COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD EXAMINES REPORT OF BAHRAIN
Meeting Summaries
The Supreme Council for Women was established in 2001 to formulate an integrated strategy to promote the role of women and to eliminate, by 2012, discrimination against women in paid and voluntary work, political and family life, education and training, health, the environment, decision-making and economic empowerment. The Council’s ambition is to increase to 30 per cent the level of women’s participation in the legislature, which stood at 14 per cent in 2006. Although at present women do not participate in municipal councils, the Council has set a target of 10 per cent for female participation in these councils.
Presentation of Report
FATEMA MOHAMED YOUSIF AL BALOOSHI, Minister of Social Development of Bahrain, in presenting the combined second and third periodic report of Bahrain, said that the Kingdom of Bahrain was advancing the process of democracy, freedom and prosperity and the Government was keen to protect the child, childhood and mothers. Article 5 of the Constitution provided that the family was the cornerstone of society and the law should protect young persons from moral exploitation. Bahrain’s progress at the national and regional level was confirmed through health and educational statistics which demonstrated that the country had achieved all the Millennium Development Goals related to children. Recent violence by protestors had exploited children, preventing them from attending school which compelled the Government to act and impose the National Safety Programme for three months. Now that this Programme was lifted and life had returned to normal, the Government requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights pay a visit to the country to observe the situation.
The Government was working for the protection and promotion of children. All the basic indicators of the population, including economic and social conditions in the report and the involvement of children in workshops to hear their opinions, indicated how the Government was working to better the lives of children. The report was prepared with the collaboration of government and non-governmental organizations and since 2000 there had been a qualitative improvement in the economic, political and social situation of children. In 2002 there was an amendment to the Constitution that stipulated the prohibition of exploiting or abusing children. In keeping with the commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the care for children was moved to the Ministry of Social Development and the National Committee on Childhood was restructured to include broader participation and the development of a strategy for childhood. The Government developed many mechanisms for the protection of children, including special agencies and clubs for youth and family counselling to provide protection for children. In addition, education and health were free of charge for all children and necessary services were provided for all children with disabilities. There were special programs for awareness building to decrease mortality among children and there was no discrimination by the Government between Bahraini children and those of foreigners. Children were encouraged to participate in internal and external organisations; the law on the situation of children would contain special chapters on health, social and educational care of children and on providing special assistance for children with disabilities and the finalisation of the national strategy for children would provide clear budgets for the execution of programs for children in Bahrain. The Kingdom of Bahrain, the Government and civil society organisations had all worked together to promote the best interests of children and the delegation was open to all recommendations for the protection of children.
Questions by Committee Members
HADEEL AL-ASMAR, the Committee Member serving as the Rapporteur for the report of Bahrain, said that the report included many of the challenges facing the Government and appreciated the inclusion of children’s opinions in the report. Bahrain was ranked 40 among countries of the world with a free economy attracting substantial investment particularly in the intellectual property sector. However, from 2002 until now the Bill on the Rights of the Child had not yet been promulgated despite the fact that the Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified by the Government without reservations. The same situation applied to the Laws on Journalism, Families and Civil Society which were all delayed. The Rapporteur noted the need to establish institutions to monitor human rights mechanisms which had not occurred and Committees were in place instead of the national human rights institutions. A number of questions were raised on how the Government managed the affairs of the National Committee on Childhood in terms of coordination among ministries and other committees and what was the budget and priorities allocated for childhood areas. Information collection was insufficient and the lack of a special database for statistics on children was puzzling for an economically developed country such as Bahrain. Although considerable laws had been promulgated, there was a gap between the content of the Convention and new legalisation. The Rapporteur was concerned that the proposal to increase the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 18 years of age was refused and that these children were treated as adults and that the marriage age of 15 for girls could be reduced in certain cases which left the door open for families to traffic their daughters. What was the status on the recommendation that children between 15 and 18 be moved to the responsibility of the Ministry of Development? Recently 300 children were awarded the possibility to have nationality, but the Committee wanted laws that applied to all children, not just to specific groups, as this could be seen as discriminatory.
The Rapporteur said that concerning discrimination between girls and boys, she was disappointed that there was still stereotyping of women in school because the first Arab woman who flew a plane was a Bahraini woman, but now vocational training was only offered to boys. There was widespread illiteracy amongst girls in Bahrain despite compulsory education and the teacher student ratio being 1 teacher for every 13 students. Also, girls were sent to be educated with old women and then reintegrated into normal schools at a later age, a form of discrimination against girls. There was discriminatory treatment of people with disabilities and because Bahrain had not acceded to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities this posed a significant issue in the country. The Rapporteur said that children were not heard in the case of divorce, sexual rape or abuse, and in cases of early marriage. The Rapporteur raised a number of issues regarding the judiciary including: who was responsible for appointing judges, could Bahraini nationals or foreign residents choose the judges who would consider their case, in what way was the integrity of judges maintained and what was done in the case of unfair verdicts. In 2010 a number of civil society organisations were prosecuted because they freely expressed their view on satellite television. What rules were required for civil society organisations? The Rapporteur raised an issue on the right of children to have access to information regarding their sexual life, information which they would not want to receive from parents. If only 33 per cent of people in Bahrain had access to the internet then what efforts were being undertaken to increase internet usage. Concerning family reunification, did foreign labours have the right to bring their families into Bahrain?
JORGE CARDONA LLORENS, the Committee Member serving as the Co-Rapporteur for the report of Bahrain, said that Bahrain’s level of economic development was commendable; however, news about children who were victims of violence during recent protests caused concern among Committee Members. How many children were detained during recent protests, were they still detained and how many children had died or been injured during these events? The Co-Rapporteur asked what procedures had been undertaken to implement the Committee’s observations because most of the legislation remained draft laws. In 2007 a decree established the National Human Rights Institution; was this organisation now operational, what activities did it carry out and did the institution fulfil the Paris Principles? Concerning the integrated human rights plan, had this study been implemented or put in place? The Co-Rapporteur could not understand the allowed aged differences for marriage between girls and boys, 15 for girls and 18 for boys, and requested an explanation and statistics on the number of marriages between children aged 15 and 18. There was also an incompatibility between mandatory education up to the age of 15 and employment allowed at 14.
The Co-Rapporteur was concerned about how the Government applied the superior interests of the child in cases where girls were allowed to marry before the age of 15 due to sexual relations which allowed the perpetrator to avoid the penalty of a ten year imprisonment term. In terms of the right to life, survival and development the Co-Rapporteur was concerned with the penal code that treated children aged 15 and over as adults. The death penalty was not applied to minors but life in imprisonment could be applied and in July a child was condemned to life in prison and the Co-Rapporteur asked for details on this case. As domestic employees were not included under the labour code, were there statistics on minors under the age of 14 that were employed as domestic employees and what protections were in place for them.
Other Committee members asked about the workshop carried out by Parliament on child friendly budgeting and what had Bahrain’s Government done to fulfil its international aid assistance which the United Nations had recommended to be 0.7 per cent of Gross Domestic Product? What was the Government’s view on having a UNICEF country office and more integrated programmes?
An Expert asked what measures had been taken to adopt the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and what had the Government done to educate and work with religious leaders who were opposed to the passing of the personal status code which had now been delayed for eight years. When would the national plan of action for children be ready and would it be part of the overall development programme for the country? What proportion of Government resources were dedicated to children? What was the State party doing to ensure that the private sector, including foreign companies based in Bahrain with activities abroad, acted with responsibility toward the rights of the child either in Bahrain or outside the county? There were reports of torture in police stations and since May 2011 there were reports of special courts for adolescents where martial law was being applied.
A Committee member asked if there was codification of shaira law and what was the discretionary power for judges to provide for the best interests of the child. For example, the right to custody: in the Muslim religion custody would not mention the religion of the mother, so how did the courts address this issue? An Expert asked the delegation to clarify the nationality requirements for children born to parents of non-Bahraini nationality.
Another speaker asked how child participation was guaranteed in the National Committee for the Childhood. Concerning the delay in the adoption of legislation, the political will of the State seemed to be thwarted by the personal interpretation of religious leaders of sharia law. The Expert asked what the Government was doing to spread a culture of rights based polices and whether seminars and workshops were held to raise awareness about children’s rights and the concepts and principles of the Convention. An Expert encouraged the Government to increase its collection of data to provide information at the household level.
The Chairman asked what had been done since the last report on corporal punishment in the legislative sphere. What training had been done across Government entities on the superior interests of children?
Did the draft law provide for awareness-raising among public authorities or private companies concerning their responsibilities toward children? The National Committee for Childhood had no resources and no secretariat, so how could it carry out the job of developing a strategy which included providing data and research? Was there a plan to establish a child-specific statistical system to provide disaggregated data on children?
Did the National Committee for Childhood hold regular, periodic meetings or were the meetings based only on the projects?
Information related to mortality, morbidity and education was easier to find than data related to the protection of children. Were there systems in place to allow children to report incidents, and was there data disaggregated by age and gender?
Response by the Delegation
FATEMA MOHAMED YOUSIF AL BALOOSHI, Minister of Social Development, said that the delay in the enactment of the Children’s Code was due to the Legislative Council which had referred articles to technical committees and as the Government’s opinion was not binding it could not push it forward any faster. By the end of this year the Law of the Child would be enacted. The Personal Status Law was enacted two years ago except for the Shia part due to demonstrations and so the law was being applied only in the Sunni courts. Concerning the Laws on Journalism and Publications there were still difficulties in passing them. Concerning the Social Society Law, the draft bill was before the legislature.
There was a fund for the Support of Civil Activities, the so called non-governmental organization fund which gave USD 1 million annually to promote awareness of children’s issues. There was a law on associations which would allow for children’s participation. Two thirds of the annual budget of the non-governmental organization fund came from the private sector and certain projects were funded by private companies.
The National Committee on Childhood was redesigned at the end of 2007, and now one part crafted policies and the other part supervised the Government and private sector. The implementation of projects was not the responsibility of the Committee which was up to Government and civil society to implement. A new national strategy was being designed, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund, which would be submitted to the Council of Ministers to adopt it and once this was done the Committee would allocate budgets and specific plans which would then be returned to the Council of Ministers for approval of each budget line. The Minister said that within two years there would be clear budget lines for childhood.
There was an annual budget for the Committee which was a part of the Ministry of Social Development which included a budget of USD 150,000 for strategy work, half of which was reserved for the Government, and the rest of which for the United Nations Development Project.
The Kingdom of Bahrain was one of the first countries in the region to develop a 10 year census for all citizens. A central system was updated every 5 years and there was an electronic map with a disaggregated system on the whole population which was used to evaluate children. The Ministry of Education had a database that covered the period for when children began schooling and was updated annually. In the Ministry of Social Development statistics were updated annually on a concept that would last up to 2030 with national indicators and targets for social development and economic matters. Bahrain was working with the United Nation’s Children’s Fund to implement the database.
The National Committee on Childhood met on a monthly basis in addition to meetings of the Executive Board, which was sometimes held on a weekly basis. Bahrain began the Multiple Indicator Cluster survey in 2001 and was only the second country to include the incidence of HIV/AIDS among women.
The Minister said that data was disaggregated by gender and age group and there were statistics on sexual attacks against children. In 2007, a central protection centre was established for children. In 2010 there 237 cases, in 2011 there were 65 cases at the centre. There was an implementation mechanism in the centre with specialists who had daily contact with children who were being protected. There was a hotline to answer children’s questions.
Judges were appointed and trained by the judicial institute through public lectures. Children brought before judges often had difficulty communicating, especially if the attacker was present, so they were able to speak with the judge in a private hearing. During Court hearings a judge and social worker were present. If the child or guardian appeared before a judge, that person could request a change of the judge. If the victim could not afford a lawyer, the Government would cover the costs of a lawyer. Concerning unfair judgement, a sentence could be appealed by the accused after which the case would be referred to the Court of Cassation.
Further Questions by Experts
Concerning primary health care, to what degree were children with disabilities integrated into schools and what was being done about the shortcomings on breast feeding and awareness-raising for this practice? Was there a national strategy on the immunisation of children? Those that were HIV positive carried a stigma as there was no awareness as to how this disease was spread and the Committee would like to know if the Government was fostering a culture of peace and tolerance in school curriculum.
Was care available for girls after the age of 14 or was it only available for boys? With regard to preschool education, there appeared to be 50 per cent of children in private preschool centres; were there preschool facilities available in the public sector? Concerning children in conflict with the law, at the moment that a child was detained were independent structures available for children and also what courts and detention centres existed for children from the ages of 15 to 18 and were these separate from adult facilities? What special measures were provided to ensure education and medical attention for detained children?
Bahrain had yet to ratify the Hague Convention so how could the Government ensure children who had been taken out of the country illegally were returned?
Was there a strategy to train young people about contraceptive methods? Because of the limited number of public institutions to deal with children before school age, up to the age of 5, the Committee would like to know what efforts the State had undertaken to provide this service free of charge. As 7 per cent of illiterate people were women, what was being done to address this issue?
Concerning the increase in child abuse cases, was this due to better reporting or an actual increase in abuse. Were there any social policies or a comprehensive framework for child protection? Were medical professionals required to report abuse cases and how were children protected if the abuse occurred in the home? Was there a system to monitor child abuse recidivism to make sure that the abuses would not reoccur?
Had Shia children been more poorly treated than Shiite children during the recent demonstrations? Concerning the right to education, there were certain political groups that had taken children out of school to participate in political activities and to join the formation of local militias which was of great concern to the Committee, along with the use of children by authorities to act as informants. There was a recent report of a child being tried in front of a martial court which was against the Convention. Could the death penalty be applied to children?
A Committee member asked about the compulsory pretesting of sickle cell anaemia before marriage, could the delegation explain how this was done and what impact it had on individuals? Had the Government considered using universal iodized enriched salt to avoid mental disabilities in children and adults, which were prevalent in Bahrain? What life skills education was introduced either through schools or other informal channels?
A Committee Expert said statements were provided by individuals to validate the violence during the recent protests and the Expert noted specific information about two deaths of minors. An Expert wanted to know how many schools formed the object of inspection from the police force during the protests and how many schools were raided by police officers along with how many children were detained.
A Committee member said there was concern about a quota that applied to the children of foreigners which meant they would pay a different health care rate than Bahraini nationals. What was the minimum age for working in the country? Would the children born to a Bahraini mother but a non Bahraini father receive the same rights and access to services if nationality was granted based on the father? Under the Convention, all children should have the right to citizenship and the Committee was concerned that in some cases children would remain stateless if their father’s foreign nationality was not granted to them or in the case when the father was not known or in the case of divorce.
A Committee Expert asked what system existed for pre-schooling. Had the Government of Bahrain signed the Code of Conduct for marketing of milk substitutes?
A Committee member noted an indictment on 5 July 2010 of an individual aged 17 to life imprisonment for the murder of a policeman and said this was in violation of the Convention and would like additional information. The Chairman stressed that the protection of children under the Convention went from 0 to 18 years old and not until 15 years which was not in line with international standards. A Committee Expert asked about how the Government managed family situations in cases of children with disabilities or in cases of divorce and how were the interests of the child taken into account?
Response by the Delegation
FATEMA MOHAMED YOUSIF AL BALOOSHI, Minister of Social Development of Bahrain, said that the recent demonstrations had started peacefully but were hijacked by an extremist violent group with clear relations with militias and terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and the involvement of foreign governments. There were no statistics compiled by the Government on ethnic backgrounds so it was not possible to provide information on this. The claim that Sunni students attacked Shia students was invalid and the Minister urged the Committee to validate any information provided by non-governmental organizations. Most of the victims of violence were Sunni students, there were nine cases of Sunni students that were attacked, and those students were currently being treated. The Government had a huge challenge to bring the people of Bahrain together to get over the events of this unfortunate period. The Minister stressed that the international media had presented biased coverage of the demonstrations along with international human rights organizations.
In terms of juveniles, the legal system was very clear, there were specific detention centres for children between 15 and 18 years old and those under 15 were sent to juvenile detention centres.
A law for domestic workers was in the process of being reviewed which would allow the families of foreign workers to join them. Public and private schools were open to all nationalities resident in the country and was not based on Bahraini nationality.
There were no domestic workers below 18 years old in the country. There was Government health insurance for all workers in the country with nominal fees for visiting doctors. Children received the same access to services whether only their mother or father was a national of Bahrain. Health care and education were free to all living in Bahrain.
Nationality was granted on the father’s side therefore children would always take the nationality of their father which raised the issue of how to help Bahraini women whose husbands’ were of other nationalities. The Government could use ministerial decrees and exemptions by the King to provide those children with Bahraini nationality. The Ministry of Social Development would not allow any child to be stateless within the country and would care for these children and provide citizenship for them.
Concerning education, the delegation said that if stereotyping existed in vocational training it was due to the cultural background and heritage of the society.
The Ministry of Education monitored all day care centres caring for children from age 3 to 5 years old and the Ministry of Social Development was responsible for nursery care for children from 1 to 3 years. Preschools and nurseries operated only in the private sector and the Government was responsible for monitoring, supervising, registration, and teacher training. Some poor families could benefit from charities to subsidize preschool and nursery costs.
The Government had developed a unique system of recording and following children from the day of their birth to adulthood. The Ministry of Health was considering a system to follow children between ages 4 and 6 years old before they entered school. A National Committee for Teenagers Health was created along with a medical clinic catering to teenagers. Reproductive health was included in the school curriculum.
Life skills education began five years ago in grade 6 with a focus on the family. From grade 1 to 12 children’s rights, women’s rights and human rights were included in the curriculum.
There was a large campaign for breast feeding carried out through the Ministry of Health and a law was passed that provided two hours of leave every day for women for up to two years for breast feeding. Women were taught the benefits of breast feeding and many women had returned to this practice. The Government had strict regulations on milk substitute products, including laboratory work.
The mandatory testing of sickle cell anaemia had reduced the number of cases in the country but the Government would not compel a couple not to get married if they tested positive.
Juvenile law applied to children aged 7 to 15 years while the criminal law applied to children aged 15 to 18 years with the judge able to apply discretion to take into account mitigating factors. The Government would like to increase the age of juveniles from 15 to 18 years but was waiting for the legislation to be passed.
All couples applying for divorce were required to go through a counselling system, which had resulted in the termination of hundreds of potential divorce cases. Non-governmental organizations also provided free legal advice and shelters for women. The Government had created a welfare fund to assist divorced women and established a system of foster care where foster families would be trained and funded to care for children in difficult conditions. The judge could refer the child to the Public Prosecutor’s Office who could interview the child on his opinion in addition to home visits to evaluate where was the best place to send the child and which parent should be given custody.
Further Questions by Experts
A Committee Expert asked if the Government’s position on general care for orphans and children with special circumstances was for institutional or home care. If the child’s wish for custody contradicted the law then would the child’s wishes be granted?
A Committee member asked the delegation to confirm whether or not there was a problem with child labour or street children in Bahrain?
A Committee Expert asked what the Government had done to ensure the prohibition of corporal punishment in all contexts including the family context.
Response by the Delegation
Regarding children whose parents’ identity was unknown, the Government provided excellent services in a centre that was opened in 1986 and which had received a total of 140 children up until 2011. The Social Security Law allocated funds to support foster families.
Bahrain had signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Government was waiting for the King to sign the legislation. The Ministry of Social Development had 7 centres for children with disabilities and sponsored 100 per cent of the budget of 13 non-governmental organizations which provided services for children with disabilities. Each person with disabilities received a monthly allowance of $ 250 in addition to free equipment such as wheelchairs, hearing aids and glasses. The Government had a programme that provided a laptop for every blind person in the country.
The Minister said that there was no child labour in Bahrain. Some families abused their children by using them for begging and a law was applied to stop this practice. Shelters were provided for any homeless families to protect children. There was no poverty in Bahrain. The welfare system was strong, providing for nine categories of people, and unemployment was available along with a pension system. A programme called ‘Graduating People Out of Poverty’ was implemented to train individuals on how to be entrepreneurs and the Government had created a microfinance bank to provide funding for low income people. The Government allocated $ 200 million per year to support families whose income was near or below the poverty line.
Preliminary Concluding Remarks
HADEEL AL-ASMAR, the Committee Member serving as the Rapporteur for the report of Bahrain, said she appreciated the frank and open dialogue and the clarification of some issues. The Rapporteur looked forward to receiving further information that went to the core of the Convention, including draft laws that were on the point of being adopted and data that would provide more information on the situation of children and she hoped that all the remaining issues would be resolved in the best interests of Bahrain’s children.
JORGE CARDONA LLORENS, the Committee Expert serving as the Co-Rapporteur for the report of Bahrain, said that there had been a fruitful dialogue and that the delegation showed a clear determination to comply with the Convention despite internal difficulties. The Co-Rapporteur encouraged further coordination among Government ministries, and highlighted the need for an independent institution for monitoring human rights in line with the Paris Principles and a revision in the definition of the age for criminal liability and marriage to be in alignment with the Convention. There was a need for the State of Bahrain to look at the spirit of the Convention and to empower children as rights holders, not as objects of protection.
FATEMA MOHAMED YOUSIF AL BALOOSHI, Minister of Social Development of Bahrain, said that the delegation had gone through a fruitful debate and discussion and would return to Bahrain with new ideas and many doors to open. Bahrain would always be a country that would honour human rights, especially children’s rights.
For use of information media; not an official record
CRC11/016E
The Committee on the Rights of the Child today reviewed the combined second and third periodic report of Bahrain on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
In presenting the report of Bahrain, Fatema Mohamed Yousif Al Balooshi, Minister of Social Development, noted that the Kingdom of Bahrain was advancing the process of democracy, freedom and prosperity and that the Government was keen to protect the child, childhood and mothers. Bahrain had achieved all the Millennium Development Goals related to children. Recent developments for the protection of children included an amendment in 2002 to the Constitution stipulating a prohibition against exploiting or abusing children, the transfer of the care for children to the Ministry of Social Development and a restructuring of the National Committee on Childhood to broaden participation and develop a strategy for childhood. The recent violence by protestors had exploited children, preventing them from attending school and the Government was compelled to impose a National Safety Programme for three months. Now that this Programme was lifted, the Government had invited the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to the country to observe the situation.
Committee Expert Hadeel Al-Asmar, who served as Rapporteur for the report of Bahrain, noted that a number of laws, including the Bill on the Rights of the Child, had not yet been promulgated despite the fact that the Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified by the Government without reservations. The Rapporteur said the Government needed to establish institutions, not committees, to monitor human rights mechanisms with budget priorities allocated for childhood areas. The Rapporteur was concerned that the proposal to increase the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 18 years of age was refused and that the marriage age for girls of 15 could be reduced in certain cases which left the door open for families to traffic their daughters.
Jorge Cardona Llorens, the Committee Expert serving as Co-Rapporteur for the report, encouraged further coordination among Government ministries, highlighted the need for an independent institution for monitoring human rights in line with the Paris Principles and said there should be a revision in the definition of the age for criminal liability and marriage to be in alignment with the Convention.
Other Experts raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, what was done to ensure the prohibition of corporal punishment in all contexts including the family, how were children with disabilities integrated into schools, what was the minimum age for working in the country, how many children had been victims of violence from the recent protests and would children born to a Bahraini mother but not a Bahraini father receive the same rights and access to services when nationality was based on the father.
The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Bahrain towards the end of its three-week session, which will conclude on Friday, 17 June 2011.
The delegation of Bahrain also included representatives from the Ministry of Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Interior, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the National Children’s Fund, the National Committee for Childhood, the Salmanya Medical Complex, the National Foundation of Human Rights and the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
As one of the 193 States parties to the Convention, Bahrain is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to comply with the provisions of the treaty. The delegation was on hand throughout the day to present the report and to answer questions raised by Committee Experts.
When the Committee reconvenes on Friday, 3 June, at 10 a.m., it will consider the second periodic report of Cambodia (CRC/C/KHM/2-3).
Report of Bahrain
The combined second and third periodic report of Bahrain (CRC/C/BHR/2-3) notes that the draft personal status code with provisions on the family was not adopted by the legislature owing to opposition from certain religious leaders therefore all matters of personal status are governed by the Islamic sharia, including inheritance, custody, guardianship and trusteeship rights. There is no minimum age of marriage for girls. However, the Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs issued a decision on 23 September 2007 regulating the procedures for marriages of girls under 15 years of age, which requires a compelling need and permission to be obtained from a competent court.
The National Committee on Childhood was restructured in 2007 and entrusted with the task of coordinating the activities of government ministries and civil society organizations in the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and is in the process of preparing a joint programme with the United Nation’s Children Fund to establish a database on children in Bahrain. In November 2007 the Cabinet issued a decision on the establishment of a national human rights institution which is expected to design a national action plan for the promotion and protection of human rights in Bahrain, taking into account the relevant United Nations resolutions and, in particular, the Paris Principles.
Under articles 7 and 8 of the Bahraini Constitution, all citizens have the right to education and comprehensive health care free of charge. Bahrain does not have a system of adoption within the meaning set out in the Convention but it does have an alternative system of care (kafala or hadanah), which is applied in accordance with the Islamic sharia.
The Supreme Council for Women was established in 2001 to formulate an integrated strategy to promote the role of women and to eliminate, by 2012, discrimination against women in paid and voluntary work, political and family life, education and training, health, the environment, decision-making and economic empowerment. The Council’s ambition is to increase to 30 per cent the level of women’s participation in the legislature, which stood at 14 per cent in 2006. Although at present women do not participate in municipal councils, the Council has set a target of 10 per cent for female participation in these councils.
Presentation of Report
FATEMA MOHAMED YOUSIF AL BALOOSHI, Minister of Social Development of Bahrain, in presenting the combined second and third periodic report of Bahrain, said that the Kingdom of Bahrain was advancing the process of democracy, freedom and prosperity and the Government was keen to protect the child, childhood and mothers. Article 5 of the Constitution provided that the family was the cornerstone of society and the law should protect young persons from moral exploitation. Bahrain’s progress at the national and regional level was confirmed through health and educational statistics which demonstrated that the country had achieved all the Millennium Development Goals related to children. Recent violence by protestors had exploited children, preventing them from attending school which compelled the Government to act and impose the National Safety Programme for three months. Now that this Programme was lifted and life had returned to normal, the Government requested the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights pay a visit to the country to observe the situation.
The Government was working for the protection and promotion of children. All the basic indicators of the population, including economic and social conditions in the report and the involvement of children in workshops to hear their opinions, indicated how the Government was working to better the lives of children. The report was prepared with the collaboration of government and non-governmental organizations and since 2000 there had been a qualitative improvement in the economic, political and social situation of children. In 2002 there was an amendment to the Constitution that stipulated the prohibition of exploiting or abusing children. In keeping with the commitment to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the care for children was moved to the Ministry of Social Development and the National Committee on Childhood was restructured to include broader participation and the development of a strategy for childhood. The Government developed many mechanisms for the protection of children, including special agencies and clubs for youth and family counselling to provide protection for children. In addition, education and health were free of charge for all children and necessary services were provided for all children with disabilities. There were special programs for awareness building to decrease mortality among children and there was no discrimination by the Government between Bahraini children and those of foreigners. Children were encouraged to participate in internal and external organisations; the law on the situation of children would contain special chapters on health, social and educational care of children and on providing special assistance for children with disabilities and the finalisation of the national strategy for children would provide clear budgets for the execution of programs for children in Bahrain. The Kingdom of Bahrain, the Government and civil society organisations had all worked together to promote the best interests of children and the delegation was open to all recommendations for the protection of children.
Questions by Committee Members
HADEEL AL-ASMAR, the Committee Member serving as the Rapporteur for the report of Bahrain, said that the report included many of the challenges facing the Government and appreciated the inclusion of children’s opinions in the report. Bahrain was ranked 40 among countries of the world with a free economy attracting substantial investment particularly in the intellectual property sector. However, from 2002 until now the Bill on the Rights of the Child had not yet been promulgated despite the fact that the Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified by the Government without reservations. The same situation applied to the Laws on Journalism, Families and Civil Society which were all delayed. The Rapporteur noted the need to establish institutions to monitor human rights mechanisms which had not occurred and Committees were in place instead of the national human rights institutions. A number of questions were raised on how the Government managed the affairs of the National Committee on Childhood in terms of coordination among ministries and other committees and what was the budget and priorities allocated for childhood areas. Information collection was insufficient and the lack of a special database for statistics on children was puzzling for an economically developed country such as Bahrain. Although considerable laws had been promulgated, there was a gap between the content of the Convention and new legalisation. The Rapporteur was concerned that the proposal to increase the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 18 years of age was refused and that these children were treated as adults and that the marriage age of 15 for girls could be reduced in certain cases which left the door open for families to traffic their daughters. What was the status on the recommendation that children between 15 and 18 be moved to the responsibility of the Ministry of Development? Recently 300 children were awarded the possibility to have nationality, but the Committee wanted laws that applied to all children, not just to specific groups, as this could be seen as discriminatory.
The Rapporteur said that concerning discrimination between girls and boys, she was disappointed that there was still stereotyping of women in school because the first Arab woman who flew a plane was a Bahraini woman, but now vocational training was only offered to boys. There was widespread illiteracy amongst girls in Bahrain despite compulsory education and the teacher student ratio being 1 teacher for every 13 students. Also, girls were sent to be educated with old women and then reintegrated into normal schools at a later age, a form of discrimination against girls. There was discriminatory treatment of people with disabilities and because Bahrain had not acceded to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities this posed a significant issue in the country. The Rapporteur said that children were not heard in the case of divorce, sexual rape or abuse, and in cases of early marriage. The Rapporteur raised a number of issues regarding the judiciary including: who was responsible for appointing judges, could Bahraini nationals or foreign residents choose the judges who would consider their case, in what way was the integrity of judges maintained and what was done in the case of unfair verdicts. In 2010 a number of civil society organisations were prosecuted because they freely expressed their view on satellite television. What rules were required for civil society organisations? The Rapporteur raised an issue on the right of children to have access to information regarding their sexual life, information which they would not want to receive from parents. If only 33 per cent of people in Bahrain had access to the internet then what efforts were being undertaken to increase internet usage. Concerning family reunification, did foreign labours have the right to bring their families into Bahrain?
JORGE CARDONA LLORENS, the Committee Member serving as the Co-Rapporteur for the report of Bahrain, said that Bahrain’s level of economic development was commendable; however, news about children who were victims of violence during recent protests caused concern among Committee Members. How many children were detained during recent protests, were they still detained and how many children had died or been injured during these events? The Co-Rapporteur asked what procedures had been undertaken to implement the Committee’s observations because most of the legislation remained draft laws. In 2007 a decree established the National Human Rights Institution; was this organisation now operational, what activities did it carry out and did the institution fulfil the Paris Principles? Concerning the integrated human rights plan, had this study been implemented or put in place? The Co-Rapporteur could not understand the allowed aged differences for marriage between girls and boys, 15 for girls and 18 for boys, and requested an explanation and statistics on the number of marriages between children aged 15 and 18. There was also an incompatibility between mandatory education up to the age of 15 and employment allowed at 14.
The Co-Rapporteur was concerned about how the Government applied the superior interests of the child in cases where girls were allowed to marry before the age of 15 due to sexual relations which allowed the perpetrator to avoid the penalty of a ten year imprisonment term. In terms of the right to life, survival and development the Co-Rapporteur was concerned with the penal code that treated children aged 15 and over as adults. The death penalty was not applied to minors but life in imprisonment could be applied and in July a child was condemned to life in prison and the Co-Rapporteur asked for details on this case. As domestic employees were not included under the labour code, were there statistics on minors under the age of 14 that were employed as domestic employees and what protections were in place for them.
Other Committee members asked about the workshop carried out by Parliament on child friendly budgeting and what had Bahrain’s Government done to fulfil its international aid assistance which the United Nations had recommended to be 0.7 per cent of Gross Domestic Product? What was the Government’s view on having a UNICEF country office and more integrated programmes?
An Expert asked what measures had been taken to adopt the Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and what had the Government done to educate and work with religious leaders who were opposed to the passing of the personal status code which had now been delayed for eight years. When would the national plan of action for children be ready and would it be part of the overall development programme for the country? What proportion of Government resources were dedicated to children? What was the State party doing to ensure that the private sector, including foreign companies based in Bahrain with activities abroad, acted with responsibility toward the rights of the child either in Bahrain or outside the county? There were reports of torture in police stations and since May 2011 there were reports of special courts for adolescents where martial law was being applied.
A Committee member asked if there was codification of shaira law and what was the discretionary power for judges to provide for the best interests of the child. For example, the right to custody: in the Muslim religion custody would not mention the religion of the mother, so how did the courts address this issue? An Expert asked the delegation to clarify the nationality requirements for children born to parents of non-Bahraini nationality.
Another speaker asked how child participation was guaranteed in the National Committee for the Childhood. Concerning the delay in the adoption of legislation, the political will of the State seemed to be thwarted by the personal interpretation of religious leaders of sharia law. The Expert asked what the Government was doing to spread a culture of rights based polices and whether seminars and workshops were held to raise awareness about children’s rights and the concepts and principles of the Convention. An Expert encouraged the Government to increase its collection of data to provide information at the household level.
The Chairman asked what had been done since the last report on corporal punishment in the legislative sphere. What training had been done across Government entities on the superior interests of children?
Did the draft law provide for awareness-raising among public authorities or private companies concerning their responsibilities toward children? The National Committee for Childhood had no resources and no secretariat, so how could it carry out the job of developing a strategy which included providing data and research? Was there a plan to establish a child-specific statistical system to provide disaggregated data on children?
Did the National Committee for Childhood hold regular, periodic meetings or were the meetings based only on the projects?
Information related to mortality, morbidity and education was easier to find than data related to the protection of children. Were there systems in place to allow children to report incidents, and was there data disaggregated by age and gender?
Response by the Delegation
FATEMA MOHAMED YOUSIF AL BALOOSHI, Minister of Social Development, said that the delay in the enactment of the Children’s Code was due to the Legislative Council which had referred articles to technical committees and as the Government’s opinion was not binding it could not push it forward any faster. By the end of this year the Law of the Child would be enacted. The Personal Status Law was enacted two years ago except for the Shia part due to demonstrations and so the law was being applied only in the Sunni courts. Concerning the Laws on Journalism and Publications there were still difficulties in passing them. Concerning the Social Society Law, the draft bill was before the legislature.
There was a fund for the Support of Civil Activities, the so called non-governmental organization fund which gave USD 1 million annually to promote awareness of children’s issues. There was a law on associations which would allow for children’s participation. Two thirds of the annual budget of the non-governmental organization fund came from the private sector and certain projects were funded by private companies.
The National Committee on Childhood was redesigned at the end of 2007, and now one part crafted policies and the other part supervised the Government and private sector. The implementation of projects was not the responsibility of the Committee which was up to Government and civil society to implement. A new national strategy was being designed, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund, which would be submitted to the Council of Ministers to adopt it and once this was done the Committee would allocate budgets and specific plans which would then be returned to the Council of Ministers for approval of each budget line. The Minister said that within two years there would be clear budget lines for childhood.
There was an annual budget for the Committee which was a part of the Ministry of Social Development which included a budget of USD 150,000 for strategy work, half of which was reserved for the Government, and the rest of which for the United Nations Development Project.
The Kingdom of Bahrain was one of the first countries in the region to develop a 10 year census for all citizens. A central system was updated every 5 years and there was an electronic map with a disaggregated system on the whole population which was used to evaluate children. The Ministry of Education had a database that covered the period for when children began schooling and was updated annually. In the Ministry of Social Development statistics were updated annually on a concept that would last up to 2030 with national indicators and targets for social development and economic matters. Bahrain was working with the United Nation’s Children’s Fund to implement the database.
The National Committee on Childhood met on a monthly basis in addition to meetings of the Executive Board, which was sometimes held on a weekly basis. Bahrain began the Multiple Indicator Cluster survey in 2001 and was only the second country to include the incidence of HIV/AIDS among women.
The Minister said that data was disaggregated by gender and age group and there were statistics on sexual attacks against children. In 2007, a central protection centre was established for children. In 2010 there 237 cases, in 2011 there were 65 cases at the centre. There was an implementation mechanism in the centre with specialists who had daily contact with children who were being protected. There was a hotline to answer children’s questions.
Judges were appointed and trained by the judicial institute through public lectures. Children brought before judges often had difficulty communicating, especially if the attacker was present, so they were able to speak with the judge in a private hearing. During Court hearings a judge and social worker were present. If the child or guardian appeared before a judge, that person could request a change of the judge. If the victim could not afford a lawyer, the Government would cover the costs of a lawyer. Concerning unfair judgement, a sentence could be appealed by the accused after which the case would be referred to the Court of Cassation.
Further Questions by Experts
Concerning primary health care, to what degree were children with disabilities integrated into schools and what was being done about the shortcomings on breast feeding and awareness-raising for this practice? Was there a national strategy on the immunisation of children? Those that were HIV positive carried a stigma as there was no awareness as to how this disease was spread and the Committee would like to know if the Government was fostering a culture of peace and tolerance in school curriculum.
Was care available for girls after the age of 14 or was it only available for boys? With regard to preschool education, there appeared to be 50 per cent of children in private preschool centres; were there preschool facilities available in the public sector? Concerning children in conflict with the law, at the moment that a child was detained were independent structures available for children and also what courts and detention centres existed for children from the ages of 15 to 18 and were these separate from adult facilities? What special measures were provided to ensure education and medical attention for detained children?
Bahrain had yet to ratify the Hague Convention so how could the Government ensure children who had been taken out of the country illegally were returned?
Was there a strategy to train young people about contraceptive methods? Because of the limited number of public institutions to deal with children before school age, up to the age of 5, the Committee would like to know what efforts the State had undertaken to provide this service free of charge. As 7 per cent of illiterate people were women, what was being done to address this issue?
Concerning the increase in child abuse cases, was this due to better reporting or an actual increase in abuse. Were there any social policies or a comprehensive framework for child protection? Were medical professionals required to report abuse cases and how were children protected if the abuse occurred in the home? Was there a system to monitor child abuse recidivism to make sure that the abuses would not reoccur?
Had Shia children been more poorly treated than Shiite children during the recent demonstrations? Concerning the right to education, there were certain political groups that had taken children out of school to participate in political activities and to join the formation of local militias which was of great concern to the Committee, along with the use of children by authorities to act as informants. There was a recent report of a child being tried in front of a martial court which was against the Convention. Could the death penalty be applied to children?
A Committee member asked about the compulsory pretesting of sickle cell anaemia before marriage, could the delegation explain how this was done and what impact it had on individuals? Had the Government considered using universal iodized enriched salt to avoid mental disabilities in children and adults, which were prevalent in Bahrain? What life skills education was introduced either through schools or other informal channels?
A Committee Expert said statements were provided by individuals to validate the violence during the recent protests and the Expert noted specific information about two deaths of minors. An Expert wanted to know how many schools formed the object of inspection from the police force during the protests and how many schools were raided by police officers along with how many children were detained.
A Committee member said there was concern about a quota that applied to the children of foreigners which meant they would pay a different health care rate than Bahraini nationals. What was the minimum age for working in the country? Would the children born to a Bahraini mother but a non Bahraini father receive the same rights and access to services if nationality was granted based on the father? Under the Convention, all children should have the right to citizenship and the Committee was concerned that in some cases children would remain stateless if their father’s foreign nationality was not granted to them or in the case when the father was not known or in the case of divorce.
A Committee Expert asked what system existed for pre-schooling. Had the Government of Bahrain signed the Code of Conduct for marketing of milk substitutes?
A Committee member noted an indictment on 5 July 2010 of an individual aged 17 to life imprisonment for the murder of a policeman and said this was in violation of the Convention and would like additional information. The Chairman stressed that the protection of children under the Convention went from 0 to 18 years old and not until 15 years which was not in line with international standards. A Committee Expert asked about how the Government managed family situations in cases of children with disabilities or in cases of divorce and how were the interests of the child taken into account?
Response by the Delegation
FATEMA MOHAMED YOUSIF AL BALOOSHI, Minister of Social Development of Bahrain, said that the recent demonstrations had started peacefully but were hijacked by an extremist violent group with clear relations with militias and terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and the involvement of foreign governments. There were no statistics compiled by the Government on ethnic backgrounds so it was not possible to provide information on this. The claim that Sunni students attacked Shia students was invalid and the Minister urged the Committee to validate any information provided by non-governmental organizations. Most of the victims of violence were Sunni students, there were nine cases of Sunni students that were attacked, and those students were currently being treated. The Government had a huge challenge to bring the people of Bahrain together to get over the events of this unfortunate period. The Minister stressed that the international media had presented biased coverage of the demonstrations along with international human rights organizations.
In terms of juveniles, the legal system was very clear, there were specific detention centres for children between 15 and 18 years old and those under 15 were sent to juvenile detention centres.
A law for domestic workers was in the process of being reviewed which would allow the families of foreign workers to join them. Public and private schools were open to all nationalities resident in the country and was not based on Bahraini nationality.
There were no domestic workers below 18 years old in the country. There was Government health insurance for all workers in the country with nominal fees for visiting doctors. Children received the same access to services whether only their mother or father was a national of Bahrain. Health care and education were free to all living in Bahrain.
Nationality was granted on the father’s side therefore children would always take the nationality of their father which raised the issue of how to help Bahraini women whose husbands’ were of other nationalities. The Government could use ministerial decrees and exemptions by the King to provide those children with Bahraini nationality. The Ministry of Social Development would not allow any child to be stateless within the country and would care for these children and provide citizenship for them.
Concerning education, the delegation said that if stereotyping existed in vocational training it was due to the cultural background and heritage of the society.
The Ministry of Education monitored all day care centres caring for children from age 3 to 5 years old and the Ministry of Social Development was responsible for nursery care for children from 1 to 3 years. Preschools and nurseries operated only in the private sector and the Government was responsible for monitoring, supervising, registration, and teacher training. Some poor families could benefit from charities to subsidize preschool and nursery costs.
The Government had developed a unique system of recording and following children from the day of their birth to adulthood. The Ministry of Health was considering a system to follow children between ages 4 and 6 years old before they entered school. A National Committee for Teenagers Health was created along with a medical clinic catering to teenagers. Reproductive health was included in the school curriculum.
Life skills education began five years ago in grade 6 with a focus on the family. From grade 1 to 12 children’s rights, women’s rights and human rights were included in the curriculum.
There was a large campaign for breast feeding carried out through the Ministry of Health and a law was passed that provided two hours of leave every day for women for up to two years for breast feeding. Women were taught the benefits of breast feeding and many women had returned to this practice. The Government had strict regulations on milk substitute products, including laboratory work.
The mandatory testing of sickle cell anaemia had reduced the number of cases in the country but the Government would not compel a couple not to get married if they tested positive.
Juvenile law applied to children aged 7 to 15 years while the criminal law applied to children aged 15 to 18 years with the judge able to apply discretion to take into account mitigating factors. The Government would like to increase the age of juveniles from 15 to 18 years but was waiting for the legislation to be passed.
All couples applying for divorce were required to go through a counselling system, which had resulted in the termination of hundreds of potential divorce cases. Non-governmental organizations also provided free legal advice and shelters for women. The Government had created a welfare fund to assist divorced women and established a system of foster care where foster families would be trained and funded to care for children in difficult conditions. The judge could refer the child to the Public Prosecutor’s Office who could interview the child on his opinion in addition to home visits to evaluate where was the best place to send the child and which parent should be given custody.
Further Questions by Experts
A Committee Expert asked if the Government’s position on general care for orphans and children with special circumstances was for institutional or home care. If the child’s wish for custody contradicted the law then would the child’s wishes be granted?
A Committee member asked the delegation to confirm whether or not there was a problem with child labour or street children in Bahrain?
A Committee Expert asked what the Government had done to ensure the prohibition of corporal punishment in all contexts including the family context.
Response by the Delegation
Regarding children whose parents’ identity was unknown, the Government provided excellent services in a centre that was opened in 1986 and which had received a total of 140 children up until 2011. The Social Security Law allocated funds to support foster families.
Bahrain had signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Government was waiting for the King to sign the legislation. The Ministry of Social Development had 7 centres for children with disabilities and sponsored 100 per cent of the budget of 13 non-governmental organizations which provided services for children with disabilities. Each person with disabilities received a monthly allowance of $ 250 in addition to free equipment such as wheelchairs, hearing aids and glasses. The Government had a programme that provided a laptop for every blind person in the country.
The Minister said that there was no child labour in Bahrain. Some families abused their children by using them for begging and a law was applied to stop this practice. Shelters were provided for any homeless families to protect children. There was no poverty in Bahrain. The welfare system was strong, providing for nine categories of people, and unemployment was available along with a pension system. A programme called ‘Graduating People Out of Poverty’ was implemented to train individuals on how to be entrepreneurs and the Government had created a microfinance bank to provide funding for low income people. The Government allocated $ 200 million per year to support families whose income was near or below the poverty line.
Preliminary Concluding Remarks
HADEEL AL-ASMAR, the Committee Member serving as the Rapporteur for the report of Bahrain, said she appreciated the frank and open dialogue and the clarification of some issues. The Rapporteur looked forward to receiving further information that went to the core of the Convention, including draft laws that were on the point of being adopted and data that would provide more information on the situation of children and she hoped that all the remaining issues would be resolved in the best interests of Bahrain’s children.
JORGE CARDONA LLORENS, the Committee Expert serving as the Co-Rapporteur for the report of Bahrain, said that there had been a fruitful dialogue and that the delegation showed a clear determination to comply with the Convention despite internal difficulties. The Co-Rapporteur encouraged further coordination among Government ministries, and highlighted the need for an independent institution for monitoring human rights in line with the Paris Principles and a revision in the definition of the age for criminal liability and marriage to be in alignment with the Convention. There was a need for the State of Bahrain to look at the spirit of the Convention and to empower children as rights holders, not as objects of protection.
FATEMA MOHAMED YOUSIF AL BALOOSHI, Minister of Social Development of Bahrain, said that the delegation had gone through a fruitful debate and discussion and would return to Bahrain with new ideas and many doors to open. Bahrain would always be a country that would honour human rights, especially children’s rights.
For use of information media; not an official record
CRC11/016E