Harmful traditional practices, (male circumcision - Electronic Thesis ...

37
“The right to life is the most basic, the most fundamental, the most primordial and
supreme right which human beings are entitled to have and without which the protection
of all other rights becomes meaningless or less effective.” 114
In contrast to the CRC Article 5 (1) of the African Children’s Charter includes a
second sentence which states that the right to life should be protected by law. 115
This additional sentence could be interpreted as a special obligation on States to
pass laws that treats every act a person commits which violates a child’s right to
life as a criminal offence. 116
According to Kaime, the duty on the state to ensure the survival and
development of the child to the maximum extent possible emphasizes the need
to guarantee correlated rights that ensure the enjoyment of the right to life. 117
The rights associated with the right to life includes the right to enjoy the highest
attainable standard of health and the right to water, food and an adequate
standard of living. 118 This view is supported by Van Bueren who maintains that
the right to survival is a dynamic concept, the codification of which represents an
acknowledgement that individual rights such as the right to health cannot be
protected in isolation. 119
Furthermore, in order to encourage the effective implementation of this right,
the Committee on the Rights of the Child made the following recommendations
with regard to South Africa’s Initial Country Report:
114
Hodgson D, “The Child’s Right to Life, Survival and Development”, The International Journal
of Children’s Rights, Vol. 2, No. 4, 1994, at p 372.
115
See fn 90 at p 42.
116
Ibid at p 42-43.
117
Kaime T, “The Convention on the Rights of the Child and cultural legitimacy of children’s rights
in Africa: Some reflections,” African Human Rights Law Journal, Vol 5, No. 2, Juta and Co. Ltd,
2005, at 232.
118
Ibid at 232. See also fn 112 above at p 383 where it is stated that ‘survival is concerned with
those minimum requirements or basic needs which must be met to sustain human life or, to
avoid death from preventable causes. To this list might be added safe drinking water, adequate
shelter, clothing and sanitation facilities.’
119
Van Bueren G, “The International Law on the Rights of the Child”, International Studies in
Human Rights, Vol.35, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995, at 293.