New treaty enables children to lodge complaints with UN

A new treaty allowing children to lodge complaints with the United Nations about alleged violations of their rights entered into force Monday, according to a U.N. press release.

The treaty enables children and their representatives to submit complaints to the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child about specific violations of their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted in 1989.  

“We hope that this new treaty will give voice to children’s testimonies and help them to obtain the necessary remedy and reparation. We applaud those states which, by ratifying this protocol, have confirmed their determination to improve children’s access to justice,” said various U.N. officials, including Kirsten Sandberg, Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in a joint statement.

There are two exceptions to the new treaty. Children can only lodge complaints if their government ratified the treaty, known as the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure, and if they have exhausted all legal avenues in their home country.

The Convention of the Rights of the Child, a widely ratified human rights treaty, sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children.

Only two countries — Somalia and the United States — have yet to ratify the CRC.

The U.S. has not ratified the treaty due to opposition by those who say the treaty would impinge on parental rights, specifically regarding sexual and religious education.

The new protocol would also permit children to submit complaints of specific rights violations under two previous “Optional Protocols,” both of which were adopted in 2000 and ratified by more than 150 states.

The first restricts the involvement of children in military conflicts, and the second prohibits the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

“In order to reach out to the most vulnerable and marginalized children, the Optional Protocol should be widely publicized and countries should inform the public and raise awareness amongst children of their right to complain and seek redress,” officials said in the joint statement. 

Al Jazeera