Η ΕΚΜΕΤΑΛΛΕΥΣΗ ΤΩΝ ΠΑΙΔΙΩΝ ΑΝΗΣΥΧΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΕΥΡΩΠΗ

15/12/2005: “Εκμετάλλευση και Κακοποίηση των παιδιών” ήταν το θέμα της συνεδρίασης της Διακομματικής Ομάδας για την “Οικογένεια και Προστασία του Παιδιού” που έγινε την Τετάρτη, 14 Δεκεμβρίου 2005, στο Ε.Κ. στο Στρασβούργο, υπό την προεδρία της ευρωβουλευτού της Ν.Δ., Μαρίας Παναγιωτοπούλου - Κασσιώτου.
Στη Συνεδρίαση συμμετείχαν ευρωβουλευτές και μέλη μη κυβερνητικών οργανώσεων, ενώ κύριοι ομιλητές ήταν η κ.Annachiara Cerri, διευθύντρια του τμήματος “Παιδική Ηλικία, Οικογένεια και Ηλικιωμένοι” του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης, η κ. Karin Johansson, επικεφαλής της υπηρεσίας για τα Ποινικά Αδικήματα του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης και ο κ. Eddy Laurijssen, διευθυντής του γραφείου του Διεθνούς Οργανισμού Εργασίας στις Βρυξέλλες.
Η κ. Cerri υπενθύμισε πως 155 εκατομμύρια παιδιά ζουν στις 46 χώρες-μέλη του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης, των οποίων το Σ.Ε. έχει δεσμευτεί να προάγει τα δικαιώματα. Παρουσίασε το πρόγραμμα του Συμβουλίου “Φτιάχνοντας μια Ευρώπη για τα παιδιά μαζί με τα παιδιά”, που θα ξεκινήσει επίσημα στο Μονακό, τον Απρίλιο του 2006, και στόχο έχει να αναγνωρίσει στα παιδιά δικαιώματα, ώστε η ανθρώπινη και φυσική τους αξιοπρέπεια να χαίρουν σεβασμού όπως και των ενηλίκων. Παράλληλα, η κ. Cerri αναφέρθηκε σε πρόσφατες Συστάσεις και Ψηφίσματα της Κοινοβουλευτικής Συνέλευσης του Σ.Ε. σχετικά με τα Δικαιώματα του Παιδιού (Σύσταση για την “Προστασία και τη βοήθεια προς παιδιά χωρισμένων γονέων και αιτούντων άσυλο” και το “Ψήφισμα για την “Προστασία κατά της βίας ενηλίκων και παιδιών με ειδικές ανάγκες”). Εν τέλει, παρουσίασε το πρόγραμμα δράσης “Παιδική Ηλικία και Βία” με προτεραιότητες την προστασία των παιδιών, την πρόληψη της βίας, τη δίωξη των εγκληματιών και τη συμμετοχή των παιδιών στη λήψη αποφάσεων που τα αφορούν.
Η κ. Johansson, από την πλευρά της, ανέπτυξε τη δραστηριότητα του Συμβουλίου της Ευρώπης σχετικά με τις εγκληματικές ενέργειες. Παρέπεμψε στη Συνθήκη του Σ.Ε. για το “Έγκλημα στο Διαδίκτυο” που περιλαμβάνει και την παιδοπορνογραφία. Ανέφερε επίσης την υιοθέτηση από το Σ.Ε. της Συνθήκης για την “Αντιμετώπιση της εκβιαστικής εμπορίας ανθρωπίνων όντων”, που βρίσκεται στη διαδικασία υπογραφής. Εξήγησε τέλος, πως βάση για τις μελλοντικές εργασίες του Σ.Ε. θα είναι τα συμπεράσματα του Συνεδρίου που οργάνωσε τον Ιούλιο του 2005 στη Λουμπλιάνα της Σλοβενίας για τη βία κατά των παιδιών και τη σεξουαλική εκμετάλλευση.Ο Διεθνής Οργανισμός Εργασίας ειδικεύεται σε μελέτες διαφόρων μορφών εκμετάλλευσης των παιδιών, όπως η κακοποίηση και η αδιαφορία κατά τις οικιακές και αγροτικές δραστηριότητες και η αναγκαστική πορνεία. Ο κ. Laurijssen, ανέφερε επίσης τον εξαναγκασμό σε δουλεία, την εκμετάλλευση παιδιών από εμπόρους ναρκωτικών, την αναγκαστική τους ανάμειξη σε ένοπλες συγκρούσεις και τη σεξουαλική εκμετάλλευσή τους. Τόνισε ότι δεν κρίνεται αναγκαία η καταδίκη κάθε μορφής εργασίας, αλλά η ύπαρξη κριτηρίων για τη διάκριση σε αποδεκτή και μη αποδεκτή εργασία.
Παράλληλα, επέστησε την προσοχή στη προσβολή των παιδιών από μεταδιδόμενες ασθένειες, όπως το AIDS. Τέλος, υπογράμμισε την ύπαρξη κοινού προσανατολισμού ανάμεσα στα προβλεπόμενα από το ΔΟΕ για την παιδική εργασία και τις δεσμεύσεις των κρατών απέναντι στην Συνθήκη των Ηνωμένων Εθνών για τα δικαιώματα των παιδιών."Η προστασία των παιδιών από την βία, την κακοποίηση και την εκμετάλλευση είναι προτεραιότητα των δράσεων της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης και του νομοθετικού έργου των Κρατών μελών, πρέπει όμως να γίνει μέλημα όλων των πολιτών. Περιμένουμε με ενδιαφέρον τον προσεχή Ιανουάριο, την Ανακοίνωση της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής για τα δικαιώματα του παιδιού" δήλωσε κλείνοντας την συνεδρίαση η κ. Παναγιωτοπούλου - Κασσιώτου.

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FAMILY AND THE PROTECTION OF CHILDHOOD είπε...

INTERGROUP ON FAMILY AND PROTECTION OF CHILDHOOD
President: Marie PANAYOTOPOULOS-CASSIOTOU (GR,PPE)
Vice-Presidents: José RIBEIRO E CASTRO (P, PPE), Nathalie GRIESBECK (F, ALDE), Kathy SINNOTT (IE, IND), Sylwester CHRUSZCZ (PL, IND), Konrad SZYMANSKI (PL, UEN)



MINUTES


MEETING

OF

THE INTERGROUP ON FAMILY AND PROTECTION OF CHILDHOOD



"The exploitation of children"


Wednesday 14 December 2005

14.30-15.30

Room SDM S3




1. List of participants 1
2. Welcome by Mrs Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, President of the Intergroup on Family and Protection of Childhood 2
3. Intervention by Mrs Annachiara Cerri, Head of the Section "Children, Families and the Elderly", Social Policy Department, DG III - Social Cohesion Council of Europe 2
4. Intervention by Mrs Karin Johansson, Administrator, Department of Crime Problems, DG I-Legal Affairs, Council of Europe 4
5. Intervention by Mr Eddy Laurijssen, Director of the Bureau of the International Labour Organization in Brussels 6
6. Debate 8
7. Date and topic of next meeting 8


1. List of participants

Edit BAUER (PPE), Marie PANAYOTOPOULOS-CASSIOTOU (PPE), Anna ADAMSKA (Ass. Urzula Krupa Barbara BOBER ( Ass. Mieczyslaw Janowski),), Annachiara CERRI (Council of Europe), Elaine CORDINA (Ass. Simon Busuttil), Andrée DAMGE (delegate Mouvement Mondial des Mères Europe), Françoise de BELLEFROID (President of the European Delegation of the Mouvement Mondial des Mères), Davis FIELDSEND (Director Care for Europe), Claire HOLVECK(Ass. Nicole Fontaine), Karin JOHANSSON (Council of Europe), Eddy LAURISJSSEN (Directeur BIT Bruxelles), Corinne MULLER (stagiaire, Erna Hennicot-Schoepges).Martina ENGEL OTTO (Ass. Dr Chatzimarkakis), Jenny SCHULER (Representative of FAFCE), K. SZARAZ (Ass. Edit Bauer), Tobias TEUSCHER (Ass. Anna Zaborska), J.M TRIACCA (PSE Group)

2. Welcome by Mrs Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, President of the Intergroup on Family and Protection of Childhood

• Mrs Panayotopoulos reminded that following the previous meeting of the intergroup on the 26th of October which dealt with "the new information technologies and their impact on children", a written Declaration had been tabled (number 68/2005) and was open signatures. The Declaration could eventually worry colleagues who deal with development en economic issues. However, the Intergroup, through this Declaration, positions itself in favour of technological innovation with the aim to attain the Lisbon strategy goals but nevertheless believes that all precautions should be taken in order to protect children when they use the new technologies.
• The President of the Intergroup also informed the assembly that the Vice-President of the Commission and Commissioner for Justice, Liberty and Security, Mr Frattini, had expressed his interest in the meeting of the intergroup on the topic of the "exploitation of children". The Commissioner proposed to participate in a future meeting of the intergroup in order to present the new programme of the Commission on the protection of children.
• Mrs Panayotopoulos will organize this meeting in Brussels as soon as the European Commission's new Communication will be available.


3. Intervention by Mrs Annachiara Cerri, Head of the Section "Children, Families and the Elderly", Social Policy Department, DG III - Social Cohesion Council of Europe


• 155 million children live in the 46 member States of the Council of Europe:
• The Council of Europe took the commitment, during its Third Summit of Heads of State and Government in Warsaw, to promote the rights and comply with the obligations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which was ratified by all the Member States.
• In the Action Plan which was adopted during the Warsaw Summit the Heads of State and Government decided that the child rights perspective will be implemented throughout the activities of the Council of Europe and effective coordination of child-related activities must be ensured within the Organisation”. The programme “Building a Europe for and with children” will highlight the work in this field.
• This new programme should help to achieve a substantial cultural shift - needed in most European societies - to assert children status as rights holders who must be accorded the same respect for their human dignity and physical integrity as adults.
• This Plan includes also the launch of a three year programme of action to address social, legal, health and educational dimensions of the various forms of violence against children with the final aim of eradicating all kind of violence against them.
• The fight against the exploitation of children will be a particular focus of the program, which will be officially launched at a special conference in Monaco, in April 2006.
• On the occasion of the Warsaw Summit, the new Council of Europe Convention on action against trafficking in human beings was opened to signature.
• The Parliamentary Assembly has influenced the work of the Committee of Ministers in the field of trafficking through a number of resolutions and recommendations. Among the most recent texts, the Recommendation on “Europe and the Tsunami disaster” urges for the protection of children orphaned by the disaster in order to prevent these children from becoming targets for trafficking, physical violence, sexual exploitation or recruitment by sects. The Recommendation on “protection and assistance for separated children seeking asylum” stresses the need to consider the provision of the UN convention in the elaboration and implementation of asylum measures as well as the fact that these children are exposed to a risk of trafficking and other abuses.
• The legal framework relies on three instruments: the UN Convention on the rights of the Child, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the European Social Charter and its revised version which complements the Convention on HR in the field of economic and social rights.
• The revised Strategy for Social Cohesion is also an important instrument and considers specifically the rights and dignity of children as well as the role of families, which should be supported, and their importance for a cohesive society.
• The European Social Charter deals with different forms of the exploitation of children. The Protection against sexual exploitation covers all forms of commercial sexual exploitation of children: child prostitution, child pornography and trafficking of children; to comply with this article states must take specific measures to prohibit and combat all forms of sexual exploitation of children. States must criminalise all acts of sexual exploitation, adopt a national action plan combating the sexual exploitation of children, protect children against the misuse of information technologies.
• Member States must also take measures to combat other forms of exploitation: domestic exploitation, begging, pick pocketing, servitude or the removal of organs.
• As for Child labour the European Social Charter sets 15 years as the minimum age for admission to employment. This provision aims primarily to protect the education rights of children of compulsory school age.
• The Council of Europe attaches considerable importance to the problems of street children, and specific programmes have been put in place, for example in Russia.
• The Council of Europe also focuses on the situation of children living in institutions and its Committee of Ministers adopted in 2005 a Recommendation to member States which aims also to protect these children from exploitation.
• Children’s rights - including those of children with disabilities, from ethnic and minority groups, migrant children and assistance / support to families, and particularly those in a situation of social exclusion, will also be considered at the Conference of European Ministers responsible for Family Affairs on “Changes in parenting: Children Today, Parents Tomorrow” which will take place next year in Portugal.
• The programme of action “Children and violence” is articulated around four principles the four « Ps »: Protection of the children; Prevention of violence; Prosecution of criminals; Participation of children - the Council of Europe privileges particularly the participation of children in the decision process.
• The Council of Europe will continue the close cooperation with the European Parliament

4. Intervention by Mrs Karin Johansson, Administrator, Department of Crime Problems, DG I-Legal Affairs, Council of Europe

• The Council of Europe has worked to protect children against sexual exploitation and abuse since the beginning of the 1990’s. It took actively part in both the World Congresses, in Stockholm in 1996 and in Yokohama in 2001.
• In 2001, just before the 2nd World Congress in Yokohama, the Committee of Ministers adopted a recommendation on the protection of children against sexual exploitation. This instrument includes recommendations for criminalization of offences related to sexual exploitation of children, international co-operation and awareness raising.
• The Council of Europe also adopted in 2001 the Convention on Cybercrime. This is the only Convention of its kind and it is open for signature by all States in the world. It entered into force on 1 July 2004 and today 11 States have ratified it and 31 signed it. This Convention includes a specific article on Child Pornography (article 9). Also other provisions in the Convention can be applied to the protection of children, such as provisions regarding investigations and international co-operation.
• In 2005 the Council of Europe adopted the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. This Convention is based on human rights aspects and addresses specifically the rights of victims of trafficking. The Convention includes several special protection measures in regards to children victims of trafficking.
• Mrs Johansson asked for the help of the European Parliament to urge the member States of the European Union to rapidly sign and ratify both these very important instruments.
• In 2004 the Council of Europe sent a questionnaire, called “REACT on sexual exploitation and abuse of children”, to all the member States, to review how the commitments made in Stockholm, Yokohama, their preparatory meetings and other instruments had been implemented. As a consequence of this questionnaire, recommendations were made to the European Committee on Crime Problems.
• In July 2005 the Council of Europe organised 2 conferences in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The first Conference, “Stop Violence against Children - Act Now!” was organised in collaboration with UNICEF, WHO, OHCHR and the NGO Group for the Rights of the Child. After this Consultation, a Conference to review the commitments made in Yokohama in 2001 to fight sexual exploitation of children followed.
• The conclusions from these conferences, together with the analysis of the REACT questionnaire, will be important instruments for the future work of the Council of Europe in the fight against sexual exploitation and abuse of children.
• In implementing the Summit decision, the Council of Europe will form a new Committee, which will produce a feasibility study on the existing legal instruments, to decide if there is a need for a new, additional one. If such a need is seen, the Committee will also draft the new instrument. The Secretariat of the Council of Europe find that there is a need for a new, binding instrument, in particular in regards to criminal law, judicial procedures and international co-operation.
• Mrs Johansson indicated that the NGO ECPAT had produced a new study on violence against children in the cyberspace.

5. Intervention by Mr Eddy Laurijssen, Director of the Bureau of the International Labour Organization in Brussels

• The main point of reference in the question of the rights of the child is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: there are two areas in this Convention which are of particular relevance for ILO: the part that deals with the protection from exploitation and the part dealing with the right to education
• In most cases the right to education is incompatible with child labour
• There is a universal consensus that has been developed on the urgent need to do more in order to eliminate most forms of child labour.
• Is child labour totally out of order or can there be some forms of child labour which could be acceptable and compatible with the normal development of the child as a person and as a citizen.
• ILO does not think that all forms of child labour are bad but it has set strict definitions on the types of child labour that could be permissible: it is a very narrow description however.
• In parallel to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child the ILO has developed two instruments of its own:

- The ILO Convention No 138 which deals with the question of the minimum age for employment: this is directly related with the right of education of children.
• This Convention has been ratified by 142 out of the 176 Member States of the ILO.
• In the Convention there is a fairly big margin of flexibility in order to allow industrial countries as well as poor country to adhere to the ILO Convention. The ILO has to find a common denominator which is acceptable to everybody.
• The Convention sets the minimum age for employment at 15 years, as it is pointed out in the European Social Charter. However for developing countries it could be 14 years.
• As for what is permissible work for children: light work for children could be carried out as from the age of 13 however for developing countries there is a margin and it has been set at 12 years of age.
• No flexibility is allowed for hard labour where the minimum age is set at 18 years both for developed and developing countries.
• Therefore not all types of work are condemned by the ILO but only a few types of jobs can be considered acceptable.

- The ILO Convention No 182 which deals with the abolition of the worst forms of child labour. It has been ratified by 158 countries out of 176 members of the ILO
• The pressures on working conditions brought about by the present trend of globalisation of the world's economy have not helped to eliminate or to improve the situation of child labour.
• 352 million children between the ages of 5-17 that are economically active: 270 million are economically active against their own will. 211 million of these children are from 5-14 years and 59 million in the age bracket of 15-17 years of age.
• There are about 180 million children that are involved in hazardous or worst forms of child labour: ex work in mines, work with heavy or dangerous machinery, carrying of heavy loads, unacceptable domestic work, work with chemicals (i.e. agriculture)
• The worst forms of child labour are debt bondage, trafficking of children, child soldiers, sexual exploitation and drug trafficking.
• The consequences of child labour are: fewer chances in society, reduced learning capacity, sexually transmitted diseases, drug addiction, physical injuries, maternal mortality, psychological consequences etc
• There has been a growing global consensus that the worst forms of child labour should be eradicated with no delay. The other forms of child labour should be gradually eliminated.
• The most important thing is the implementation of the Conventions: in Convention No 182 it is quite clear that ILO demands from ratifying Member States to draw up a plan of action to accompany the ratification.
• Action is important at the national and international level. In these action plans usually there are several elements that are addressed: the legal framework that has to be set up including the sanctions, infrastructures, vocational training, lack of resources in general and the mentality of parents and employers which has to be changed.
• The ILO sets standards and has an extensive program of technical cooperation: it can help countries which don't the capacity to fight the exploitation of children. A project is currently being developed to tackle the problem of child labour in India.

6. Debate

Mrs Marie-Hélène Descamps (MEP) stressed that both the exploitation of children and the violence have been increasing. What kind of measures can be taken against States who do not attempt to address these problems? Why isn't adoption seen as the beginning of a solution to these problems? Why isn't Europe promoting adoption enough?

Mrs Johansson replied that in regard with measures against States which do not comply with the different Conventions, the measures will depend on the Conventions and the monitoring system which is established. In the case of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Committee on the Rights of the Child which can criticize the States which violate the rules. Of course, the impact of the criticism will depend on the importance given to it by the Media.
The Council of Europe has the European Court of Human Rights which can hold the State liable in case of violation of human rights. The Court can sentence the State to pay damages to the persons who had their human rights affected. The Committee on Social rights which monitors the Social Charter also performs criticism on the Member States which do not comply with the Charter.

7. Date and topic of next meeting

The next meeting of the Intergroup will take place on Wednesday the 15th of February on the topic of "families and poverty".