This is a copy of a press release from the UK Guardian, January 28, 1995.
Copyright 1995 Guardian Newspapers Limited
The Guardian
January 28, 1995
SECTION: THE GUARDIAN HOMEPAGE; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 1254 words
HEADLINE: UN ATTACK ON BRITISH CHILD CARE; Detention centres scheme ‘breaches international law’
BYLINE: Alan Travis and Frances Rickford
BODY:
Britain has reneged on “a solemn undertaking” given by Lady Thatcher to give a high priority to the rights of children in almost every area of social policy, according to a United Nations report published yesterday.
The first international audit of children’s rights in Britain accuses ministers of repeatedly violating the UN convention on the rights of the child, which the government signed up for four years ago.
The “concluding observations” of the UN committee set up to monitor progress on the convention, which has been ratified by 170 countries, says the British government is failing children in nearly every aspect of their lives. They particularly warn that ministers’ plans to build detention centres for persistent offenders as young as 12 will not be compatible with international law.
The UN voices serious concerns about the number of children living in poverty in Britain as well as benefit cuts, the rising number of teenage pregnancies, and the reappearance of children begging and sleeping on the streets.
The eight-page document contains four paragraphs welcoming the 1989 Children’s Act and initiatives on bullying in schools, cot deaths, and sexual abuse of children.
But its “principle areas of concern” raises 16 separate issues ranging from treatment of children as young as 10 under Northern Ireland’s emergency powers legislation to the extent of child poverty and the plight of child refugees.
The final report follows a 100-page submission by the British government, and oral hearings in Geneva last week.
In particular, the UN calls for legislation in Britain to ban corporal punishment in private schools and to outlaw “chastisement” of children at home.
The committee reported that it was deeply worried about current legislation which allows “reasonable chastisement” of children by parents, and now also childminders. A Department of Health civil servant, representing the government, told the committee on Tuesday this meant “a light smack”.
But a member of the UN committee referred to a recent court case in Britain, in which a mother was acquitted of assault after she beat her daughter with a leather strap until she bled.
Thomas Hammarberg, the UN committee vice-chairman, yesterday singled out plans for secure training centres for 12- to 14-year-old persistent offenders as incompatible with the convention.
He said the UN did not rule out the detention of children of this age, but it believed this should be for no than a matter of days.
But the health minister responsible for children, John Bowis, insisted last night: “Britain can hold its head up high on child welfare, and every parent knows that.”
He added: “I am rather surprised at some of the criticisms. For example, the question of allowing parents to use reasonable chastisement on their children has not been an issue in Parliament or among the public.”
But a leading child law specialist, Allen Levy QC, who chaired the “pindown” inquiry into Staffordshire children’s homes, said the report amounted to a devastating indictment of the Government’s complacency and inaction on the rights of children.
Frances Cook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said that unless the Government withdrew its plans for secure detention centres for 12- to 14-year-old in the light of the UN report, the league would challenge the scheme in court.
Main points:
High number of children living in poverty in Britain, and high rate of divorce and teenage pregnancies linked with inadequate benefit allowances.
Corporal punishment in private schools should be illegal and “chastisement” of children at home outlawed.
Review urged of plans to set up detention centres for offenders aged 12 to 14 and calls for raising age of criminal responsibility.
Children’s ombudsman should be set up, and children consulted over running of their school, and be taught about their rights.
Failing the children, page 4: Leader comment, page 22
LOAD-DATE-MDC: January 28, 1995
