CRC/C/SLV/CO/3-4
Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines), in light of general comment No. 10 (2007) on
children’s rights in juvenile justice. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that
the State party:
(a)
Develop a juvenile justice system in accordance with the Convention;
(b)
Ensure that, both in law and in practice, deprivation of liberty is used
only as measure of last resort and for the shortest period of time;
(c)
Seek, as much as possible, to promote the establishment of measures
alternative to detention, such as counselling, probation or supervision orders;
(d)
Improve access to education of children deprived of liberty, including
those in pretrial detention; and fully implement the recommendations of the Human
Right’s Procurator Office in this respect;
(e)
Provide systematic training on the Convention and on juvenile justice
standards to law enforcement officials, judges and prosecutors;
(f)
Promptly and thoroughly investigate all cases of deaths, as well as all
allegations of ill-treatment or abuse, in centres for deprivation of liberty of children.
Protection of child victims and witnesses of crime
89.
The Committee regrets the lack of information in the State party’s report on specific
provisions in the criminal law and procedure for the hearing of child victims and witnesses
of crime. However, it notes the information that special rooms (such as Gessel domes) are
used for the hearing of child victims in some instances, including in cases of sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse.
90.
The Committee recommends that the State party ensure, both in legislation and
in practice, that all children victims and/or witnesses of crimes, e.g. children victims of
abuse, domestic violence, armed conflict, sexual and economic exploitation, abduction,
and trafficking as well as witnesses of such crimes, are provided with the protection
required by the Convention and its Optional Protocols and that it take fully into
account the United Nations Guidelines on Justice in Matters Involving Child Victims
and Witnesses of Crime (annexed to Economic and Social Council resolution 2005/20).
Indigenous children
91.
The Committee remains concerned at the limited enjoyment of rights, including
protection and prevention against discrimination, by indigenous children and at the
incomplete information provided by the State party on this issue. The Committee is also
concerned at the cultural invisibility of the indigenous population in the State party, which
result in the lack of specific public policies to promote the development and wellbeing of
indigenous children, the discrepancies in the standard of living of indigenous people (more
than 38 per cent reportedly live in extreme poverty) and the steep rise of emigration of
indigenous adolescents. The Committee is also concerned at the lack of sufficient
opportunities for the expression of indigenous culture and practices, including intercultural
and bilingual education, as well as at the daily life discrimination to which indigenous
people and their children are subjected.
92.
The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary measures to
protect the rights of indigenous children against discrimination and to guarantee their
enjoyment of the rights enshrined in domestic law and in the Convention, including
the right to intercultural and bilingual education, in accordance with article 30 of the
Convention. To this end, the State party should take into account, inter alia, general
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