Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, session 16 (2016)
RECOMMENDATIONS/OBSERVATIONS ON CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN THE COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES' CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS TO STATES EXAMINED IN SESSION 16 (15 AUGUST - 2 SEPTEMBER 2016)
Colombia
(30 September 2016, CRPD/C/COL/CO/1, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 18 and 19)
"The Committee is concerned about the limited information available on the situation of children with disabilities, mainly those who have been institutionalized or who are living in poverty or in rural or remote areas, and about the steps taken to protect their rights and facilitate their remaining with or return to their families or foster families. It is also concerned about the lack of a ban on corporal punishment of children with disabilities.
"The Committee urges the State party to more systematically gather data on children with disabilities and to take steps to prevent their abandonment, abuse and institutionalization. It encourages the State party to adopt a plan on the deinstitutionalization of children with disabilities, including those who are institutionalized on the basis of protection measures ordered by the Colombian Family Welfare Institute, and to provide community-based services and support to families, especially households headed by single mothers, in order to ensure the right of children with disabilities to grow up in a family environment and the right to have a family life. The Committee recommends that the State party repeal the provision in the Civil Code that authorizes adult childminders to correct and discipline children moderately and that it ban corporal punishment in any environment, including within the family and within indigenous and remote communities.”
Ethiopia
(4 November 2016, CRPD/C/ETH/CO/1, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 15 and 16)
"The Committee is concerned about the lack of specific legislation to address and ensure the protection of the rights of children with disabilities against abandonment, neglect, mistreatment and corporal punishment in all aspects of life.
"The Committee recommends that the State party adopt and implement specific legislation to address the protection of children with disabilities against abandonment, neglect and mistreatment, including through the support of parents of children with disabilities. It also urges the State party to abolish, in law and in practice, corporal punishment against children with disabilities in all spheres.”
Guatemala
(30 September 2016, CRPD/C/GTM/CO/1, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 23 and 24)
“The Committee is concerned at the high rate of maltreatment, abuse, corporal punishment, abandonment and institutionalization of children with disabilities; at the prevalence of the welfare and charity-based approach to their care; and at the limited scope of specific measures taken on their behalf in rural areas and indigenous communities.
“The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Amend article 13 of the Act on the comprehensive protection of children and adolescents and article 253 of the Civil Code, as recommended by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (see CRC/C/GTM/CO/3-4, para. 54);
(b) Take all necessary measures to implement an effective system for detecting the maltreatment of children with disabilities in family, educational, health-care and institutional settings, and entrust the Office of the Advocate for Children and Adolescents with addressing the issue of children with disabilities who are subjected to abuse and maltreatment; …
(f) Prohibit and eliminate corporal punishment of children.”
United Arab Emirates
(3 October 2016, CRPD/C/ARE/CO/1, Concluding observations on initial report, paras. 29 and 30)
“The Committee is concerned that: …
(b) Corporal punishment remains lawful in alternative care settings, at home, in day care establishments and as a sentence for committing a crime and that it is not explicitly prohibited in private schools;
(c) Parents have the right to “chastise” their children, including children with disabilities;
(d) There is a lack of information on how corporal punishment affects persons with disabilities in all settings, including migrant workers, especially domestic migrant workers.
“The Committee recommends that the State party: …
(b) Prohibit all forms of corporal punishment in all settings;
(c) Provide information in its next periodic report on measures taken to protect persons with disabilities, including migrant workers with disabilities, from corporal punishment.”