CRC/C/RWA/CO/3-4
(d)
Seek technical assistance from the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) among others, for the implementation of these recommendations.
E.
Violence against children (arts 19, 37 (a), 34 and 39 of the Convention)
Corporal punishment
27.
The Committee notes that Law No. 54/2011 prohibits some violent forms of
punishment against children; however, the Committee is gravely concerned that:
(a)
The use of corporal punishment is considered appropriate in education and is
still widespread in all settings, including families and schools;
(b)
The draft ministerial order on general regulation of preschool, primary and
secondary education, prohibiting corporal punishment in school has not yet been adopted;
(c)
There is an absence of legislation that explicitly prohibits corporal
punishment in alternative care settings; and
(d)
Parents have a “right of correction” under article 347 of the 1988 Civil Code,
which may lead to corporal punishment.
28.
The Committee urges the State party to:
(a)
Develop the National Plan of Action to fight violence against children,
based on the recommendations from the national conference held in 2011;
(b)
Introduce sustained public education, awareness-raising and social
mobilization programmes, involving children, families, communities and religious
leaders, on the harmful effects, both physical and psychological, of corporal
punishment, with a view to changing the general attitude towards this practice, and
promote positive, non-violent and participatory forms of child-rearing and discipline
as an alternative to corporal punishment in the family, schools, alternative care and
penal institutions;
(c)
Immediately adopt and implement the ministerial order on prohibition
of corporal punishment in schools and widely publicize the order in all educational
institutions;
(d)
settings;
Explicitly prohibit corporal punishment of children in alternative care
(e)
Immediately repeal all provisions that authorize corporal punishment,
including the “right of correction” in the Civil Code; and
(f)
Ensure adequate follow-up measures to all corporal punishment.
Sexual exploitation and abuse
29.
The Committee notes as positive the establishment of the Gender-Based Violence
Technical Working Committee under the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion which
is co-chaired by the Ministry of Health and mandated to implement the recently approved
National Policy against Gender-Based Violence (2011-2016). The Committee also notes
that the State party has established the Isange One Stop Centre at the National Police
Hospital and 13 districts, to prevent and respond to, inter alia, child survivors of domestic
and gender-based violence. However, the Committee is alarmed at the high prevalence of
sexual violence against children, including in schools and in the community. In particular,
the Committee is gravely concerned that:
7