Transcript EU/UNICEF project to end torture and ill-treatment against children Recommendations from Ombudsman offices and NGOs in 8 CEECIS countries • Prevention • Accountability • Assistance to.

EU/UNICEF project to end
torture and ill-treatment
against children
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Recommendations from Ombudsman offices
and NGOs in 8 CEECIS countries
• Prevention
• Accountability
• Assistance to victims
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Prevention
• Specialization of professionals working in children
• Screening and certification of professionals
• Awareness raising with children, parents, professionals
working with children and media
• Clear and accessible complaint mechanisms in facilities
• Inclusion of child rights in school curricula
Prevention
• Advocacy for ratification of OPCAT
• Establish National Prevention Mechanism (NPM)
• Make sentences for torture more severe by law
• Establish child-friendly interviewing rooms, where all
interviews should take place
• Improve coordination among of all actors having at
stake at torture prevention – State, Ombudsman, NGO
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Accountability
• Law to include a clear definition of torture, in line with
international standards
• Ensure prohibition of torture, ill-treatment and violence against
children by law
• Establish codes of conduct and codes of ethics
• Ensure mandatory reporting for professionals working with
children
• Remove % of completed investigations as a performance
indicators for the police
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Accountability
• Legislation to provide children with the right to select a
legal representative
• Strenghten Prosecutor’s oversight on investigations
involving children
• Make data and information on completed cases of
torture of children public, while ensuring confidentiality
• Ensure independence of medical experts carrying out
examinations
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Accountability
• Suspend the accused professional from his/her position
until the issue is cleared up
• Create independent services/oversight/monitoring bodies
in closed institutions and penitentiary institutions
• Enhance status of lawyers
• Ensure that these who have been sentenced for torture
do not work with children again
• Political will !!!
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Assistance to victims – Identification and
reporting
• Awareness raising among population: for victims to
know that the behaviour that happened is wrong and for
others to know when to report
• Safety precautions – victim protection programs,
protective orders, relocation programs
• Establish clear reporting mechanisms
• Establish/improve referral mechanisms – victim should
be directed to appropriate entity (medical,
psychological, legal, etc)
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Assistance to victims – Needs assessment and
planning
• Standards and methodology for needs assessment
and case planning
• Capacity building for concerned professionals to
prevent secondary victimisation
• Ensure confidentiality/privacy of the victim
• Involve victim and family in planning (if victim does
not mind)
• Regular update/review of the needs of the victim and
updates to the plan
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Assistance to victims – Service delivery
• Range of services to be as broad as possible
• Services have to be available and accessible –
community–based
• Establish provisions for the State to outsource
services to NGOs and private providers
• Develop standards of services
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Assistance to victims – Monitoring
• Quality assurance of the each component of the
service delivery
• Independent monitoring of the system of victims’
assistance
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