COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD EXAMINES REPORT OF SYRIA ON OPTIONAL PROTOCOL ON CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT

The Committee on the Rights of the Child today reviewed the initial report of Syria on how that country is implementing the provisions of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

Presenting the report, Syra Astour, President of the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs, said that the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs carried out tireless efforts to implement Syria's international commitments regarding children's rights, in coordination with government ministries, non-governmental organizations and other civil society actors. Among its tasks was also to raise awareness of children on the Convention and its two Protocols. Syria was under great pressure due to the conflicts raging in the Middle East, and called on the international community to stand by it. There was already a large refugee population from Palestine, and Syria had recently received thousands of refugees from Lebanon, as well as around 1.5 million Iraqis, owing to the war there, not to mention other refugee groups.

In preliminary concluding observations, Kamel Filali, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Syria, said Syria had demonstrated a clear political will to provide for all the children living on its territory, whether they be Syrian children, or children from neighbouring countries or Africa. Syria was bearing a huge burden on its shoulders in that regard, and its willingness and readiness to continue its endeavours with regard to human rights was commendable. Areas of concern that would be addressed in the Committee's final observations would include the issue of criminalizing the recruitment of children into the armed forces or other armed groups; extraterritorial jurisdiction for crimes under the Protocol; the situation of refugees, and the need to assimilate them into Syrian society; peace education and education in a culture of tolerance; and the situation of the children in the occupied Syrian Golan.

Other Experts raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, whether Syria had received material or other support to care for the millions of refugee children on its territory; reports that Iraqi refugees no longer had the same access to Syria as previously; what methods were used to identify children who were at risk for violations of their rights under the Protocol; whether Syria planned to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; and whether there were awareness-raising campaigns to ensure that children were aware of the harmful consequences of their involvement in armed groups, in particular given counter campaigns by such groups to persuade children to become martyrs.

The Committee will release its formal, written concluding observations and recommendations on the report of Syria towards the end of its three-week session which will conclude on Friday, 5 October.

The delegation of Syria also included Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations Office at Geneva, as well as other members of the Permanent Mission, and government experts.

As one of the 193 States parties to the Convention, Syria is obliged to present periodic reports to the Committee on its efforts to comply with the provisions of the treaty.

When the Committee next reconvenes in public at noon on Friday, 5 October, it will hear a presentation on a new United Nations Children's Fund publication relating to the work of the Committee, and adopt its concluding observations on the reports presented over the past three weeks, before officially closing its forty-sixth session.

Report of Syria

The initial report of Syria on the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict (CRC/C/OPAC/SYR/1) says special note should be taken of the fact that not all Syrian children enjoy the services and benefits offered by the Syrian Government, since some of them are living under Israeli occupation. Foreign occupation is a gross violation of the substance of human rights law, since it creates a situation in occupied territories where access to human development resources and norms, including children’s rights, is reduced to the very minimum. Moreover, daily acts of aggression carried out by the occupation forces go unrecorded, owing to the difficulty of obtaining proper information about infringements of children’s rights in occupied territories.

Under Military Law No. 115 of 1953, military service is a national obligation of every Syrian of legal age. Legal age begins on the first day of January of the year when the recruit has reached 19 years of age. In times of war or emergency, legal age begins on the first day of January following the date on which the recruit reaches 18 years of age. As for the incorporation of the provisions of the Protocol into domestic laws, all international instruments which the Syrian Government signs, including the Protocol, are considered part of domestic law from the moment that they enter into force in Syria. Therefore, there is no need to enact a special law to incorporate such an instrument into domestic law. Since Syria made no reservations to the Protocol, laws relating to the protection of children are applicable without any conditions.

Presentation of Report

SYRA ASTOUR, President of the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs, said that Syria was currently like an open workshop with regard to the enactment of legislation and legal reform. That was especially true with regard to the humanitarian field, with priority given to children. Syria reiterated its commitment to the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its two Optional Protocols, which it had ratified. The Syrian Commission for Family Affairs carried out tireless efforts to implement those commitments, in coordination with government ministries, non-governmental organizations and other civil society actors. Among its tasks was also to raise awareness of children on the Convention and its two protocols.

In terms of the Optional Protocol's legal status in Syria, Ms. Astour said that international instruments ratified by Syria became part of domestic law, and had precedence over domestic laws in the case of a conflict.

Ms. Astour highlighted the continuing violations to which Syrian children living in the occupied Syrian Golan were subject. Syria was committed to finding a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, and called for the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Syria Golan to the line of 4 June 1967.

Syria was under great pressure due to the conflicts raging in the Middle East, and called on the international community to stand by it, Ms. Astour said. There was already a large refugee population from Palestine, and Syria had recently received thousands of refugees from Lebanon, as well as around 1.5 million Iraqis, owing to the war there, not to mention other refugee groups. In that connection, it should recalled that there were numerous Iraqi refugee children who had not as yet been able to be enrolled in school.

The Government of Syria was the competent authority for regulating voluntary recruitment, Ms. Astour underscored. No other group in the country was entitled to recruit soldiers. Nor did Syria have any military colleges. It had the Schools for Orphans of Martyrs, which were part of the Ministry of Defence, but were run by the Ministry of Education. Orphans there received care for patriotic and humanitarian reasons.

In terms of dissemination of the Protocol, Ms. Astour noted that the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs had set up a national committee made up of government representatives and non-governmental organizations to develop a national project to train workers on the Convention and its two Protocols. In addition, it had taken steps to disseminate the Convention, the two Optional Protocols and the relevant national reports through the audio-visual and print media. The Commission had also trained schoolchildren about the Convention in the framework of the “Where are my rights?” campaign, launched throughout the country in 2005. Children’s drawing and storytelling competitions on the subject of the Convention had also been held, in cooperation with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

A national plan for the protection of children was in place, and a draft plan for 2008 was in the works, Ms. Astour continued. Moreover, a comprehensive study on children in Syria was currently under way, and would be issued soon, with the assistance of UNICEF. Other relevant legislation that was currently in the works included a bill on the rights of children, and a bill on trafficking in persons.

Questions by Experts

KAMEL FILALI, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Syria, congratulated Syria for having submitted all the relevant reports associated with its international obligations regarding children, as well as for the written replies. It was clear that the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict was being followed up by Syria, and Syria was commended for having followed the Committee's guidelines in drafting its report.

Furthermore, Mr. Filali welcomed Syria's ratification of International Labour Organization Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.

While Syria had made great progress on children's rights, there were some points that needed to be clarified, and some questions that still needed a response, Mr. Filali noted. Syria had said that ratified international treaties were part of domestic legislation, and had priority over national legislation. In that regard, there were certain provisions in the Optional Protocol that could be directly implemented in domestic law, and others that could not, as he understood it, and he would appreciate clarification.

Mr. Filali, noting the information in the report that the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs was tasked with implementing the Protocol, wondered what roles, if any did the Ministry of Defence and the Committee on Humanitarian Law have in that regard?

As for the National Child Protection Plan for 2005, and plans to draw up a new plan, Mr. Filali asked whether the provisions of the Optional Protocol had been included in either of those plans.

Did the National Committee for Human Rights take part in the drafting of the report, or other non-governmental organizations, Mr. Filali asked?

Concerning the age of recruitment, Syria had mentioned that there were guarantees to ensure that children under 18 would not be allowed to participate in armed conflict, Mr. Filali noted. What were those guarantees? In addition, what was Syria's definition of direct participation in the hostilities?

Regarding Palestinian refugee children, were they provided the same treatment as Syrian children, Mr. Filali asked?

The delegation had said that the Schools for Orphans of Martyrs were non-military schools that followed the guidelines set down by the Ministry of Education. But those schools were under the Ministry of Defence, Mr. Filali understood, and he would appreciate some clarification. In addition, were the children in such schools taught about international humanitarian law?

Mr. Filali asked if there were any armed groups or military training camps present in Syria, or any illegal groups that used or recruited children.

On universal jurisdiction, Mr. Filali noted that foreigners that recruited children outside of Syria could not be prosecuted in Syria. He also wondered if such foreigners present inside Syria could be prosecuted.

Other Experts raised a series of questions pertaining to, among other things, whether Syria received material or other support to care for the millions of refugee children on its territory; reports that Iraqi refugees no longer had the same access to Syria as previously; what school or other programmes there were to promote peace and combat the extremist trend present in the region; whether Syria contributed peacekeeping troops and what training they received; the situation of the children in the Syrian Golan, including what programmes were in place to care for them, and who was responsible for reporting on the rights of the children there; what measures were being taken to prevent recruitment of Syrian children into foreign armed groups; what methods were used to identify children who were at risk for violations of their rights under the Protocol; whether Syria planned to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (which, among others, defined recruitment of children under 15 years old as a war crime); and whether there were awareness-raising campaigns to ensure that children were aware of the harmful consequences of their involvement in armed groups, in particular given counter campaigns by such groups to persuade children to become martyrs.

Many Experts also expressed a number of concerns about asylum-seeking minors, in particular given the high number of child refugees who had been affected by armed conflicts and who were present in Syria, and the immense human and material resources that were needed to care for them.

Response by the Delegation

Responding to questions, the delegation said that, in the draft Plan for the Protection of Childhood, 2008, Syria was contemplating including the provisions of the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

In the drafting of the present report, governmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as civil society had been involved, the delegation confirmed.

Work was under way to reform the school curricula in Syria, the delegation said. A first amendment had been made, and included the rights of children in the school curriculum, as well as in the higher education curriculum.

Turning to the situation of children in the Syrian Golan, Syria broadcast educational programmes through radio and television media to reach the children there, the delegation said. As for surveys of the situation, there was no international agency that worked in the Syrian Golan – not UNICEF, not the United Nations Refugee Agency, no one, except for a small Red Cross office.

On the issue of the specific criminalization of involvement of children in armed conflict, the delegation said that the law prohibited the recruitment of children under 18 years of age.

Concerning Syria's extraterritorial jurisdiction for the crime of recruitment of children into armed forces or armed groups for participation in hostilities, the delegation said that voluntary recruitment within Syria prohibited recruitment of persons under 18. Any Syrian citizen who compelled a child to participate in armed conflict would be punishable under

Syrian law. Syria also would have jurisdiction if any non-Syrian citizen did so, if they were also citizens of States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Failing that, if the country was a party to a bilateral agreement with Syria on extradition, Syria would also have jurisdiction. If recruitment took place via a gang or organized criminal group Syria had jurisdiction by virtue of laws protecting national and international security.

The issue of the ratification of the Rome Statute was currently under examination, the delegation said.

Syria was completely open to its Arab brothers and sisters. Under the Syrian Constitution, all citizens of Arab countries were exempt from the need for a visa to enter the country, the delegation stressed. However, exceptionally in an attempt to grapple with the problem of Iraqi refugees, the Government had started to impose visa restrictions on Iraqis. That was owing to the challenges encountered, for example, in the sphere of education: the schoolrooms were overflowing; Iraqi children were often far behind in their schooling; and there were real problems in understanding Iraqi children who had a different accent.

The enrolment of children in schools was free for all, including textbooks, the delegation confirmed. It was even free in higher education, except that those students were obliged to buy their own textbooks. And Syria was receiving no help to cover those costs. Hence the problems it faced could easily be understood.

There was a National Committee for International Humanitarian Law that was responsible for ensuring the implementation of international humanitarian law in Syria, the delegation noted. It had been working with all of its neighbours to improve the situation of refugees, but had not been able to get access to the Occupied Syrian Golan.

Syria did not take part in peacekeeping operations anywhere in the world, the delegation confirmed.

As for education in a culture of peace, that could only be done if, first, and foremost, Syria showed its commitment to peace on the international level. A culture of peace and tolerance was not prevalent in the international scene, but one of war and hatred. The problem was not within Syria, but with what was going on outside of it, the delegation said.

On military camps or schools to train children, the delegation stressed that the Syrian Government exercised full control over its territory: there were no militias or organized criminal groups in Syria.

Concerning arms exports, Syria was not an exporter of arms to any country or organization. Moreover, the possession of arms was a crime in Syria, the delegation emphasized.

In terms of assistance and rehabilitation for refugees affected by armed conflict, the delegation admitted that they had only recently begun to address that situation. With the assistance of UNHCR and the Red Crescent, in March 2007, Syria had established four consultative centres in Damascus for refugees and to provide necessary assistance, including psychosocial services.

Preliminary Observations

In preliminary concluding observations, KAMEL FILALI, the Committee Expert serving as Rapporteur for the report of Syria, said he was pleased with the responses given by Syria, and thanked the delegation for the frank and constructive dialogue. The information provided today helped the Committee understand better the situation of children in Syria and how Syria was implementing the Optional Protocol on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Syria had expressed the clear political will to provide for all the children living on its territory, whether they be Syrian children, or children from neighbouring countries or Africa. Syria was bearing a huge burden on its shoulders in that regard, and its willingness and readiness to continue its endeavours with regard to human rights was commendable.

Mr. Filali said that areas of concern that would be addressed in the Committee's final observations would include the issue of criminalizing the recruitment of children into armed forces or other armed groups; extraterritorial jurisdiction for crimes under the Protocol; the situation of refugees, and the need to assimilate them into Syrian society; peace education and education in a culture of tolerance; and the situation of the children in the occupied Syrian Golan.