Third and Fourth Periodic Report on CRC - Unicef

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<strong>Third</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Fourth</strong> <strong>Periodic</strong> <strong>Report</strong> However, with the passage of time the overall situation is improving mainly due to awareness <strong>and</strong> advocacy programmes undertaken by the Government <strong>and</strong> NGOS, increased surveillance, training <strong>and</strong> sensitization of concerned personnel including those from court <strong>and</strong> police <strong>and</strong> modernization of police. So far 47,206 persons arrested under the Vagrancy Act, 1943, have been given shelter, food <strong>and</strong> different types of training in the six shelter homes of MoSW with the objective to rehabilitate them in the society. 8.3.4 The sentencing of juveniles, in particular the prohibition of capital punishment <strong>and</strong> life imprisonment CRC <strong>and</strong> the Beijing Rules require the Government to establish a minimum age below which children will be presumed innocent. It is further stressed that the beginning of the age should not be set too low, having due regard to the child's emotional, mental <strong>and</strong> intellectual maturity. In Bangladesh the Penal Code of 1860 (amended in 2004) states that nothing is an offence, which is done by a person under the age of 9 years. That is, it provides immunity for children up to 9 years of age against all criminal responsibilities. The Code safeguards the children of 9 to 12 years age-bracket on the basis of capacity of underst<strong>and</strong>ing the nature <strong>and</strong> consequences of their actions. According to Children Act, 1974 the trial of a child should be held separately (from adult accused) in a building or room from the ordinary court in a home-like atmosphere. When making an order under the Act, the court must take into consideration the character <strong>and</strong> age of the child; the circumstances in which the child is living; <strong>and</strong> the report from a Probation Officer as to the child’s background <strong>and</strong> family history. The Children Act, 1974 prohibits the use of capital-punishment against children under 16. There are very limited circumstances in which imprisonment can be imposed on a child of this age. In the event that either of the special circumstances described there exists <strong>and</strong> the offence of which the child has been found guilty is punishable with life imprisonment, then a sentence of life imprisonment can be imposed on such a child. In practice, on account of their age <strong>and</strong> immaturity, the courts rarely impose life term <strong>and</strong> death sentences on children under 18. In January 2000, there were four children under 15 years serving life sentences in Tongi KUK (Child Development Centre). As on 25 August 2007, there was only one such child in Jessore KUK. The District Legal Aid Committees formed with the objective to provide legal support to distressed women <strong>and</strong> children are more active than over before. 8.3.5 Physical <strong>and</strong> psychological recovery <strong>and</strong> social reintegration Consistent with the underlying aims of the Children Act, 1974 <strong>and</strong> Rules, certified institutes <strong>and</strong> approved homes are run in such a way as to prepare children as far as possible to return to society when their period of detention ends. This is ensured through ongoing monitoring of each child’s situation, a system of education <strong>and</strong> vocational training <strong>and</strong> the work of probation officers. For the first 14 days after the start of a child’s detention, his/her mental disposition, conduct, aptitude <strong>and</strong> other matters are closely monitored for the purposes of formulating an effective treatment plan. A separate file is created for each child where this information is recorded by the Superintendent of the institution where the child is kept. In practice these rules are not properly complied with in Bangladesh. The Children Rules, 1976 require to be provided to children in detention with primary education <strong>and</strong> vocational training facilities. The Tongi Child Development Centre (KUK) has an on-site school offering education up to Grade 5. Arrangements can also be made for children to continue their education up to a higher level outside the Centre. Vocational training in car maintenance, welding, tailoring, carpentry <strong>and</strong> electric house wiring is 86
Convention on the Rights of the Child available. There is also the provision under the Children Act, 1974 of children detained in a certified institute or approved home for release, on license, to live outside the institution on certain conditions with a person who will give him/her a vocational training. A non-formal basic education scheme has been introduced in nine central jails <strong>and</strong> nine district jails for which children are eligible. Probation officers are guided by the Juvenile Court or, where there is no Juvenile Court, by the Court of Sessions. Their duties include maintaining contact with the child through regular visits, advising, assisting <strong>and</strong> befriending the child <strong>and</strong>, where necessary, making efforts to find him or her suitable employment. 8.4 Children in situations of exploitation including physical <strong>and</strong> psychological recovery <strong>and</strong> social reintegration 8.4.1 Economic exploitation including child labour A. Child labour Because of a number of reasons including widespread poverty many children enter the labour force, some at a very young age. A qualitative study by ILO-IPEC <strong>and</strong> UNICEF found three factors that cause child labour in Bangladesh: Push Factors (extreme poverty, death of earning family member, parents separation, being ab<strong>and</strong>oned, natural calamities, adult migration or unemployment) Pull Factors (children accept cheap wages <strong>and</strong> other conditions favourable to employer) Interactive or Psychological Factor (Parental disinterest in child’s education, failure in examination, dropping out from school, crisis in the family, influence of peer group) According to the Second National Child Labour Survey (NCLS) 2002-03, of 42.3 million children aged 5-17 years, estimated 7.4 million children (17.5 percent) are engaged in some form of economic activity. Based on definition used in ILO Convention, it is estimated that 3.2 million (43 percent) children would be considered as child labour, representing 7.5 percent of the of the entire child population in this range. Over half of the working children (53 percent) were employed in agriculture sector, followed by production (15 percent), trading/sales (14 percent) <strong>and</strong> transport (10 percent). Children often work alongside family members in small scale <strong>and</strong> subsistence agriculture. Of the total child labour (3.2 million), 26 percent were attending schools <strong>and</strong> working simultaneously. As revealed in the survey, approximately 41 percent of child labour or 1.3 million children were engaged in hazardous labour. Table 8.3: Children <strong>and</strong> Economically Active (working) Children in the age range of 5-17 years in 2003 In 000s Total children Economically Active Child labour Children in Children (CAC) Hazardous Work (CHW) Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female 42,388 22,689 19,699 7,423 5,471 1,952 3,179 2,461 718 1,297 1,177 120 Source: BBS/NCLS, 2002/03 87
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