage of teachers in Eritrea, and the Government sought to replace the teachers who left by training unqualified teachers through a combination of summer-time and on-the-job training to bring them up to minimum standards. As a poor developing country Eritrea could not provide all the resources it would like to teachers and schools.
Concerning the impact of child marriage on the education of girls, a delegate said Eritrea was a traditional society it was true, but the Ministry of Education was conducting awareness-raising on the need to send girls to school and complete a minimum eight years of education. Even if a girl was married at a young age she still would have opportunities in the school or adult education systems. The adoption system of Eritrea was inward-looking and focused on having Eritrean children adopted by Eritrean families, he noted.
The Director General of Legal Services at the Ministry of Justice of Eritrea confirmed that the new legislation – the Criminal Code, Penal Code and Criminal Procedural Code – had been enacted and was in force after being signed by the Minister of Justice on 15 May 2015.
On juvenile justice a delegate explained that children were placed into two categories. The age of criminal responsibility was being increased from nine to 12 years in the new Criminal Code. A child under the age of 12 could not be prosecuted, taken to court or be considered a criminal. Under the new law, if a child was aged less than 12 years at the time of the offence he would be classified as a “child offender” and could be reprimanded, placed under the care of his parents or a responsible adult guardian, or in a children’s home or a medical institution, under the supervision of a court. If a child was aged 12 to 18 years at the time of the offence he would be classified as a “juvenile offender”. A juvenile offender could not be sentenced to prison for any period longer than 10 years or sentenced to death. A juvenile offender could be sentenced to perform community work or compulsory school attendance, or could be sent to a juvenile facility if they were at risk of committing another offence.
In a follow-up question an Expert asked whether Eritrea had special courts and judges for juveniles. He also asked for a description of juvenile facilities, whether juveniles would be mixed up with adults, and whether boys and girls were separated.
There was no separate court or judge for juveniles, confirmed the Expert, but the Eritrean judges were well qualified to deal with such cases. On the use of corporal punishment, a delegate clarified that “reasonable chastisement” meant warning a child not to do a certain thing but not to hit the child.
Primary and secondary health care and medicine was free in Eritrea, confirmed a delegate, and patients only had to pay a nominal administrative sum of between 5 to 10 Nakfa. Malnutrition did exist in Eritrea but there was no Noma disease, said a delegate, citing reports that Noma was caused not only by malnutrition but also by oral hygiene and infections.
Providing health statistics, a delegate said maternal mortality rates had been reduced from 1,400 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 486 per 100,000 in 2010. The mortality rate for children aged five years and younger was in 1995 136 per 1,000, and in 2010 was 63 per 1,000. The number of births attended by a skilled birth attendant was 38 per cent in 2010 and 55 per cent in 2014. The immunization coverage of children aged one year and less was 90 per cent by 2014. There had been no case of polio in Eritrea for six years and the polio vaccination had reached 99 per cent of the population. The prevalence of HIV AIDS had been reduced to 0.9 cases per 100,000 people.
The delegation said they could not provide the Committee with the budget allocation of funding for child services because they did not tend to go into the financial details, especially when infrastructure was provided by external partners. However, if the Committee required this information, the delegate said he would be happy to work out the sums and could provide them at any time.
International assessments had concluded that Eritrea was close to meeting the requirements of the Millennium Development Goals on maternal and child health and on HIV AIDS. In fact the Ministry of Health was going well beyond the Millennium Development Goals as it had zero toleration for child and maternal deaths, noted a delegate.
Reproductive health care was provided by the local authorities and in addition to the traditional birth attendants, new midwives were being trained. Rural women who were pregnant could stay for one month in one of the 45 ‘maternity waiting homes’ in the country, which were constructed close to hospitals so the women could avoid a rushed transfer for medical help during labour. Almost all health centres had ambulances which could bring women to hospital and emergency obstetric care was provided by midwives and doctors who were trained in providing caesarean sections.
In a follow-up question to the discussion about malnutrition among children an Expert asked if it was true that there were food shortages, rising food prices and a food rationing system in Eritrea.
There was no food rationing system in Eritrea, a delegate confirmed. People could buy as many cereals, crops and vegetables as they could afford. There was an abundance of food available, especially after the excellent 2014 harvest, as well as imports from neighbouring countries. The Government provided subsidized food products to the poorest members of society.
The supply of potable water was a primary challenge. The Department for Water Supply Systems had improved coverage to 87 per cent in urban areas and a figure close to that in rural areas. The number of schools which had potable water had increased from 10 per cent to 60 per cent. Regarding sanitation facilities for school children, especially in view of the needs of adolescent girls, the Committee was informed that new schools had to construct separate latrines for girls and boys, and established schools had to make similar arrangements.
Eritrea was a society in transformation in a number of sectors, including attitudes to children with disabilities. It would take time to raise awareness about their rights and needs but additionally it was up to the persons with a disability themselves to know they had the right to access all opportunities. Thanks to partners such as the Norwegian Association for the Disabled, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), orthopaedic services and assistive devices were made available free of charge to children with disabilities to help them go to school – not only in primary school but in secondary school and at college as well.
In a follow-up question, an Expert returned to the matter of children in street situations, saying that they faced numerous difficulties including sexual exploitation, violence and being made to carry out labour in the street. The report stated that the largest group of children subjected to sexual abuse were aged 16 to 18 years of age. What care and services were offered to those children in addition to the financial support offered, as financial subsidies alone were not enough to support a child who was engaged in prostitution and sexual abuse? How was sexual abuse of a child prosecuted under the law?
In response, a delegate said to support child victims of sexual abuse the Committee on Child Wellbeing brought cases to the attention of social workers and ultimately to the Attorney General who would bring the accused to court for trial. It was difficult to provide accurate data on cases of child abuse because it was often a taboo issue in Eritrean society, especially incest, commented a delegate. Street children were not imprisoned but were provided with vocational training by the Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare and reintegrated back into their families wherever possible. It was obvious that the psychosocial problems faced by street children could not be solved solely by financial support. The root cause of street children was poverty so it was essential to give families the financial assistance they needed.
There was no discrimination of ethnic minorities in Eritrea. Every national minority had contributed to the liberation effort, as had women. The so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses did not seem to believe in any national authority, claimed no allegiance and did not want to perform their national duties enshrined in the constitution, such as military service in defence of the country. However, that group had their “escape mechanisms” and were happy to run to other authorities to make complaints. Therefore the Government had to take measures in response. If a child had tendencies towards the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses nothing was done, he added. The delegate said that Eritrea was in a “no war, no peace” situation facing an enemy that had a hidden agenda, it could not relax until the situation changed.
In a follow-up comment an Expert said she had to object to the way the delegation was speaking about a religious group and the delegate’s insinuations about Jehovah’s Witnesses. She also noted that many countries with compulsory military conscription allowed people to not take part in military service on the grounds of conscientious objection.
The delegate made a point of order that the discussion was on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and questions should be about children not about the general human rights situation in Eritrea. He appealed to the Committee to focus their questions on the situation of children, emphasizing that children of minorities did not face any discrimination. The Committee had received false information and unsubstantiated reports that children aged 17 years, or indeed any age under 18 years, were recruited into the military.
The Expert replied that the Committee had received reports that children, minors under the age of 18, of all ethnicities and religions, were recruited into the military and so this was a relevant subject to raise.
Concluding Remarks
KIRSTEN SANDBERG, Committee Member acting as Country Rapporteur for the report of Eritrea, thanked the delegation for a very good exchange and their answers in particular on the areas of health, education and children with disabilities. The Committee had an insight into the thinking of the Government but it continued to have concerns that would be reflected in the concluding recommendations. Ms. Sandberg noted that Eritrea asked for support from the international community but said a basic requirement would be for the Government to show a cooperative attitude first.
MEHRETEAB FESSEHAIE, Director-General, Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare of Eritrea, thanked the Committee for the constructive dialogue which had been a learning process for both sides. He hoped the Committee better understood the progress made in the area of children’s rights but regretted that some questions were based on unsubstantiated reports. Eritrea had a “no war, no peace” situation and suffered from unjust sanctions and an overall shortage of resources. It was committed to improve the situation of children in Eritrea and would duly consider the recommendations of the Committee in that regard.
For use of the information media; not an official record
CRC15/020E